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sail_away

Color Through Laminate Counter Top + Undermount Sink

sail_away
16 years ago

I have noticed that a number of companies have thicker laminate, in which the color goes all the way through (not just the thin veneer of laminate on top). At least, that is what the description seems to imply to me. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Anyway, I am wondering whether it would be possible to install an undermount sink, such as one of the SS Ticor sinks, in a countertop made with this kind of laminate. Has anyone done so? If so, how is it holding up?

Comments (7)

  • 3katz4me
    16 years ago

    Don't know about thicker laminate but I have an undermounted sink with laminate. Mine is a Karran sink though - not stainless. I've seen stainless on display - done with a system called Counter-Seal - no idea how well that works. The Karran has been good so far but I've only had it since April.

  • sail_away
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    I'd never heard of a Karran sink before. I've learned so much here! I thought it might be hard to clean, since it's fiberglass, but the description on their website doesn't make it sound that way.

    I thought, from looking at the FKB, that you had Corian counter tops, but I guess note. What brand of laminate do you have? Is it the regular, thinner laminate. That's great they could do that. I looked at your pictures and it looks good to me. Is there some kind of edging applied where the laminate is cut for the sink? I was looking at the thicker laminates, in part, because I thought that they couldn't put an undermount sink in with the regular laminate. Obviously, that's not entirely true.

    Now I need to go do a Google search and find out what Counter-Seal is and how it works.

  • sail_away
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Thank you for telling me about the Counter Seal. After looking at their site, I see that apparently the only way to undermount a SS sink with a laminate counter top would be by using their entire system---including the sink they provide. So that may or may not be an option I would want to pursue. I'd like to see it done first. Or, better yet, talk to someone who had it done and has lived with it for a while.

  • quantumkitten
    16 years ago

    This person in the Finished Kitchens Blog seems to have found an interesting method of achieving an undermount with laminate countertops: Ebang's FKB entry. Quote: "My handyman achieved the undermount by routing out under the laminate and then epoxying in cut strips of solid surface material. My neighbor works at a factory that makes countertops and got me a remnant to use."

  • sail_away
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Thanks for the link, quantumkitten. It's nice to know someone has figured out a solution. Not sure I understand the exact procedure or why it worked.

  • 3katz4me
    16 years ago

    sail-away - the kitchen with the undermounted sink with laminate counters is at my lake place - kitchen at home is Corian. Here's a picture of the Karran sink. I do find this a bit harder to clean than the Corian sink but still no big deal - I use softscrub on both. I'm the kind of person who finds water spots on stainless to bug me on a more frequent basis than cleaning a non-stainless sink.

    {{!gwi}}

  • oruboris
    16 years ago

    If the color goes all the way through, I'm not sure it's 'laminate', which implies a surface layer 'laminated' to a substructure.

    You may be thinking of solid man made surfaces that range from corian and swanstone to silestone and zodiac.

    I personally wouldn't be comfortable with undermounting on a laminate. I've had bad luck with trim strips chipping or breaking off when used as edging, and it seems to me it would be even more common on the inside edge over an undermount sink. I'd also worry that the seal between the sink and plywood would allow water to penetrate, and ruin the whole top.