New kitchen counter existing cast iron sink (lien, floor, roof)

[Indiana Beekeeper]

Hey all.

Background info:

Going through Lowe's and using their contractor; I am listing the house for sale as soon as these counters go in. I originally wanted to put in butcher block but after 20 calls to different shops, no one wanted to do it. I would have put the counters in myself, but I can not lift the sink.

So, the Lowe's rep told me I could reuse my sink, white enamel cast iron, which I think is great and much better than a plain Jane (no offense to Jane) SS sink. It is not an undermount. I also have new brushed nickel hardware and a brushed nickel gooseneck faucet. The counters are called Ice Queen, white with flecks. White upper cabinets and lower teal.

I paid for tear down because the sink is over 100 lbs and I can't physically lift it out or back in. I paid specifically for demo because of this. Lowe's also wanted to charge me $475.00 for a plumber to come out and ONLY disconnect the water lines and P-trap and then reconnect. I laughed out loud and asked her three times if that is all the plumber was going to do. And she said yes. I said I can do that myself. No mention of the induction top stove.

So I had the guy out yesterday to do the template for my counters. He immediately asked about my sink, so I explained the above to him. He said that no, his company does not remove the sink, I had to have it removed before they come. I asked why the heck am I paying over $600 to remove an L-shaped counter if I have to remove the sink?! He said that "these old cast iron enamel sinks get chipped on removal and my company doesn't want to pay for a new one". He conveniently got out a paper with a list of SS sinks, all undermount that his company has in stock, which had no price list.

He then tells me about the stove top. No mention of an electrician by Lowe's and that I needed to have it removed before installation.

No, I have not called either Lowe's or the contractor. I am hoping someone can tell me that they reused their CIE sink, which is what I want to do. Only because I think it will look better, but mostly I'm sick of spending money.

So, here are my questions:

Has anyone used Lowe's and got this runaround?

Has anyone removed their CIE sink without chipping it? I asked the template maker what percentage gets chipped and he said 85% of the time.

Am I overthinking the SS sink? I think an undermount sink looks more polished but what do you think about a SS against all the brushed nickel? I will not spend the money for an upgraded, non SS sink. I also can not wait until they actually chip the sink to decide on another, since the counters will be fabricated to my existing sink. I'm not a gambling (wo) man, so I really don't want to take a chance on having to buy a sink to retro-fit the fabricated counters.

What is involved with unhooking the stove top? I replaced all the outlets, switches, and ceiling fans myself so is this something that I can or more importantly, should do? I looked at it briefly and the wires go into a box so I don't know what it entails. Youtube is my go to for info and I haven't been there yet.

And lastly, what do I do when I call Lowe's/contractor and tell them I can not remove that sink? I am not paying more money when I have already asked these questions and paid in full for the service.

Thanks for any input.

[Coldjensens]

You can buy butcher block at IKEA. It is a special order item.

Any decent contractor or handyman can cut it finish it and install it.



The big box home improvement stores do not have anyone special working for them. They just contract with the same people you can find in the phone book. However the do get a lower price due to the volume. Then of course Lowes marks up the price some so they can profit too. The problem is you get the same guys you can get on your own, but they are being paid less. Guess which job they will like better?

Lowes Home Depot and the like do have a vetting process. I am not sure what they do, call a few references maybe. I had a client with a Home depot contract. He was a drunk. I never saw him not drunk. I do not think they did that good a ob of vetting.

[K'ledgeBldr]

Dealing with 3rd party contractors thru HD or Lowes is usually a joke- period!

A cast iron sink is usually so friggin' heavy it doesn't need any kind of anchors or attachments. You merely cut the caulk loose and push up from the bottom of the sink. These a-holes usually take a prybar to the edge and pry it up- slip; and there goes the chip(s).

A little common sense goes a long way- as to your predicament, hire a handyman to remove the sink. Take measurements of the opening and send them along- or have the countertop contractor come back out to measure.

