Can you install a farmhouse sink into an existing cabinet?

The short answer is sometimes. Depending on the cabinet you have and the farm sink you pick out. If you have a typical sink base with a false drawer front above butt doors and you choose a sink with a short apron front, we say yes.

Let’s give it a try.

Before

Modifying the Existing Sink Base Cabinet

• Remove false drawer front and top rail.
• Add 3/4″ plywood jacks under toekick all the way up the sides and back to support the weight of the farm sink. 133.2 lbs in this case.
• Add 3/4″ plywood floor on top of the jacks for more support.
• Modify and scribe the front frame as needed. The top of the sink must be flush with the cabinet top for an undermount installation.

Sink is installed with temporary faucet bracing while we wait for the new countertop, reframe the window and add subway tile.

After

Did you know that the apron style farmhouse sink means the sink itself can be deeper than the apron? The Kohler Whitehaven is 9″ deep with only a 6 11/16″ front apron.

Thank you Kohler for making a farmhouse sink in the typical sizes with a short apron option. A new cabinet would have been easy enough to do, but the wood tone wouldn’t match. Red Birch wood changes over time, just like most woods do, and using the existing cabinet was the goal.