Brands, gauge?

Blanco? Franke?

Your timing is impeccable. I was looking at sinks today and was asking myself the same questions. Awaiting pearls of wisdom from fellow Macresoucerers...

Check out the kitchen forums at: [ths.gardenweb.com]
You will find more info than you ever thought possible. Keep in mind that if you find something useful, save it because they have no archives and threads fall off quickly.

I remodeled my kitchen the year before last and decided I just wasn't willing to spend $400 on a sink so I bought one for $100 on eBay. It was the best decision for me.

DM

I feel the same.
I thought I might get more for my money on ebay or maybe on sale. I need a starting point.

18 gauge is minimum for something that ain't junk and is most common. 16 is considered commercial.
I've been looking at sinks too for our upcoming kitchen redo.

I'm looking at a Kindred, KitchenAid.

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!#$@@$#!

proofraed by OwEn the c@t.

You want a heavy gauge, SS type 304 (18/10), surgical grade, stainless steel for maximum durability.

The 18% is the chromium (for shine)
The 10% is nickel (for rust resistance, stainless DOES rust.)

Also, a heavy undercoating is also desirable for soundproofing, (helps lessen the tin-drum effect from placing hard objects in the sink)

We have a Franke and it is excellent quality.

When we redid our kitchen we selected our sink based on the geometry. We wanted a two compartment undermount sink with a big-deep and a small side. But we wanted the small side to be big enough for "normal" use... able to take plates flat and a large pot.

We ended up with the Elkay ELUH311910R We also liked the rounded back profile on the big side of this sink versus a squared off shape. It added a nice design touch.

The sink is 18 guage. The 311910R has a 10" depth on the big side and a 7.5" depth on the small side.
The 3119 is 7.5" on both, and shown in this picture:



We mounted our faucet as close as possible... closer than shown in this picture. If you do a deep bowl, be sure your geometry will allow all of the fittings underneath.

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Don't ask who the bell's for, dude. It's you.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/15/2006 11:49PM by sscutchen.

I also went with an undermount but I wanted a single bowl. It is much larger than it looks in the picture- I can lay my cookie sheets and roasting pans flat on the bottom of the sink.

This pic was taken right after the granite was installed.
[homepage.mac.com]

DM

dmann,

is that sponge holder magnetic or attached?

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Embarassing myself on the Internet since 1978.

It has two little suction cups that hold it in place. About $4 at Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, etc.

DM

Quote
raz
dmann,

is that sponge holder magnetic or attached?

Can't be magnetic... That's stainless steel!

Looks like suction cups

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Don't ask who the bell's for, dude. It's you.

On our Elkay, here's pics... in the first you can see the small side. It's still pretty big.

We have kind of an arch thing going, designwise. Which is why we liked the big side design on this sink.

I can't stress enough to make sure you take good measurements to make sure eveything will fit up.

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Don't ask who the bell's for, dude. It's you.

Y'all are making me hate my kitchen!

FWIW stainless under granite is in fashion. SS undercounter mount sinks are priced ridicously high.

A trick of the trade is to buy a top mount sink (about 1/2 the price of undercounter) an install it before the grantie. By routing out the plywood the end result is identical. Yes it works I've done it many times. Don't let anyone tell you different.

With top mount sinks you have a bigger selection.

Sink guage should be your main consideration.

Buy Franke or Kindred if you are into names. Buy Elkay or Just if you want to save money. After one week of use ALL stainless sinks look identical.

Granite and stainless is a very clean look. I recommend a single hole faucet mounted on the countertop. The money that you save on the sink put towards a nice Grohe faucet (in stainless of course). Try to limit the holes in the countertop by eliminating the dishwasher air gap and side sprayer. Good Luck.

Plumbking- that is exactly what I did. My sink was $100 on eBay. My carpenter routed out the top of the sink base to accommodate the lip of the sink and the granite installers just did their normal installation.

You can see on my pic that I went with 2 holes- one for the faucet on the right (I am right handed) and one for the soap dispenser. I love the clean look.

DM

dmann

Your sink looks sharp. Nice choice of granite I like the color. Stainless faucet; first class.

thanks. We're redoing the kitchen and with the deeper sink, that'll be a nice thing to have (if we have $4 left after this is done).

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Embarassing myself on the Internet since 1978.