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There aren’t many products that I get an opportunity to rave about, but the Hercules Universal Sink Harness from Braxton Bragg is one of them.
Fortunately for a guy like me in the granite repair business, there are a lot of hack fabricators using wood shims, polyester and silicone to secure sinks. Unfortunately for my customers who have paid these hacks, the silicone/poly/wood shim method doesn’t last very long and the sink falls into the cabinet and is usually propped up when I arrive.
I don’t like to carry inventory and the HUSH indulges me. I don’t need to confirm the type of sink before I get to the job. I don’t need to special order a specific support for a specific sink. The HUSH does ‘em all and for five bucks apiece.
Maybe it’s my old age, but I’m not fond of working on my back in a sink cabinet anymore either. When retrofitting the mesh glue-on studs, that’s a given. I’ve had retrofitted mesh studs fail too. When that happens, you’ve just done two jobs for the price of one. Ouch. Unless the cabinet sides fail, the USB cannot. It is mechanical, not adhesive, attachment. If you like “fughetaboudit” repairs, the USB is the way to go and you’re never on your back inside a cabinet.
I don’t ususally second-guess a manufacturer’s installtion instructions, but believe me, my method is better. Instead of mounting the clips as advised and then running the wire, I rough measure the wire, attatch it to the clips then screw them to the cabinet sides:
It’s a PITA to feed those wires through the clips after their screwed in.
You want about 6″ +_ between the wires. You can’t really screw this up. If you’re too short, you can twist some wire back on and if you’re too long, twist wire to take up slack. I’ve installed at least six of these and never had to do either.
With the wires strung around the drains (on double bowl sinks), place silicone on the flange before tightening the clamps. I snug ’em until the stainless buckles on the bottom.
Tighten the bolt until the wires are very snug. You can lift granite tops if you snug too tightly. When you pull the clamps the sink will be immovable if you’ve done it right. After reconnecting plumbing and a finish bead of silicone, it’s ready for immediate use, no waiting.
I can disconnect plumbing, clean the deck bottom and sink flange, install the sink, silicone and reconnect the plumbing in about two hours, but I’ve done a few.
Joe
Joe, I like the idea. I think I would mount the clips as close to the corners of the cabs as possible for strength. If you move away from the corners the side of the cabinet could easily deflect, especially if they are thin side walls and for one reason or another the countertop is not sitting on the cabinets sides and secured to it.
Posted By Norm Walters on 13 Mar 2011 11:17 AM
Joe, I like the idea. I think I would mount the clips as close to the corners of the cabs as possible for strength. If you move away from the corners the side of the cabinet could easily deflect, especially if they are thin side walls and for one reason or another the countertop is not sitting on the cabinets sides and secured to it.Norm:
Good point, but the location of the clips is determined by the shape of the bowls and the location of the drains. You’ve got to make sure that the clip location allows the wires to clear the drains and plumbing.
Joe
Posted By Kowboy on 13 Mar 2011 01:24 PM
Posted By Norm Walters on 13 Mar 2011 11:17 AM
Joe, I like the idea. I think I would mount the clips as close to the corners of the cabs as possible for strength. If you move away from the corners the side of the cabinet could easily deflect, especially if they are thin side walls and for one reason or another the countertop is not sitting on the cabinets sides and secured to it.Norm:
Good point, but the location of the clips is determined by the shape of the bowls and the location of the drains. You’ve got to make sure that the clip location allows the wires to clear the drains and plumbing.
Joe
Good point “but”…but what?? I think what Norm is trying to tell you Joe, cabs with weak particle board sides is no place to be using this product… the sides will deflect.
Posted By Kelsey Crisp on 13 Mar 2011 04:12 PM
Posted By Kowboy on 13 Mar 2011 01:24 PM
Posted By Norm Walters on 13 Mar 2011 11:17 AM
Joe, I like the idea. I think I would mount the clips as close to the corners of the cabs as possible for strength. If you move away from the corners the side of the cabinet could easily deflect, especially if they are thin side walls and for one reason or another the countertop is not sitting on the cabinets sides and secured to it.Norm:
Good point, but the location of the clips is determined by the shape of the bowls and the location of the drains. You’ve got to make sure that the clip location allows the wires to clear the drains and plumbing.
Joe
Good point “but”…but what?? I think what Norm is trying to tell you Joe, cabs with weak particle board sides is no place to be using this product… the sides will deflect.
Kelsey:
I don’t have any scientific evidence that substantial cabinet sidewall deflection occurs and I doubt you do either. Furthermore, I doubt it would be a problem if a little did. Although I have no scientific evidence I’ll theorize that if one were to adhere and/or screw a solid wood 1x to the cabinet side before attaching the clip, deflection would be virtually eliminated and the screw-holding power increased.
While I appreciate your attention to this matter, I would no more worry about catastrophic cabinet sidewall deflection than I would worry about the granite crushing the cabinets.
If you take the time to follow the instructions on the link, you will see the manufacturer demonstrating what Norm knew instinctively; put the clips as close to the triangulation as possible.
Joe
It has been my observation that most sink cabinets, not all, only have 1 to 2 inches of clearance between the bowl and the cabinet side. Assuming that a typical sink is at least 6″ deep min. the strain on the wires and attachment point will be mostly downward not sideways.
Johnny C
Pretty cool idea. One question I have is with a new installation. In theory, won’t the HUSH actually lift the countertop off the cabinets if the silicone is not dry?
The weight of the granite will probably keep this from happening, but curious.
Posted By Andy Graves on 15 Mar 2011 05:56 PM
Pretty cool idea. One question I have is with a new installation. In theory, won’t the HUSH actually lift the countertop off the cabinets if the silicone is not dry?The weight of the granite will probably keep this from happening, but curious.
Andy:
First of all, I wouldn’t use the HUSH in a new installation. Were I in the granite fabircation business all my sinks would be installed mechanically, probably in the shop.
I had a seam repair adjacent to a sink replacement and the HUSH was capable of raising the granite to make the seam unlevel. The trick is getting it “just right”. Snug enough to prevent the sink from moving, yet not enough to raise the granite.
Joe
I followed your link and thought I would share something that was shared with me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFjbCLjrnao
This is a video with a method of mounting sinks were you don’t have to pay the $1.98. I’m not wearing any safety goggles but I don’t think I plugged anything in:)
Than
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