Drilling in a Domsjö farmer sink?

Jules Yap·
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Hi IKEA hackers. Hopefully somebody out there can help us with a hack.
We have our hearts set on the small Domsjö ceramic farmer sink for our new kitchen. The problem is that we have vertical water pipes going from floor to ceiling near the wall at the sink area, which would interfere with the back of the Domsjö as it goes all the way to the wall.

We can’t move the sink (or the pipes), so we have to work around somehow. So the question is if anyone has cut/drilled in the Domsjö sink, and how to go about it.

The pipes are both 3 cm in diameter if that helps, and are placed approximately like I’ve drawn in the picture.

I know the easiest solution would be to just get the Domsjö insert sink, but where would the fun be in that ;).

Thanks a lot
/Pia

Jules Yap
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21 Responses

  1. Message from the future: YES you can drill your Ikea farmhouse sink. For instance, for the dishwasher air-gap.

    Use a diamond-coated hole saw (the kind without a center drill). Use a same-sized regular hole saw to make a guide out of plywood, and tape the guide down onto the sink to hold the saw while it starts drilling. Drill slowly, while pouring water into the drill bit to keep it cool.

    Pictures and video: http://abhweb.org/jima/drilling_ikea_farmhouse_sink

    Reply

  2. @Gomedohree Were you able to find those photos? I’m in the same position with a CA air gap requirement and I’m hoping my tile guys can drill the necessary holes for it, but would love to show them an example! Any help is appreciated!

    Reply

  3. Hello Gomedohree! I’m about to install the ikea double domsjo sink and need to have holes drilled for the reverse osmosis and dishwasher air gap. Do you have pictures of your install? I’m worried about the ridges and wonder how it looks finished with everything installed. Has anyone completed this and have pictures and or tips?

    Thanks!

    Reply

  4. When remodeling our kitchen during last year’s Ikea spring kitchen sale I included the double bowl Domsjo sink. The problem is that in CA, there are regulations calling for an air gap for the dishwasher. It isn’t really enforced but I figured I would put in the air gap and use a cap that also acts as a soap dispenser. Another hole was needed for the reverse osmosis water filter.

    After finding out that the sink is not a pure ceramic but something called fire clay, I went out and purchased some clamps, a hole cutting drill with a center bit insert. Since the area towards the back has ridges, I first drilled a hole with a regular drill bit, I believe I used 3/8″ as my pilot hole. While doing this I clamped my garden hose and let it run over the area I was drilling (that’s what the clamps were for) with a small stream of water.

    The hole cutting drill bit I found wasn’t too expensive but it was diamond tipped but more importantly for me required me to use the previously used drill bit to mount to my cordless drill. This meant that I could guide the path of the hole saw without worrying about it “wandering” around as I drilled into the sink.

    The important thing I found was to just take your time and really let the drill do all the work. By this I mean I ran the drill at a pretty slow rate of speed and barely pushed down on the drill. I let the drill’s own weight do the work and concentrated on keeping it as vertical as possible.

    All in all I’d say I took about 5 minutes per hole. It came out great without any chipping or cracking. I used a good silicon caulk to seal the holes.

    I have pics but they aren’t readily available. I’m happy to post if anyone is interested.

    Reply

    1. I also need to drill an air gap hole for the ikea sink. Do you have photos of the finished sink with air gap? I am wondering what you did about the ridges? Thanks!

      Reply

      1. I also would be very interested to (1) see pictures, and (2) hear what you did with the ridges. We would like to install a water filter, and with a butcher block countertop we would prefer to have the filter incorporated in the sink.
        Thanks!

        Reply

    2. Would you please post a picture? Was yours ribbed on the top? Mine has ribs and im not sure how it will look with the air gap hole.

      Reply

    3. I would like to see the pictures as well! I have a bridge faucet that I really like and want to use it with the double sink DOMSJO sink…………..

      Reply

  5. Since you don’t actually need a hole and rather need a cut from the edge, you could probably do this with a diamond file.

    That might take a while, so you could rough out the cut with a saw/angle grinder and then clean up with a rounded file.

    Much easier than trying to drill a hole in the sink.

    Reply

  6. Maybe you could put a wood frame behind the sink edges that brings it out a couple inches, no need to drill. Could paint it to match the wall or the sink, or use nice looking wood as an accent.

    Reply

  7. I have had perfect results cutting ceramics with a 5″ angle grinder and a Continuous Rim Diamond Saw Blade. These blades are cheap, starting from 15 bucks and very durable. They eat ceramics effortless and smoothly, produce a very nice cut and lots of dust while cutting. Doing high precision cutting job with angle grinder requires some practice and you need to understand how the cutting must be done. Go google youtube for that. Carbide blades won’t do the job, go for a diamond blade!

    Reply

  8. Any tile specialists would have the tools and be able to do this without cracks. It takes a lot of practice to get the pressure/heat levels right, so I would suggest going with a specialist unless you have the cash to buy a new sink. a lot of glass places would also have the tools, but ceramic reacts different than glass so make sure you get references. If you are extremely careful and meticulous, you could rent a tile cutter/drill press from a hardware store then go as slowly as possible to cut/drill out the sections you need. Keep in mind that I am talking 1 mm/hour slow here as the slower you go the less likely you are to crack it. Hand tools could work for this too if you have that patience I mentioned, but you are less likely to get nice round holes.

    I am a big DIY’er and I have drilled glass and ceramic for projects, but more often than not I break it, so if it is important I take it to the professionals.

    Reply

  9. It’s doable. It would be best if you had your plumber cut the holes. They would need to be inset from the edge. I had a similar problem with my bathroom, I just built a chase for the pipe the width of the sink. Then added 90’s to the pipe and brought it out perpendicular to the wall. Made installing the cabinet a lot easier as my drain already came out the wall. I did not have to fit pipes from bottom and back of the cabinet. You could carry the chase up to create a shelf behind the sink.

    Reply

  10. We have done exactly this sort of installation for a customer who had mains gas pipes running behind the installation and didn’t want the costly job of re running the gas pipes. If you use the link on my website I would be happy to undertake the work for you. It’s a 15 minute job.

    You need a diamond tipped ceramic holesaw. Screwfix do a set for 45.00
    Best regards
    David Edmunds
    Edmunds Interiors

    Reply

    1. Are you in London area? I need 2 extra tap holes drilled in IKEA basin, I could do with some professional drilling help!

      Reply

  11. If you do drill the sink and run the pipes through, of course make sure you can still operate the tap/faucet comfortably _first_.

    Reply

  12. If you do drill the sink and run the pipes through, of course make sure you can still operate the tap/faucet comfortably.

    Reply

  13. This is from Valerie, who emailed me her suggestion.
    “I drilled my sink. Actually asked granite installers to do it, so I know it’s possible. It went well. I think they used a hole saw, maybe a special one?? See photo below. Added extra holes for soap and filtered water dispenser. Suggest looking at internet for info how to proceed.” Click here to see photo.

    Reply

  14. Could you just mount the sink base cabinet the 3cm out of alignment with the other cabinets? You could then mount a decorative back panel/splash above using some type of standoff or wood the same diameter as the pipes. This would conceal the pipes.

    Reply

  15. I’m not a DIY expert, but I would really hesitate to drill in a ceramic sink, and would rather install it in front of the pipes, with some sort of work top insert between the sink and the wall.

    Reply

  16. First of all you would not drill. You would have to cut it using a carbide too or use a carbide hole saw. There is no guarantee that it will not crack. I’m sure it’s possible, but this is really a job for a professional.

    I would bump out the cabinet and build the countertop around the back of the sink with cutouts for the pipes.

    Reply

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