Blown worktop and re-sealing kitchen sink

[Postik]

I moved house last year. The house is about 4 years old. The kitchen is immaculate and perfectly fitted... apart from the sink which sadly has been bodged.

The worktop around the edge of the sink has blown in various places. The "bubbles" are hard and the laminate hasn't cracked. It looks to me as though sealant was applied to the worktop instead of to the underside of the sink. Then, when the sink has been dropped in place, it has "missed" certain sections of sealant and therefore has been open to water ingress.

I realise there is no way of reversing this but what I wanted to do ideally is to remove the sink and re-seal it properly so at least the problem cannot get any worse. At the moment we are only using the sink gingerly to stop splashes of water on the outside, but long term we need to be able to use it properly.

I had a plumber look at it and he said chances are removing the sink would crack the laminate at the edges and the problem would just go from bad to worse.

I can't help feeling if you were careful enough and took enough time, it should be possible to remove it without damaging the laminate further, but I don't know for sure.

My options are:

1. Do it myself - not really feasible because it will involve removing taps, removing the dishwasher, etc and I'm not really confident enough. If I spent the next 4 weekends on it I might be able to do it, but that's not practical. I also don't know for sure that the laminate won't crack or lift.

2. Look for someone else - however the plumber might be right and it's not possible. Either way I guess it's not the kind of job people will be queing up to do.

3. Leave it and just use the sink as normal. As the problem gets worse, bite the bullet and change the worktop in a few years. That's assuming it does get worse - I don't know at what point it happened over the last 4 years when we didn't live here.

Fitting a larger sink isn't really going to help because the sink is already quite large, and there is no additional room front and back for anything larger.

What do you think?

 

[denso13]

Point 3 for me. Not worth the hassle to be honest.

 

[oldbuffer]

1. I've done it as a favour to a friend. As denso13 says it REALLY isn't worth the hassle.
2. It took me 4 visits, two of which were over half a day.
3. The laminate may look in one piece, but its very thin, very brittle, and breaks if you look too hard at it.

 

[Postik]

Thanks both - when you say it's not worth the hassle, if you get another 15 years out of the kitchen rather than another 2 years, doesn't that make it worthwhile? Or do you mean it would just be better to pay for new worktops?

I am guessing I won't get much change out of £2k for the latter including materials and labour. But you are confirming my suspicions that I'm probably not going to find anyone - at least not anyone conscientious, careful and patient enough - that is willing to do it "the hard way"!

 

[conny]

You could try looking/asking in your local parish church magazine for a retired plumber/kitchen fitter, who may be looking for a bit of activity and a few quid to buy himself a few pints in the pub.
Our local magazine sometimes has adverts from such people who are willing to do some joinery/gardening/computer repairs etc.
(I've never needed to use them yet, but the days are approaching when I may be past my prime )