*This blog post is sponsored by Elkay and reflects my personal views and opinions on the product!*
When I was planning for my kitchen renovation, there was one thing for sure that I knew I needed…
I had always wanted a white, single bowl, fireclay sink. It was just one of those things!
But there was just one problem… we didn’t want to replace our cabinetry or countertops. And our current sink was a simple, double bowl stainless steel under-mount sink.
Was I going to let that stop me? No way. Where there’s a will, there’s a way!
I received this gorgeous Elkay Fireclay Single Bowl Farmhouse Sink Kit, and it would work in my kitchen.
So I got to researching and got to work, and I installed my gorgeous sink (seriously, it’s what dreams are made of) into my existing cabinetry and countertops.
Here’s how I did it…
HOW TO INSTALL AN ELKAY FIRECLAY FARMHOUSE SINK INTO YOUR EXISTING CABINETRY
First things first, gather your materials!
STEP 1: MEASURE & GATHER YOUR MATERIALS
There is one very important measurement you need to take into consideration before you purchase your farmhouse sink. The width of your cabinetry!
Sinks are made to fit a certain size cabinet, and if you’re not replacing your cabinetry, you need to pay attention to this!
Our 30″ Elkay Farmhouse Sink was made to fit cabinets up to 33″ wide (measure from seam to seam of the piece of cabinetry that holds your sink). Some sinks are made to fit larger or smaller cabinets, so pay attention to the details of the sink you’re looking to purchase.
The rest… as you’ll see… can be done yourself!
HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED…
MATERIALS
- Elkay Fireclay 30″ x 19-15/16″ x 9-1/8″, Single Bowl Farmhouse Sink Kit (or another Elkay Farmhouse Sink that fits your cabinetry).
- 3-4 2x4s
- Diamond blade for circular saw
- Spray bottle with water
- Pocket hole screws
- 2″ drywall screws
- Plastic Wood
- Caulk
- Wood glue
- Dust mask
TOOLS
STEP 2: REMOVE YOUR OLD SINK, CABINET DOORS, AND TRIM
Before you get started, remember to turn off the water and electric for your sink and near the work site! Also, always wear your safety gear and follow your tool safety instructions!
Once you have all your materials and your site is safe, remove your existing cabinet doors, cabinet trim, and sink from the cabinet you’ll be working on.
Depending on how your sink was installed, you might have to remove it differently. Ours was undermounted, so we just scored around the glue, unscrewed the support screws, and knocked it loose.
Save your cabinet doors, hinges, trim, and hardware! You’ll be fitting it all back in around your sink.
STEP 3: MARK AND CUT YOUR COUNTERTOPS
We opted to flush mount our new Elkay Farmhouse Sink, so we flipped our sink over on our countertop and traced around the sink to see where we needed to cut.
Then, we set up our circular saw with our diamond blade made for cutting granite.
Depending on what kind of material your countertops are, this step might look different for you! Determine what kind of circular saw blade would work best for your countertops before proceeding!
This was a 2 person job for us, and I highly recommend wearing a dust mask for this step! It gets dusty, and you don’t want to breathe that in! You also want to make sure to wear safety goggles and gloves here too.
We lined up our circular saw with our first mark and clamped a guide board to the countertop so we didn’t veer off course.
Once I revved up my saw, my husband continuously sprayed the saw with water so it didn’t spark or overheat while I was cutting.
We continued this process for each cut until we had cut around all our markings.
Because we planned to flush mount our sink, we didn’t polish our edges.
STEP 4: BUILD YOUR SUPPORTS
Once our countertop was cut out, it was time to build supports in our existing cabinet to hold up our sink.
Farmhouse sinks can be very heavy, so this is a very important step!
Using my 2x4s, I measured and cut down boards to build my supports.
I measured the depth of my sink to see where my support boards needed to be in our cabinet to flush mount our sink.
You can see in the photo above that I added supports around the sides by screwing them into our cabinets. Then I added vertical supports under each of those boards.
I then added a board across the back center using pocket hole screws to attach it to the boards on either side. Once that was in place, I added two extra vertical supports underneath just to be safe.
Tip: make sure your center board isn’t in the way of your drain hole, and don’t forget to check and make sure everything is level!
And for a little extra support (better safe than sorry!), we added horizontal boards across the top so our sink would be nice and sturdy!
We didn’t secure these boards until we knew our plumbing could fit! Once we dry fitted everything, we secured these boards and sat our sink in place.
STEP 5: CUT DOWN AND REINSTALL YOUR TRIM
Now, it’s time to make it look like your sink was always meant to be in your cabinetry!
Grab those trim pieces you took apart and bring them back to your sink. Fit them in and mark anywhere you need to cut to fit your sink into place.
I ended up cutting slivers off the top of each side piece of trim to hug around the sink with my jigsaw.
I then fit the trim back around the sink and nailed it into place.
Then I grabbed the trim piece that went across the center of the cabinet under the previous sink and installed it directly underneath my farmhouse sink.
This make it look like our cabinet was created for our sink!
STEP 6: CUT DOWN AND REINSTALL YOUR CABINET DOORS
Now for those cabinet doors that are too big for your new and improved cabinet!
Measure to see how long your doors should be based on the trim pieces that you just installed, and remove the hinges and hardware from your doors.
I took my existing doors and cut the bottom trim piece off using my jigsaw. A circular saw or table saw would also do here. I set the bottom trim aside to reattach in a moment.
Then I measured and cut a chunk out of each door. For my cabinetry, I needed to cut 2″ out of each.
I grabbed the doors and bottom trim pieces and wood glued them back together. Then I used plastic wood to fill any gaps.
Once the plastic wood was dry, I sanded it down so it was flush with the cabinet. Then, I caulked around the seams for a nicer finish!
I also added a couple of nails through the bottom to fully secure the bottom piece into place.
Once everything was dry and secure, I needed to carve out new bottom hinge holes for our shorter cabinet doors. Using my hinge jig and following the measurements based on the hinges we were reusing, I carved out new holes.
Then I reattached my hinges and hardware to my doors, measured where the hinges needed to be installed on the trim work, and installed the doors!
STEP 7: HOOK UP PLUMBING AND SEAL THE EDGES
Once the doors and trim are all done, it’s time to hook up your plumbing! We are not plumbers, so I’m not going to tell you exactly how to do this part. But we always try to follow the basic plan that was set up before we replace a sink.
Note that if you’re installing a new faucet, make sure you do that before you put your sink in place! It will make your life way easier!
Once everything is in place and you’re sure you won’t need to move your sink for anything else, caulk around all the edges where your sink meets your countertop. Then, caulk around where your sink meets your trim pieces too!
This will give it a seamless finish! I always follow the caulk with a baby wipe to smooth it out and clean up the extra.
STEP 8: ADMIRE YOUR NEW GORGEOUS ELKAY FIRECLAY FARMHOUSE SINK
And that’s it! It seems like a lot, but if we can do it, anyone can! Just research and follow instructions for the various materials you’re working with, and you’ll have your new, gorgeous Elkay Farmhouse Sink installed in no time!
And the best part? No one will ever know your kitchen wasn’t originally designed for a farmhouse sink!
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