We have a 700mm nook in our kitchen which we are making into a hot drinks station. The cupboards above and below the worktop will house mugs, boxes of tea and coffee beans, and on the worktop itself about half of it will be occupied by a coffee machine and the other half of it will be occupied by a small round 300mm diameter undermount sink and a boiling water tap.

I would have ideally preferred a 200mm sink so as to give more space to the coffee machine, but we haven't been able to find one that works with our colour scheme, so 300mm it is.

I came across this article which discusses the pros and cons of different reveal styles and it made me think I could have a negative reveal so that I lose less than a 300mm diameter from my worktop. The only disadvantage quoted in the article of a negative reveal is said to be

 

"The countertop ledge can easily chip, and its exposed underside may attract mold.

Though these risks depend on your countertop material, a durable stone countertop might cancel out those concerns."

 

We are fitting 30mm thick caesarstone so I'm assuming this counts as "durable stone" and that chips are not a risk factor. Given the only thing splashing down that sink will be hot water, tea, coffee and the odd bit of unused milk, should I be worried about mould? Could I have a 25mm negative reveal all the way around so that my sink hole ends up being just 250mm in diameter or is this asking for trouble in terms of mould? 

 

We are having MVHR in case that makes any difference.

 

10 minutes ago, Adsibob said:

I would have ideally preferred a 200mm sink

 

Do you need a full sink. A drip tray works for us with integral tap font from Zip: All fits in Ø215mm

Well this would have been ideal, but when i looked at Zip the price was ££££. 

We've already purchased our boiling water tap and tank, and now just need the receptacle to catch the water drips and drain away, ideally something in matt black or brass. 

Edited January 20, 20224 yr by Adsibob

We went without the chiller, and paid around £680 all in. It did seem a good deal compared to other outlets, and our Kitchen supplier didn't normally sell Zip, their main boiling taps were Qooker.

 

I liked the Zip as it was the only one I tried that didn't "spit".

2 minutes ago, IanR said:

We went without the chiller, and paid around £680 all in. It did seem a good deal compared to other outlets, and our Kitchen supplier didn't normally sell Zip, their main boiling taps were Qooker.

 

I liked the Zip as it was the only one I tried that didn't "spit".

Wow, I wish I'd known they were that price, I would have considered them. I got a quote about a year ago and it was coming in at about £1400.

I've now seen this drip tray from Qooker which is almost ideal, except it's only available in one finish, which doesn't go with our colour scheme.

I'll keep looking. But interested to know what people think of my negative 25mm reveal idea. Another constraint is the worktop is being templated this Monday so i need to hurry!

2 minutes ago, Adsibob said:

 I got a quote about a year ago and it was coming in at about £1400.

 

They were cheaper than that with Chilled and Boiling in 2017. Ambient and Boiling were around £900 when I was looking, but as I said, my Kitchen place came up with a good price.

 

My concern about your 25mm overhang is whether you'd be able to get the tap close enough. You'd need a "full size" tap to reach, I would think, rather than a typical boiling tap with a short spout.

It's okay, the tap we've gone for is rather massive:

 

 (This was not intentional, but I guess is now serendipitous.) 

It's basically a standard kitchen tap sized tap.

I've decided to get a narrower sink. It's a oblong shaped one that is only 160mm wide by 320 long, so will free up another 140mm of worktop space. Was half the price of the round sink as well! 

If that's the Quettle tap, make sure you put an in-line descaler if you're not treating your water elsewhere...

14 hours ago, Adsibob said:

We are fitting 30mm thick caesarstone so I'm assuming this counts as "durable stone" and that chips are not a risk factor.

Chips are always a risk. Some materials are more prone to chipping than others...

2 hours ago, Mike said:

Chips are always a risk. Some materials are more prone to chipping than others...

But where does the risk from chipping come from? Is it that if you have a heavy pan, and as you lift it out of the sink there is a risk you catch the edge of the worktop because of the negative reveal or hit the edge of the worktop with it? Because if that is really the only source of chips in this situation, then I'm not too concerned because the sink is nowhere near big enough to have anything larger in it than a tea mug or two, and in a contest between a tea mug and 30mm caesarstone, I'm hoping caesarstone wins.

1 hour ago, Adsibob said:

in a contest between a tea mug and 30mm caesarstone, I'm hoping caesarstone wins.

 

Even on an edge? I wouldn't be so sure. Bevels can help but with rounded edges looking rather dated these days a straight-angled bevel still has quite a vulnerable corner to it.

19 hours ago, Adsibob said:

"The countertop ledge can easily chip, and its exposed underside may attract mold.

Though these risks depend on your countertop material, a durable stone countertop might cancel out those concerns."

 

We have an undermount sink and granite work tops. Terrible problem with the sealer going mouldy. Needs replacing really but that would be a lot of work I think.  

1 hour ago, Temp said:

 

We have an undermount sink and granite work tops. Terrible problem with the sealer going mouldy. Needs replacing really but that would be a lot of work I think.  

Can’t you just scrape the sealant off with a Stanley knife (or more sophisticated scraping tool) and then re-seal?

3 hours ago, MJNewton said:

 

Even on an edge? I wouldn't be so sure. Bevels can help but with rounded edges looking rather dated these days a straight-angled bevel still has quite a vulnerable corner to it.

We are having rounded edges, I think they are called pencil. Call me old fashioned, but I’ve always hated sharp angles in interiors and always will.

Old fashioned wasn't the best choice of words, or at least I didn't mean the negative connotations of the term. I meant less common but if you're having them then they'll be a lot stronger without that sharp edge. I think I'd still be mindful of potential damage from a fast moving mug taking just the right trajectory... 

6 hours ago, Adsibob said:

Can’t you just scrape the sealant off with a Stanley knife (or more sophisticated scraping tool) and then re-seal?

 

 It might be possible to dig it out of there with a knife but not sure how I would replace it. A regular sealer gun wouldn't fit in the sink. Would need something like a right angle nozzle ?

 

4 hours ago, Temp said:

A regular sealer gun wouldn't fit in the sink.

 

You can get silicone sealant in 'squeeze tubes' (large toothpaste tubes) which I expect would work... or at least that was my mitigation plan when I opted for an overhang on our sink! 

Edited January 22, 20224 yr by MJNewton

8 minutes ago, MJNewton said:

You can get silicone sealant in 'squeeze tubes' (large toothpaste tubes)

Link?

5 hours ago, Temp said:

Would need something like a right angle nozzle

Cramer make rotating nozzles and they are very good - makes it easy to get into this sort of area. Not cheap but if you rotate back to “straight” you can pull any set sealant out when it’s dried. 
 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07L4S6QD6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_432TKJ82GH02BD50DMD8

52 minutes ago, Adsibob said:

Link?

 

This sort of thing. However, having now seen those angled nozzles @PeterW linked to I think I'd actually go for those now!

Screwfix have some flexible nozzles too. 

 

 

I might buy some even advance if needing them - could be handy to have around. 

Edited January 22, 20224 yr by MJNewton