From giving an extra glow to your kitchen. to being water resistant, to being durable and ever shining as the first day of purchase, stainless steel is your obvious choice, when fixing new home appliances or replacing old ones.
Stainless steel will last for as much as you want it to if you maintain and keep it dry always. Installing a stainless steel sink makes your cooking in the kitchen amazing and clean up easier.
Do you need to wash the dirty plates? Do you need to wash vegetables? Stainless steel sink gets you covered. To install a new stainless steel sink in your home, here are the steps you should take to get it done. Putting a new sink on your countertop only takes a few minutes, and you are done.
Table of Contents
10 Steps to install a stainless steel sink
Stainless steel installation comes in two different methods. It can either be a drop-in sink that attaches to the countertop or an undermount installation that is attached to the bottom of the counter.
These two installations are good. It depends on what an individual’s choice is, or the motive behind the choice. The installation process is almost the same steps, but only with slight differences.
The undermount installation will typically require a solid surface material, while the drop-in sink installations can be done with the most basic tools and materials.
Step 1
Fit the faucet unit into the countertop and connect the taps to the hot and cold water pipes under the sink with a pipe wrench. Make sure the connecting taps are well fitted and the pipes are not connected to the wrong taps.
Step 2
Scrape away all old caulk from the sink opening in the countertop with a light and flexible steel material, preferably a How to install a stainless steel sink. Any sharp objects might destroy the caulk completely. Scour the area with a mild detergent and clean water to remove any remnants or dirt from its surface.
Step 3
After scraping the old caulk and cleaning it, you can then proceed to measure the size of the opening in your countertop. Measure the length, width, and depth of the countertop.
This is necessary because it enables you to install a new sink without changing the length of your drain pipes or cutting out or filling up some parts of your countertop.
Accurate measurement of your countertop will not only give you a perfect countertop size, but it also saves you the extra and unnecessary cost of new drain pipes.
Step 4
Buy a stainless steel sink that fits the above measurement. Otherwise, the measurement will make no sense. Definitely, the edges of the sink should overhang the countertop opening.
To make it simple and easy, when buying the new sink, you can give your seller description and measurement of what you’d like to get.
Step 5
Turn the new sink upside down. Cut off the tip of a tube of clear silicone caulk at a 45-degree angle, using a sizeable kitchen knife. Pierce the inner nozzle carefully with a nail.
Step 6
Hold the edge of the new sink along the lip. Squeeze the tube to release the caulk and pull the tube along to ensure an equal bead of caulk.
Step 7
Place the hold-down screws into the grooves along the front, back and sides of the sink tip. Flip the sink over and lay it in place over the counter hole, making sure the faucets are well placed in the holes and at the back of the counter.
Step 8
After placing the sink in the counter, do a run check with your hands to ensure that the sink is well positioned and firm. Ensure there’s a tight seal between the sink and the counter.
If the sink is not closely knitted into the countertop, it might affect its effectiveness. A shaky stainless steel sink can’t maximize its full potentials.
Step 9
Go to the sink bottom and tighten the hold-down bolts with a slot screwdriver or a crescent wrench. Ensure the bottom is well knotted and tightened.
Step 10
Neatly cut out excess caulk with a razor blade bulging out from the sink bottom. Clean up your stainless steel countertop and surface. Run water for leak tests. If there are no leakages and faults, then you are done. Your installation is perfect and your Stainless Steel Sink is ready for use.
Fixing your stainless steel sink can be done by you, in your own home. You can become your own home plumber, just by following the installation steps closely and carefully.
Installing your own stainless steel sink can be done with the most basic tools. In case of limited resources, fix your stainless steel sink yourself. It saves time. It’s done with little resources and it saves that extra cost of getting a professional plumber.