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My porcelain kitchen sink somehow got a slight depression in it, causing water to pool in a roughly 7" x 7" area. I'm considering replacing the sink to solve this, but I'm hoping there's instead a cheap, quick hack I can do on the current sink. I don't really care about aesthetics, and I use a sink grid in case that makes a difference. I was thinking I could fill in the depression with some kind of waterproof substance that can adhere to porcelain.

EDIT

Using a level app, I confirmed that the sink is itself perfectly level. The depression rises upwards towards the drain at an angle of about 0.5°, while the non-indented side slopes downwards towards the drain at an angle of 1°.

Here are pictures showing the water pooling. In the second picture you can actually see a dark part of the reflection curving upwards from the bottom, cutting across the lighter reflection to its right. That's the edge of the depression.

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  • Seeing that porcelain does not take kindly to being dented(it breaks first), it is tilted or a manufacturing defect. Can you post picture or explain if it is to one side? Might be possible to raise one side a tiny bit to drain better, before trying a patch.
    – crip659
    May 9, 2021 at 17:05
  • Just updated my post to confirm the sink is indeed level. It's definitely an actual depression in the base.
    – Charlie
    May 9, 2021 at 18:16
  • Could you post a pic showing the sink in its entirety? Is this a single bowl "farmhouse" sink?
    – Jim Stewart
    May 10, 2021 at 18:54

3 Answers 3

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Sure, you could fill it with an epoxy, or you could tile it.

Note: Only since you don't care about aesthetics, since I suspect either will look awful in short order, if not right out of the gate. My mind's eye makes a beautiful tile sink bottom (like a shower floor) but the real world experience part of my mind doubts that the detailing at the edges could look good, not to mention mold potential.

Additional Note: First check if you may have a "lifetime warranty" or other applicable warranty on the sink, since some makers do have that sort of policy, but it's out the window if you attempt to fix it yourself, normally.

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  • I just moved into this house, and i know the previous owners were only here for 2 years. I'll dig through the various appliance manual stuff that I found in the kitchen to see if there's info on the sink but I'm not too optimistic
    – Charlie
    May 8, 2021 at 20:44
  • Is there a specific type of epoxy you would use? I don't know much about this sort of thing. And I don't understand how tiling it would work. Are you suggesting I tile the entire bottom of the sink with a slight grade toward the drain?
    – Charlie
    May 8, 2021 at 20:45
  • Yes, basically what I'm thinking for tile. One of the major brand marine epoxies (west, system3, etc) probably with micro-balloons to make it "thick" (or just plug the drain, pour epoxy (no micro-balloons needed) to set level, then sand the slope to the drain in after it's set.) Not a quick-setting type.
    – Ecnerwal
    May 8, 2021 at 20:53
  • Ah, so you'd epoxy the entire bottom, not just the area with the depression?
    – Charlie
    May 8, 2021 at 21:16
  • Yes. Feather edges (as you'd have all around the low area if you tried to patch only that) like to peel up, so avoiding them is likely to lead to a longer-lasting repair.
    – Ecnerwal
    May 9, 2021 at 12:56
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Possibly the houses foundations have shifted and now the bottom of the sink is sloping the wrong way.

The fix for this would be releveling the house, the cabinetry, the benchtop, or the sink.

There are coating substances used for relining porcelain-on-steel bathtubs, I don't know if they are durable enough for a sink, or how well they can fill low spots.

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  • Just updated my post to confirm that the sink is indeed level.
    – Charlie
    May 9, 2021 at 18:15
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Unless this is causing a practical problem, you should ignore this. Anything you do to remedy it is likely to cause a worse problem.

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  • Haha yeah, seems like I either replace the sink or make my peace with it.
    – Charlie
    May 9, 2021 at 19:27
  • Is it possible that the drain is set too high; too much plumber's putty between the underside of the drain and the sink or the metal of the drain rim is too thick?
    – Jim Stewart
    May 9, 2021 at 21:09
  • See the edit to my post. Using a level I can confirm that there is definitely a depression
    – Charlie
    May 10, 2021 at 17:11

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