Replacing a Kitchen Sink: What Else Has to Come Out

The sink is the cheap part of a sink replacement. Here is everything else that comes out with it, and which of it is worth replacing while the cabinet is open.

People budget for the sink. Then the cabinet gets opened and there is a trap held together with a rubber washer somebody improvised, a disposal that is on its last bearing, and two shutoff valves that have not been turned since the house was built and will not turn now.

None of that is a surprise to a plumber. It is a surprise to homeowners, so here is the whole list before you start pricing a sink.

What comes out with the sink

• The faucet and the supply lines. They have to come off to get the sink out. This is the cheapest moment in the entire life of your kitchen to fit a new faucet, because the labor is already being spent.
• The basket strainer. The part the drain screws into. On an old sink it is usually seized into the basin and it does not go back in.
• The tailpiece, trap and trap arm. Old chrome traps corrode from the inside and old plastic ones go brittle. Reusing them is how you get a slow drip into the cabinet a month later.
• The garbage disposal, if there is one. It comes off the old sink and goes onto the new one, which is the moment you find out whether it is worth keeping.
• The dishwasher drain connection. Which is where the air gap question comes up.

What is worth doing while it is open

Two things, and they are both cheap relative to going back in later.

Shutoff valves. The stops under a sink are usually older than the sink. Multi-turn stops seize, and the ones that do not seize often will not seal once they have been moved. A quarter turn valve is $120 to $250 each, and it decides whether the next repair in that kitchen starts under the sink or starts with the whole house shut off. If you are on a well, it also means not dropping the pressure tank for a ten minute job.

The faucet. A kitchen faucet is $250 to $550 installed and it is the fixture you touch most in your house. Brass bodied ones with ceramic cartridges last out here. Plastic bodied ones do not, because the sediment in well water goes through cheap cartridges quickly. More on that on our faucet repair and installation page.

The countertop question

This is the thing that decides whether a sink swap is simple or not.

• Drop-in to drop-in, same size or slightly bigger. Straightforward. The rim covers the cutout.
• Drop-in to a smaller sink. Not straightforward, because the old cutout will show.
• Undermount in stone. The sink is fixed to the underside of the counter, so changing it is a countertop job as much as a plumbing one. Worth knowing before you fall in love with a different sink.
• Changing the number of bowls. Single to double or double to single usually moves the drain position, which changes the trap arm and sometimes the disposal wiring.

Bathroom sinks are a different job

Smaller, but with their own trap: the pop-up assembly. The lift rod linkage behind the drain is the part that fails, and it is what makes a bathroom sink hold water when you do not want it to. It is also why a bathroom sink swap is usually quicker and cheaper than a kitchen one, unless the vanity top is involved. Either way, see sink repair and installation.

If the sink is fine and the drain is not

Replacing a sink will not fix a drain that is blocked further down. If the basin drains slowly but does not leak, that is a drain problem, and you want a clogged kitchen sink cleared rather than a new fixture. The tell is simple: if more than one fixture in the house is slow, the problem is past the sink.

Commercial kitchens

Everything above still applies, with more of it and less time to do it in. Three compartment sinks, prep sinks, mop sinks, and hand wash stations get replaced around service hours rather than during them, and the drain side matters as much as the fixture. We can pick up drain and grease trap work on the same visit, which is usually the cheaper way to do it. The detail is on sink repair and installation and commercial plumbing.

What the whole job costs

The sink itself is yours to choose. Everything else lands in known ranges: sink and drain assembly $300 to $700, faucet $250 to $550, disposal $300 to $650, shutoff valves $120 to $250 each. The full fixture price list is here, and bundling several fixtures into one visit brings the per fixture price down.

How much does a sink replacement cost?

A sink and drain assembly replacement runs $300 to $700. A faucet is $250 to $550, a garbage disposal $300 to $650, and a shutoff valve $120 to $250 each.

Can I put a new sink in the old countertop cutout?

Usually, if the new sink is the same size or slightly larger and the same mounting style. Swapping a drop-in sink for an undermount, or the other way round, generally means the countertop is involved.

Do I have to replace the faucet at the same time?

No, but it is the cheapest time to do it. The faucet comes off anyway to get the sink out, so fitting a new one adds the part and very little labor.

What is an air gap and do I need one?

It is the fitting that stops dishwasher waste being siphoned back into clean water. Whether one is required depends on how the dishwasher drain is run, and we will tell you which applies to your setup.

Do you replace commercial kitchen sinks?

Yes. Three compartment sinks, prep sinks, mop sinks, and hand wash stations, scheduled around service hours.

Written by the team at Shoresteady Plumbing, Temperanceville, Virginia. Master plumbing licensed in Virginia and Maryland. Prices shown are typical ranges for the Eastern Shore, not a quote. Your written estimate is the only number that binds either of us.

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