Undermount sink has come away from worktop.

rosie383

We had a quartz worktop fitted about 4 weeks, and part of the fitting included the fitting of an undermount sink (new, Franke, supplied by us).
The sink has come away from under the worktop already. It is just resting on the very edges of the units underneath.
I contacted the company who fitted it, and enclosed pictures. He says that we should have further attached the sink ourselves as they only used silicone to attach it.
My husband was with the fitters on the day and at no time was told that we needed to do anything else ourselves except to leave the wooden baton, which was wedged underneath, in place until the next day.
He is refusing to do anything about it unless we pay a further £100 for the fitters to come out and remedy the situation.

1. Do I have any right to expect them to fix it without further payment?
2. If we have to fix it ourselves, is it something which is easy to do?

I have discovered a product called Cinclips which looks as if they would do the job but I can't find any in the UK. Does anyone know of something else on the UK market?

shaun_from_Africa

I have a Franke double bowl stainless steel sink fitted into a Corian worktop (which is about the same thickness as many granite worktops) and the sink is fitted with a kit that was supplied with the sink.

These is the same as the one that was originally supplied:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Franke-AH304599-Fitting-Set-with-AH303175-Clips-For-a-Two-Bowl-Kitchen-Sink-/400658646829?hash=item5d491dc72d:m:m9Xr4RLfdfhYMso2ZiIgOUg
and it may well do the job for you.
The red plastic part of the clip slides onto the sink and you simply tighten a screw which pulls up the metal part against the worktop.

brightontraveller

rosie383 wrote: »

We had a quartz worktop fitted about 4 weeks, and part of the fitting included the fitting of an undermount sink (new, Franke, supplied by us).
The sink has come away from under the worktop already. It is just resting on the very edges of the units underneath.
I contacted the company who fitted it, and enclosed pictures. He says that we should have further attached the sink ourselves as they only used silicone to attach it.
My husband was with the fitters on the day and at no time was told that we needed to do anything else ourselves except to leave the wooden baton, which was wedged underneath, in place until the next day.
He is refusing to do anything about it unless we pay a further £100 for the fitters to come out and remedy the situation.

1. Do I have any right to expect them to fix it without further payment?
2. If we have to fix it ourselves, is it something which is easy to do?

I have discovered a product called Cinclips which looks as if they would do the job but I can't find any in the UK. Does anyone know of something else on the UK market?

You could argue it should have been fitted with clips etc but depends what contract says who supplied materials etc you get into they said you said check T and C's in contract (personally wouldn't have them back )

A good 100% silicone will hold but most would add clips/other supports to work inconjuction with it some would argue silicone only there to stop water franke do have specific undermount called g-clip
http://www.franke.com/kitchensystems/au/en/home/products_information/installation/franke_g-clip.html
You can add/make your own using bit of epoxy and bit of scrap metal below worktop stick epoxy to worktop and bits of metal if you use metal you can bend but not to thin you can remove sink and rebend if needed , one in each corner some also add one front and back in the centre. Plus clear silicone around sink keeps it water proof

You can also use batten across fixing it tight under sink (some also add plastic packers and make it accessible to add more if wood shrinks sags etc) How hard it is to do depends on how easy plumbing is to disconnect choose one within you DIY level they all pretty much do the same thing

rosie383

Thanks Shaun. I will look and see if there is anything like that in among the Franke fittings. So this bit of kit works without drilling into the quartz?

rosie383

Cross posted with you BT. Will have a go once I look at whatever fixing bits there are that came with the sink.

shaun_from_Africa

rosie383 wrote: »

So this bit of kit works without drilling into the quartz?

Assuming that the sink is similar to mine then no holes need to be drilled into the worktop.
Ideally, you put the clips on the sink before lowering it into place (When they are on the sink you can easily move them out of the way when lowering the sink into the cutout) but this won't be possible for you to do if there is a tap and waste pipe fitted but you should be able to do it with the sink in situ..

This picture shows how the clips are fitted:

Once the sink is in place, you simply get access from below and tighten the screws on the clips and this pulls the sink down against the worktop.

Ruski

Very useful Shaun - but completely useless to the OP as they have an undermounted sink.

OP - When I install undermounts in conjunction with the worktop suppliers I always fit the sink into at plywood cutout (that is attached flush with the top of the base unit) that fits the sink exactly and provides full support to the flanges of the sink BEFORE the worktop is installed over the top of the sink. Silicone is only used to ensure a watertight fit between the sink and worktop - not to take the weight of a sink by itself.

HTH

Russ

shaun_from_Africa

Ruski wrote: »

Very useful Shaun - but completely useless to the OP as they have an undermounted sink.

Thanks for that. I really must read a bit more carefully.
:wall:

rosie383

Thanks everyone. Was thinking those clips would be great Shaun until I spotted the obvious flaw!
I have wedged a bit of wood under the sink, resting on the base unit. I have some L brackets and was thinking that if I screwed 4 of those under the edges of the sink and into the base units on either side, that would hold it pretty solidly. Bound to be easier than wooden batons. Or would that just be a waste of time and effort?

shaun_from_Africa

Maybe this will be a bit more useful than my earlier post!

http://www.gclip.co.uk/Home.html
They seem to be trade suppliers only but they may well be able to point you in the right direction.

ryder72

Silicone, if it bonds completely and correctly will provide a very strong seal and wont need additional support. However, the IF is the key factor as gravity can pull the sink away from the worktop as will the tension in the steel.

One option is to clip the sink to the worktop but most companies dont do this. Instead it is good practice to provide a cradle for the sink. This can be by way of a timber, chipboard or plywood frame. This will ensure the sink doesnt move.

As it stands now, you probably have no choice but to them the worktop guys back. When worktop fabricators do retail job, they have no loyalty to the customer as the chances of them every getting repeat business from you are virtually non-existent. You cant argue with them for weeks and get nowhere or you can just pay them to come and sort it out.

In general fabricators that do retail work dont do great quality work and the best fabricators in the business supply only to the trade.