What Size Sink Fits Your Cabinet? Measure This First

The rule is simple: sink base width minus 3 inches is the largest sink you should buy. That's how Yale Appliance puts it. The sink's rim needs room on each side, and an undermount's lip has to rest on the counter.

How to measure, in three steps

1. Measure the cabinet width

   Measure the sink base from side to side. Most sink bases have a label or a catalog name such as 36, and the tape tells you if yours really is that.

2. Measure front to back

   Measure from the back wall to the front of the counter. KRAUS, for one, asks for 24 inches front to back as well as 36 wide on the KHU100-32.

3. Look under the sink

   Note the drain, the supply lines and anything else in the way, such as a disposal. You'll need the room for them.

Sizes from the spec sheets

These are the figures the makers publish for sinks on this site. They agree with the rule, with one exception worth reading about.

The exception is the big Whitehaven: Kohler sells a nearly 36-inch sink for a 36-inch base. Apron sinks work differently, so they have their own size guide. Even there, makers disagree with each other and sometimes with themselves.

When the old hole matters

If you're keeping the counter, the old cutout matters as much as the cabinet. A drop-in must cover the old hole, and a hole that's too small must be cut bigger. Bob Vila calls a same-size drop-in swap the simple job and a new hole or shape the harder one. Our drop-in guide goes through it.

An undermount needs a counter cut to fit the sink, so changing one usually means dealing with the counter too. See undermount or drop-in.

Tight on width?

Yale Appliance points out that a deeper bowl can win back capacity in a smaller cabinet. If your cabinet is narrow, go for depth before width. Deep sinks shows which picks reach 10 inches. For a very tight spot or a second sink, see small sinks.

What about apron sinks?

The rule works differently for them. The sink becomes part of the cabinet front, and it rests on supports inside. Yale Appliance says an apron sink needs about 1.5 inches of clearance on each side. The Sink Boutique and Signature Hardware both say about 3 inches wider than the sink. Farmhouse sink sizes has the details.

Once it fits, choose the rest

With the size settled, the next choices are the mounting, the bowl layout and the gauge. For a 36-inch cabinet and a solid counter we'd start with the KRAUS KHU100-32^*. Every other pick is on the best sinks page, and our questions page answers the common pairings one at a time.