Ceramic sink has a crack after 2 months of use

smoggieboy4

We had a new quartz worktop and ceramic sink installed. The sink was purchased from Tapsuk and the worktop from elsewhere. The sink was installed by a professional but the sink didn't come with any installation instructions and neither TapsUK or Villeroy an& Boch the manufacturer of the sink could provide any installation instructions.
All was well for the first 2 months and now weve noticed this crack in the corner of the sink which wasn't there when it was installed. The sink is undermount and the quartz cut out is in a waterfall design so impact in the origin of the crack is impossible. 
TapsUk are saying it s a manufacturer issue and they are checking with them.
Where do i stand if they come back and say that's its occurred during install or misuse which it hasn't? Am i covered under the Sales of Goods act 1979 and that the goods aren't the " satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and last a reasonable amount of time" "Statutory right" for a replacement or refund?
Many thanks in advance!!!!

aoleks

I must say I'm not a plumber, but I have engineering knowledge. Sinks don't just crack like that, time usually results in hundreds of micro cracks which are barely visible. I checked out tapsUK and their sinks seem fairly cheap, but that's no reason to imply they're poorly built or are expected to crack.

With that in mind, a quartz worktop is "non-negotiable", unlike a wooden one. While it's not clear from the picture, I can almost guarantee there's pressure on either the back- or lateral side of the sink, causing some sheer force along that axis.

You can try approaching the vendor for some good will, maybe discount on buying a new sink, but not, that sink didn't crack for no reason, there's something that's not right there. I would not install it flush with the worktop, leave a 1mm gap and use kitchen grade silicone.

maisie_cat

I have had ceramic kitchen sinks and suspect it's because quartz has no flex or the base on which the sink sits is not level.
I would say it's an installation issue rather than an inherently faulty product.
When our V&B sink arrived from tapsuk we were required to sign to say there were no cracks, I'm guessing they get lots of claims otherwise.

smoggieboy4

thanks for the replies, i have spoken to the fitter who explained hes installed plenty of those sinks to quartz and not had a problem in the past with the method used. The 2 Uk distributors of V&B told me that they dont supply fitting instructions so that is where i cant say the fitter has done anything wrong in his install. Both distributors told me that using a non -flexible adhesive isnt a problem either (must admit i did find that rather strange).

So im left not really knowing where to take this other than accepting iv got a big problem getting the sink off and forking out for another one.

tacpot12

There might be an arguement that the sink is not fit for purpose if there are no fitting instructions and no fitting kit is  available, however it should have been returned when this was discovered. 

I think you need a sanitaryware expert to tell you (and any court that might be involved in a small claim) what the likely cause of the crack is - could it be a manufacturing fault, or could it be installation fault, or is the most likely explanation something else? (It doesn't look like the sort of crack that might occur through use or misuse of the sink.)