Sealing in the kitchen Franke Sink

[timbo343]

We bought a Franke Gemini Black 1.5 bowl sink for our new kitchen and have tried to run a small bead of sealant around the edge between the sink and the worktop however the sink's plastic is preventing the silicone from adhering to the sink.

Should i be using silicone or caulk? If i should be using silicone, what is the best that will adhere to the sink's plastic.

[wine~o]

Deffo silicon, caulk isn't waterproof. what brand of silicon are you using ? and have you run a bead under the sink before fitting ?

[timbo343]

I thought so, some articles online say use caulk fornsome reason .

Yep, it had silicone packed in under the sink before fitting and the silicone ouzed out the side and made a seal under the worktop.

As for what we are using the bead around the edge, we have tried Diall and Everbuild. Both come away when rubbed.

[Rorschach]

Caulk is a bit of a catch-all term, especially in the US. Silicone sealant is often referred to their as silicone caulk.

Acrylic "caulk" is waterproof when cured, but in almost all cases silicone is better. Really acrylic only tends to be used in places where you want to be able to paint it.

[fin]

if you have fitted the sink correctly then why do you need to run a bead of silicone round the outside. it is not necessary usually.

any sink that ive fitted (and ive done a few) all i do is if no template is supplied i mask off the worktop. turn the sink upside down and draw a line around it. then come in 10mm all round and make the cut out with my track saw.

i then fit the worktop onto the units and run a bead of silicone all the way around the outside of the cut out (with the masking tape removed, obviously.) then i drop the sink into the cut out and either use the clips supplied or weight the sink down until the silicon has set. Sometimes it is not possible to use the clips and sometimes they are a waste of time anyway.

then i clean off the excess silicone that has squeezed out all around the sink. i use wonder wipes to do this.

i always have a final check to make sure the sink hasnt moved out of square ith the worktop.

never ever do i run a bead of silicone round the edge of the sink. it would look messy i would think bud.