Fitting a new sink - ease and cost?

ST1991

Our kitchen is what can only be described as 'mega gross' so for the time being we're doing a few cheap alternations to make it as nice as it can be.

The sink is a one-bowl stainless steel with a draining board, pretty average/small and embedded into the laminate worktop in the normal way, sealed all around. The draining board has been dented at some point by the previous owner so water just sits on it.
The tap is a mixer, and the cold water doesn't come on until you turn it around 3 times, then whoosh it's on full pressure. Eases off normally when you turn it down. Seems to be a fault with the cold twist tap only, as hot works fine.

So... we want to get a new sink!
We are OK with DIY, but never attempted anything plumb-y before. How easy is it to remove and fit a new sink and tap?
Anything i should be especially careful/wary of when doing it?
If i get a sink with the same dimension and places for waste and tap will the new one just fit back on to the existing pipes or do i need to get any new parts to seal it?

And lastly, if the answer to the above is beyond my skills, how much do you think it would cost for a plumber to remove and install a new sink?

Thanks all!

nofoollikeold

No one can say how easy it is without seeing it. For example, do the hot and cold pipes under the sink have isolation valves so the water can be shut off? Can you find a replacement sink which doesn't need alterations to the worktop?

On the other hand, its not a huge job:

1. Try and measure the gap into which the current sink fits, and get one to fit the same gap. If you can't do that, measure the width and depth (front to back) of the old, and get one the same size, or slightly larger. Be very careful if the current one has very rounded corners - unless you get a look alike, you'll have to at least square off the corners of the worktop cut out.
2. Decide what sort of taps you want, make sure they are suitable for the pressure available (low pressure = cold water tank in loft feeding hot water cylinder in airing cupboard. Three main types, separate hot and cold, deck mixer and single hole (monobloc) mixer. First two require two holes in sink, last only one.
3. Buy a new waste to go with the new sink.
4. Very unlikely anything will fit onto the old pipework. But wastes are not too difficult to fit with care and a sharp hacksaw. Modern taps often come with flexible connectors. These are relatively easy to fit, but must not be kinked or twisted. Assume some copper pipework changes needed, but can be done with compression fittings, or even push fit, so no need to solder.
5. Turn off water, remove waste pipes, remove old taps after marking which pipe hot and which cold, remove clips under work top holding sink in place, remove old sink. May have to slide a knife under edge of sink to cut old seal / silicone. Clean up worktop.
6. If necessary enlarge and / or square up corners of cut out to suit new sink. Seal any unsealed edges of cut out with quick dry varnish.
7. Fit new taps and waste to new sink. Much easier before fitting it. Flexi hoses ending in a 1/2" BSP female connector should not be screwed directly to an isolation valve. Isolation valve should have short piece of copper pipe with 15mm / 1/2"BSP male "iron" (made of brass) to which flex screws.
8. Fit sink to cut out, using supplied seal or seal with clear silicone (Dow Corning 785) and tighten clips to pull sink down onto work top.
9. Connect new waste to existing waste pipe work.
10. Connect hot and cold to correct pipes, fitting isolation valves if not there before.

Job done.

If I were doing it I'd charge by the hour, I don't do jobs like this fixed price. I'd expect labour to be around £150, plus maybe £20 for isolation valves and other odds and ends if needed.

ST1991

nofoollikeold wrote: »

No one can say how easy it is without seeing it. For example, do the hot and cold pipes under the sink have isolation valves so the water can be shut off? Can you find a replacement sink which doesn't need alterations to the worktop?

On the other hand, its not a huge job:

...

Thank-you!!! That is so helpful. I'll show it to the husband tonight after work and see if he thinks it is do-able between us (mostly him!).
Thank-you for a cost estimate too. We are on a very tight budget so it's good to have an idea

nofoollikeold

Don't forget you've got to add the cost of the sink and the taps!