Then when the countertop is installed have the handyman come back and hook it back up. He can surely do the cooktop also.

[Indiana Beekeeper]

Thanks for the replies!

CJ, yeah, I think it's a 50-50 on the contractors. TBH, there is a serious lack of qualified professionals to go around. I feel like people don't care anymore and don't put any pride into their job. I just had my roof done and the workers thought it was big joke when I stepped on nails (after they left for day). It's Florida, shoes are kinda optional here. (I was wearing flip flops, it came right through), garbage everywhere that they didn't bother to pick up, the list is long. I told the owner about it and he was useless.

KBldr, thanks for info on sink, what I needed to know.

Just to be clear,

I called over 20 handymen!!! No one, and I mean not one of them, from kitchen shops to handyman, wants to come out and do it. This is not an exaggeration! There is a serious building boom going on right now and no one wants to come out and piddle with my sink. Each time I call a handyman, they say "too busy, here's a guy" and then that guy gives me the same spiel.

Yeah, not a fan of big box stores third party contractors. But, they are around the corner and there is a layer of protection, meaning the fabricators don't get paid if I complain. I also get a 10% military discount, so I guess it's a wash. I also googled them which I am finding is just not great at vetting. The roofer I chose had 4.5 stars and I give them a zero. The counter top fabricators is about the same. I suppose it depends on the day of the week.

I youtube'd the stove top. Looks as easy as the ceiling fan.

[Crashj007]

Stoves and stove tops most often plug in to a receptacle on the floor depending on the original construction. You might be able to do this yourself. No electrician required.

[Indiana Beekeeper]

Forgot to add, the calling 20 handymen and shops was to install butcher block counters. No one wanted to mess with that either.

[Indiana Beekeeper]

Crash,

It's an induction stove top and it has a silver receptacle that wires feed into, I guess they call it hard wired. No plug like a stove/oven unit that has an outlet in the wall behind it. It does look easy though.

[chet everett]

While I feel maybe a little bad for the OP, there are lots of reasons why what they want is not going to be easy to accomplish with any collection of "independent contractors". Folks may believe the "marketing pitch" that the "big box store will make this easy" but they have ZERO field supervision and frankly there is not anything magic about their "volume discount" either. There is really "no layer of protection" either as the OP will have to pay for any work done or risk having a mechanic's lien situation. Lowe's does not care...

Basically this situation is why many kitchen remodels, especially something that seems "simple" like a refreshed countertop, are best done by specialized shops. The traditional smaller general contractors or newer design/build kitchen remodelers likely have an experienced crew who are comfortable disconnecting water and electric and carefully re-using fixtures / appliances. (I personally would pay for a new undermount sink at this point as I feel that drop-in sinks always are messy and people will notice that far more often than they'll think about a mismatch between brushed nickel and SS...) There are shops that will do "whatever the customer ask for" but such shops will have to charge a bit more than some firm that subcontracts through the big box retailers because they know re-use means MORE labor than starting with all new materials...

If the OP is "feeling lucky" and they can disconnect the water, disconnect any clips that may be holding the sink to the old countertop and cut free any caulk they ought to be able to get a scissor lift under the sink with appropriate blocking / helper to hoist it. Rent a couple of tools -- https://www.walmart.com/ip/Extreme-M...-Wide/49578704

https://www.zoro.com/genie-equipment...CABEgKG6PD_BwE

[ChessieMom]

I agree it is far better to find an experienced fabricator shop. They do this stuff ALL the time and are prepared for it. I would also ditch the cast iron sink.

[turf3]

One thing to think about is that enameled cast iron sinks are fairly easy to chip. Stainless steel ones don't chip, of course, though they can dent. A small dent in a SS sink is not particularly noticeable but a chip in an enameled one is really obvious.

How would you feel if a couple of weeks after going through all kinds of trouble to get your existing sink re-installed, you were to drop a cast iron skillet in the sink and make a great big chip?