Replacement of Drop-In Stainless Kitchen Sink Questions...

[Evan Evans]

I have a quartz countertop with a standard 33"X33" drop-in stainless sink that is pretty beat and could use replacing. The width of the under-sink area is 32". Questions are:
1. Why do most product listing state that the required width of cabinet under the sink is 36"? What I've got is 32" wide and there's plenty of space, at least for the sink that's there.
2. Will I be limited to replacing this with another stainless model, or can I look at some of the composite/granite materials? Or is that dictated by the exact shape of the cut-out?
3. Does 1-hole vs. 2- or 3-hole matter anymore, with the trim packages that seem to come with most faucets? Will likely use a pull-down faucet of some type, so don't need the auxiliary sprayer (or the hole).

Thanks in advance for the advice and tips!

 

[Reach4]

I have no good answers for your questions. I can add to your list of questions.

Are you going to put in a garbage disposal? That affects things like making sure that the center of the drain into the wall is at least 7 inches below the bottom of the sink. If you undermount a granite sink, the bottom of the sink will drop significantly -- in addition to depth considerations.

3. If you will install a dishwasher, that affects whether you should have a hole for an air gap for the dishwasher. Will you want a dispenser faucet for a RO or other filter? That's a hole. Some add a dispenser for hand soap.

 

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[Evan Evans]

I have no good answers for your questions. I can add to your list of questions.

Are you going to put in a garbage disposal? That affects things like making sure that the center of the drain into the wall is at least 7 inches below the bottom of the sink. If you undermount a granite sink, the bottom of the sink will drop significantly -- in addition to depth considerations.

3. If you will install a dishwasher, that affects whether you should have a hole for an air gap for the dishwasher. Will you want a dispenser faucet for a RO or other filter? That's a hole. Some add a dispenser for hand soap.

Thanks for this, it's all good input. There's a disposal in place now (on the left), where it will stay, but will check on the distance to the drain hole in the wall from the bottom of the existing sink. One that I'm considering is an inch deeper, so that will come into play as I decide. This will be another top-mount sink, so no further loss of height from a bottom-mount, just what might result from a deeper sink.

There's also a dishwasher (on the right), so that plumbing is already in place. I'm just assuming it's a fairly easy unhook/rehook process, but if I'm missing something, let me know.

My local Home Depot plumging/kitchen guy told me today that the 36" under-cabinet width requirement is basically a bunch of hooey, and that if I'm replacing a 33"X22" top mount sink with a 33X22 top mount sink, my under-cabinet width will be fine, which just seems like common sense to me.