Best sink?

[auggie]

We redid my kitchen on the cheap 5 years ago when we moved in. The inexpensive white sink we got scratched easily, despite my using the exact cleaning product they recommended. It looks awful. We're thinking of replacing the counter in the nearish future. What sink would you recommend- something that would hold up well, clean well, and not scratch like crazy? TIA!

[Deleted]

I'm a big fan of stainless.
Scrubs well without a special cleaner, hides scratches easily and in a way is meant to be scratched.

Undermount is also great. It cost me a small fortune but definitely life changing. Mine has one side bigger then the other with a shallow divider in the middle which means I can use it as a single basin (for large veggies or rinsing a ton of produce) if need be.

Porcelain/Corian and the like is too hard and chips to easy for my taste. White is impossible to keep clean. Black shows every little scratch and spot.

Then again I'm just a simple girl. I use my sink 100xs a day. I don't have the energy to worry about it!

[mrs.jacinthe]

I agree with Dairy. 100%. Stainless is the way to go. This rental is the first one we've ever had with a white sink (and they freaking took out a stainless to put this in) and it forever looks dirty/scratched/discolored. I can't get it clean enough looking - it's disgusting.

[kellikans]

we're in the process of choosing a new sink for our kitchen reno and I'm torn between stainless steel and granite composite (comes in a few colors - we would go with white). from what I've read, granite composite sinks are supposed to be the best you can get - doesn't scratch, chip, stain, can take heat up to over 500 degrees. my issue with SS is the water spots, but I think if you go with satin SS, it helps with that. basically for us, it is going to come down to finding a sink I like and price.

[kellikans]

Jul 5, 2012 12:32:23 GMT -5 mrs.jacinthe said:

I agree with Dairy. 100%. Stainless is the way to go. This rental is the first one we've ever had with a white sink (and they freaking took out a stainless to put this in) and it forever looks dirty/scratched/discolored. I can't get it clean enough looking - it's disgusting.

we currently have a white porcelain sink, and its cleans up pretty well with Bar Keeper's Friend.

[hunniapple]

I have a white sink but I hate how it looks. This post is making me wonder how hard it is to replace...I would be nervous about damaging the granite counter top.

[mrs.jacinthe]

Jul 5, 2012 13:21:51 GMT -5 hunniapple said:

I have a white sink but I hate how it looks. This post is making me wonder how hard it is to replace...I would be nervous about damaging the granite counter top.

If it's top-mount/drop-in and you're comfortable with beginner-level plumbing, a sink is pretty easy to change. You just have to make sure that a) the new sink will fit in the hole properly (this is important - if your measurements are off a little, you may end up with part of the hole showing or worse, the new sink not dropping in properly) and b) you're prepared to replumb the drains if they don't line up almost exactly with the old ones.

I don't think I'd tackle an undermount sink on my own, but I've never had one and I'm not 100% sure how they attach, etc.

If you're not comfortable with DIY, this is something that shouldn't take a good plumber more than an hour or so.

[mrs.jacinthe]

Jul 5, 2012 13:19:52 GMT -5 kellikans said:

Jul 5, 2012 12:32:23 GMT -5 mrs.jacinthe said:

I agree with Dairy. 100%. Stainless is the way to go. This rental is the first one we've ever had with a white sink (and they freaking took out a stainless to put this in) and it forever looks dirty/scratched/discolored. I can't get it clean enough looking - it's disgusting.

we currently have a white porcelain sink, and its cleans up pretty well with Bar Keeper's Friend.

Yeah. I've been using that and 409 ... but this particular sink is just crap and will never look good. It was stained when we moved in and those stains are set-in forever. I've even tried bleach-gel ... nothing.

[auggie]

Thanks for all of the feedback! I can't wait to get rid of it. I'm thinking stainless, but that granite composite sounds good!

[jenjen]

Jul 5, 2012 13:18:54 GMT -5 kellikans said:

we're in the process of choosing a new sink for our kitchen reno and I'm torn between stainless steel and granite composite (comes in a few colors - we would go with white). from what I've read, granite composite sinks are supposed to be the best you can get - doesn't scratch, chip, stain, can take heat up to over 500 degrees. my issue with SS is the water spots, but I think if you go with satin SS, it helps with that. basically for us, it is going to come down to finding a sink I like and price.

We did our kitchen reno last year and went with the Blanco granite composite sink. Ours is a dark charcoal color and never shows water spots and is scratch and stain resistant. I've had no problems with it at all. I actually get a lot of compliments on the sink! It was around $400 but I love it and it goes really well with the granite countertops that we have.

[IrishBelle]

Jul 5, 2012 15:19:37 GMT -5 jenjen said:

We did our kitchen reno last year and went with the Blanco granite composite sink. Ours is a dark charcoal color and never shows water spots and is scratch and stain resistant. I've had no problems with it at all. I actually get a lot of compliments on the sink! It was around $400 but I love it and it goes really well with the granite countertops that we have.

We just put in this exact sink about 4 months ago and we're loving it so far. I would highly recommend it.

[vanillahip]

If you go SS just make sure not to cheap out on it- the cheaper ones are around 20-22 gauge (that's the thickness, 22 gauge is about .65mm/.025" thick, that's super thin) try to go with 18 gauge (that's about 1mm/.04" thick) or thicker- the thicker the gauge the harder it'll be to dent, and 22 gauge is very easily dented!