Warped Countertop at Kitchen Faucet

Avanzi

Hello.

As the title suggests, I guess there has been a too much water that has leaked through and under the faucet cover. Over time the countertop has warped where the holes are for the faucet and hot/cold water lines. Is there some neat trick to repair this without replacing coutertop such as simply cutting the damage out? The sink will still have some support near the backsplash end & the stainless steel sink has holes. Feedback appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Avanzi

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krisg

Avanzi,
I had this happen to me in my old condo. As far as I was able to find out there is no way to repair the particle board once it absorbs water and expands. The ideal would be to replace the whole counter top, since it would probably be near impossible to find matching tops. If you do happen to find something that works for you, then make sure that you cut out enough to have the seams as far away from the sink as possible. If a seam by the sink fails, the water will go right in and you will be back to square one.

I ended up moving before fixing our top, but my plan was to actually replace the whole top with a plywood, and then cover with ceramic tiles. The tiles would cover any seams. Good luck.

K

timthetoolman

Hmmmm. At least from my experience it appears that this counter top may have been cut out for the sink improperly. It does not need to have that much remaining surface of counter top at back of sink. It should be cut out with only about 3/8th in lip on each side. Only about 3/4" smaller than the sink in width and depth. Having not been done on back side it required the installer to drill these holes to run supply lines, making it harder to install supply lines and much more prone to water damage. If done right this wouldnt have been an issue. But have faith there is hope.

Fix what has been done It appears the damaged area of the counter top doesn't need to be and shouldn't be there. In fact almost all stainless sinks require this part of the counter to not be there as for this is where the track is for the back sink clips. Do this:

1. place the sink in the cutout
2. trace a line around the back side
3. measure in 3/8ths of an inch and draw another line (use actual corners of sink to trace pattern of corners)
4. cut out remaining material which appears to be damaged

Counter tops should be cut from the bottom for ease and to avoid chipping the laminate on the saws up-stroke. To avoid having to work under sink or removing counter top to cut, you may want to take a straight edge and a razor and go over your cut line numerous times before cutting, this will avoid chipping. It looks like the cut would be pretty close to the back splash, so you may wanna try a jig saw. If you're a diyer, whatever you use, the cut doesnt necessarily have to look decent as long as you stay near your lines as the sink will cover imperfections.

Ron6519

I agree wth timthetoolman, just cut ut out. Then prime and paint the exposed flakeboard or give it multiple coats of poly.
Ron

RippySkippy

As Ron6519 hints, this is why when you install a sink into particle board, you prime and paint the sides and bottom of all cutouts. It's not a matter of if the particle board will puff up...it's when. That crap should be outlawed. A reasonably decent counter is now shot.

Avanzi

You guys are great. The feedback was excellent!

After some messing around to test whether cutting the counter where it was warped would do some good I found that the wood also lifted near the backsplash. So even if I had cut it out, the sink would have some "lift" at the back. In the end, I put it back. Not too noticible. I will likely replace when I have too. And yes, particle board should be outlawed!

Thanks again.

sgbotsford

While it is too late for Avanzi, here are a few more ideas:

1. Get a new sink that takes a larger hole.

2 Enlarge the hole to get rid of the junk, and as mentioned above, seal it with multiple coats of oil base paint.

Get a piece of 1/4" or 3/8" black high density polyethylene that is large enough to get to solid counter top. (Yellow pages -- industrial plastics -- May get it cheap if it's a scrap they have on hand.) Cut a hole in this for your sink. Mount the whole thing in your new counter top. In essence you are making a wider flange for the sink. Note that it's easier to attach your faucet while the sink is out.

Note that there is no reason that counters have to match. We have an island done in one of the formica FX180 series, a side counter salvaged from Habitat for Humanity's Re-Use-it store, and two short counters covered in butcherblock from Ikea.