How To Install a Sink- and the New Countertops!! {DIY}

We've been slowly but surely making progress on the kitchen.  This week we had our new countertops installed~ which meant our drop in sink had to come out!  If you are looking to do that- go here.  I got that done, surprisingly with no problem.  The old countertop went out the curb (hallelujah!!), and without too many gliches the new countertop was installed by the guys from Lowe's.  Now I had about an hour and a half until the kids walked back in the door from school.  Twenty-four hours without water or a sink in my kitchen was enough for me! I guess I'm spoiled, but I was under the gun to get this sink back in- and fast!  So, here we go-

Gather your tools~ wrench, screwdrivers, garbage disposal key, plumbers tape, and silicone sealant

Forgive me for the lack of initial pictures I got excited and started installing without getting out my camera.  The first step will be to run a bead of clear silicone around the edge of your countertop where the sink will sit. Find a helper (thanks hubby!) to help you lift the sink carefully into the drop-in spot.  You'll probably have some silicone squeeze out the sides of the top of the sink.  Quickly wipe these away, but don't get too picky about it because you will soon be putting in the clamps and this will cause more to squeeze out.  The main goal here is to make sure you have your sink straight and centered.

  Now, lay out your clamps that either come with your new sink or came off your old sink.

Using your screwdriver, tighten the clamps under your sink.  

Now is the time when you will go back with a rag and wipe away all the excess silicone sealant.  Mineral spirits will help clean this up too.

Whenever you uninstall and then reinstall plumbing parts, always use new plumbers tape.  This will insure that you will have a water tight seal.

Screw the plastic nut back onto the sink for the non-garbage disposal side of the sink.

Using your wrench attach the water supply hoses to the water pipes.  Make sure that the cold goes to the right and the hot goes to the left.  Don't forget to wrap the pipes with new plumbers tape! 

Okay, this part gets tricky by yourself.  You'll want to lift the garbage disposal up so that the ring can be slid back onto the neck of the drain (or whatever that's called).  On mine you had to line up these grooves on the ring of the disposal to slide onto the tabs sticking out of the hardware on the drain.

Using your garbage disposal key, tighten the ring onto the drain tabs.  

Wrap the screw threads with plumbers tape again and then tighten the nut on the disposal drain pipe.

This is the tube that connects your dishwasher to your disposal.  It took me a couple of tries, but you'll want to make sure this is pushed on as tight as possible.  Loosen the screws to make sure you can get the connection tight.

Now tighten these screws.

Turn your water back on and let it run for a while.  Keep check on all the connections you just made to make sure there is no leaking. 

So... here we go! New contertops and the sink is reinstalled! Yeah! All before the kids came home from school!

We chose Spiced Java by LG- a solid surface material (like Corian)

And in case you didn't remember the wonderfulness of my prior counter top (yuck!)... I'm loving the improvement!

We're still working on getting all the paint and hardware done on the cabinets.  And obviously the floor is slated for a remake.  But it's coming along!

Home Stories A2Z

Removing your Sink {DIY}

 Within 24 hours I will have a new countertop, for which, I can't tell you how excited I am!  So... to avoid paying the installers $800 we will remove the sink and old countertop ourselves.

 Here's the step by step if you ever find yourself in the position of pulling out your sink.

(I warn you... there are no pretty pictures here!)

First things first: gather your tools.  Pliers, a flat head and phillips screwdriver or driver attachments, garbage disposal key, utility knife, and small pry bar.  The garbage disposal key should be near your garbage disposal or wherever you might keep your important manuals.  Ours was in a drawer next to the sink.  It's a good idea to actually use some gorilla or duct tape and keep it affixed to the disposal.  

 Clear out the underneath of your sink cabinet as well as the top of your sink area.  No need to remove cabinet doors, mine are just off because we are in the process of painting them. Unplug or shut of the power to the garbage disposal.

Find your water shut off valves under the sink.  There should be a hot and a cold knob. Turn clockwise (righty tighty) to stop water flow to faucet.

Turn on faucet to verify that the water is really off.

Using your pliers disconnect the water supply line from the water pipe. 

Unscrew the plasic ring to disconnect the drain pipe from the garbage disposal.

Using a flat head screw driver loosen the screws holding the clamps for the connection to the dishwasher.  Remove this tube from the garbage disposal. {ewww!}

Using the garbage disposal key, place it into the horizontal hole and give a strong pull. Be sure to support the disposal with your other hand as will simply fall out of the support ring.  Set the disposal in the bottom of the cabinet until you are ready to reinstall.

Loosen the plastic ring to disconnect the drain tube from the "non-disposal" side of your sink.

Using a utility knife cut the silicone adhesive that is adhering the sink to the countertop.

Most sinks have clamps holding them tight to the countertop.  Locate these clamps, loosen the screws and remove the clamps.  My double sided sink had six clamps.

I was by myself while removing the sink so I found it helpful to lay inside the cabinet and push upwards on the bottom of the sink to pop it loose from the countertop.  You can also use a crow bar to help loosen from above. Once it popped loose I was able to (stand up) grab hold of the faucet and carefully lift the sink out of the hole.  Place the sink on an old towel until you are ready to reinstall (if that is what you plan to do).  Otherwise consider dropping it off at your local ReStore for someone else to use.  I also noticed that my sink had a recycle symbol on the bottom noting that it was safe to recycle.  Never would've thought of that.  

Here we go! Ready to remove the old countertop.  Tommorow night I'll be reinstalling the sink : )

Can't wait to see my kitchen transform.  The cabinets are coming along, new flooring in the future, and countertops tomorrow!

Ready to Reinstall?? Go here for the DIY!