As Carla from Top Chef might say: hootie hoo! Our new countertops are ordered (more on what we chose and why here). They were $38 per square foot from Home Depot with no hidden fees, which pushed the total to roughly $1,700. We compared prices at Lowe’s and a few local shops; local retailers quoted as much as $55 per square foot. Lowe’s matched Home Depot on the $38 base price, but added charges for the sink cutout and other extras that Home Depot did not. Home Depot sealed the deal by matching a 10% Lowe’s project coupon we had and honoring the 5% discount we’d receive if we used our Lowe’s card, which brought the price down further. Shopping around and price-matching saved us a good chunk of cash.
We also saved money by reusing our existing sink.
We like our sink and wanted to avoid spending a couple hundred dollars on a replacement. Both Lowe’s and Home Depot told us the Corian fabricator would need to remove the sink when they came to template the new countertops so they could make precise measurements. That meant lifting the surrounding granite to free the undermount sink.
The process started with disconnecting the disposal and the plumbing under the sink. It wasn’t as fast as the how-to videos suggested — the mounting ring on our disposal was stuck and took about 45 minutes to free. On the bright side, I now know my garbage disposal inside and out.
Next I removed the faucet, which we’ll reuse for now. That went more smoothly after I dug up the installation manual and reversed the steps.
With fixtures detached, it was time to remove the granite. We’d pried up another section of granite before to make room for the stove, so we knew it would mostly be a matter of elbow grease. We started by prying off the backsplash with a crowbar.
No sweat.
We cut along the glue line that secured the counter to the cabinets, pried, and the slab lifted up surprisingly easily.
Then came the heavy lifting. We recruited my parents for help — my mom to watch Clara and take photos, my dad to help lift — but the larger slab was too heavy to safely lift high enough to free the sink without risking damage. If the granite had slammed down on the sink it could have meant a new sink and possible cabinet repairs.
Both Lowe’s and Home Depot suggested leaving the sink attached during removal so the fabricator could cut it free without warping it, but this slab was just too heavy. We decided to try removing the sink first by breaking its adhesive bond to the granite.
We slid a spackle knife into the underside where the undermount sink was glued to the counter and, once Sherry broke the seal in one spot, tapped the knife around the perimeter with a hammer. My dad did most of the prying work, though Sherry handled the first edge.
After about 45 minutes of work the glue released. We tilted the slab up like a hinged lid and were able to lift the sink out intact and only a little dirty — a big win that saved us roughly $200.
With the sink out, we lifted the granite slightly and discovered a crack running around the sink area. A split like that actually made removal easier: once it cracked in two we could handle each half separately, similar to the piece we’d removed earlier for the stove.
Under the crack we found a metal reinforcement rod spanning the sink hole. That was an unexpected obstacle, but after sliding one half of the granite off onto the floor, the rod bent enough to pry loose with a screwdriver. Once freed, the two halves were light enough for two people to carry each.
Here’s what the kitchen looked like after we moved the first half out. Note the towel protecting the stove — nothing fancy, just doing what we could to keep things safe.
All of the granite now sits in the carport waiting to be listed. With the counters removed, our kitchen is officially sinkless for the foreseeable future.
The fabricator expects the template and installation process to leave us without a sink for about three weeks — possibly four with Thanksgiving in the mix. I did reconnect the dishwasher drain so we can at least run the dishwasher, and we’re rinsing non-dishwasher-safe pots in the bathroom sink for now. Compared to our first kitchen renovation — which left us without appliances for months — this feels manageable.
Anyone else think they could lift a massive slab of granite with just a couple of friends? Have you found reinforcement rods under your countertop, or reused an existing sink when replacing counters? I’m curious — and a little jealous — of your experiences.