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My wife dropped a cutting board in the sink today and we ended up with quite a large hole. I believe the sink is porcelain. This is not ideal as she was planning on doing a lot of holiday cooking. I’ve found a lot on repairing dents or small holes, but it’s unclear if those solutions would work for something this big. Is this repairable and if so how would I go about doing this? We’re fine if the color is a bit off.

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    Whatever you do as a temp fix, avoid leaving standing water in the sink unless its below the bottom of the repair. That should leave a useful depth of an inch or two. Two reasons - the patch may fail under pressure, and that water is heavy so the patch is already a weak point and could drop the entire bottom out of the sink, being somewhat messy.
    – Criggie
    Dec 24, 2018 at 22:52
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    Another thought - disconnect the power to the waste-taker and do not use it. The vibrations could exacerbate existing weak points. On the upside, a disaster has the potential to be a great story for years to come :)
    – Criggie
    Dec 24, 2018 at 22:54

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I think for a temporary fix you could use a good two-part epoxy. I don't consider it a DIY thing to completely restore a sink like that, but there are companies that refresh bathtubs. I'm not sure what they apply would be robust enough for a sink, though.

From the look of the nearby chips and the crack extending from the new damage, that sink has served its useful life and should be replaced. That's usually not an overly complicated project and tends to bring new life to a kitchen workspace.

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  • Ok thanks! The temporary solution will hopefully hold up for the holidays but it’s too bad we’ve already spent a lot of money on this house (just moved in). Can a sink like this typically be replaced without replacing the counters and cabinets? Are they usually pretty standard sizes? (Added another picture of the whole sink)
    – Jordan
    Dec 24, 2018 at 17:02
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    For a job like this I would use a two-part epoxy putty, sold in stick form. (I only know one brand, J-B weld.) Kneading the stick mixes the two parts, and the putty is stiff enough to support its own weight and stay in the hole while it sets. - You might want to practice on a hole in a piece of scrap plywood or something.
    – A. I. Breveleri
    Dec 24, 2018 at 17:13
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    I'd expect that you have a standard size in what appears to be a fairly new home. Countertops and cabinets should not be affected.
    – isherwood
    Dec 24, 2018 at 17:26
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    I would try to epoxy in place the piece that came out. Butter the porous edges of the chip and the hole and press the chip into place from whichever side it came out.
    – Jim Stewart
    Dec 24, 2018 at 17:35
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I would consider replacing the knocked out chunk into the hole, and using PL construction adhesive (comes in tubes from the hardware stores). It requires no mixing and a thinish layer will bond and be waterproof. It makes a strong bond.

If your chunk is mostly complete, you will have a sink that will likely be pretty strong.

Note that this is still a temporary fix (but you might be using it years from now if the color match does not bother you!)

Would love to hear comments about PL as the bonding agent- anyone tried this?

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    I've used construction adhesive for quite a few things. It's good stuff for porous materials. It does take a bit longer to cure, though.
    – isherwood
    Dec 24, 2018 at 19:55

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