Removing The Sink & Fitting Plywood

So to get started on these stainless steel counters, we first went to Home Depot and picked up a piece of plywood which we had them cut to the general specifications we needed. We needed to create a perfect model of our counter to provide the sheet metal place so they could make a well fitting stainless steel top.

The first thing we did, was to shut off the water to the sink and then remove the sink. We had to do this in order to fit the plywood on top, to make sure it fit well so we could trace out and cut the hole for the new sink which of course has to match the old hole perfectly in the current countertop since we're putting the new counter one on top of the old one. 

Here we put a bucket to capture the water in the drain trap as we were removing the sink.

This was really the first time I messed around with plumbing of any kind, and I have to say, it's hard work! Even just getting under the sink with a screwdriver, angling it right while you're at an extremely uncomfortable position and loosening all the fasters required quite a bit of effort.

After removing the sink, this is what the counter looks like - one big hole.

We scraped off any caulk to make a smooth surface.

Here is the fitted plywood countertop before cutting the hole.

Since the counter is over nine feet, and plywood usually comes in eight feet, we had to have an extra piece that we made to fit just right.

First we went under the sink (with the sink removed) and traced the hole on the plywood. Next, we turned the plywood upside down and cut the hole with a jig saw. Since we're going to put in a drop in sink, it doesn't have to be perfect, however it does have to be pretty good.

Here is the new stainless steel sink we picked up with the new faucet. We just put it in to see if it would fit and it did!

Here is the beautiful large faucet, perfect when you have a large pot to clean!

At this point we were done and brought the plywood to the sheet metal place (transferred with the old mustang, we put it on top of the car and I held on tight as we drove there slowly - luckily it's located just a few blocks from our house). We should have our new counter sometime next week!