Need advice on the best kind of Kitchen sink?

[Backfourty,MI.]

I know I definately don't want any of the acrylic type sinks. Thats what I have now, it's 5 years old & looks like it's 30 yrs. old. We have alot of iron in our well water, hard water I guess, but also have a water softner. I don't have problems with the bathroom sinks but they are the same material as toilets are made out of I believe.
I can't even get the sink white after bleaching it anymore. It has stains & scratches. I try & follow manufacturers recomendations & I use soft scrub or scrubby bubbles only. Besides soaking it in bleach to try & get it looking nice again.
What are your recomendations for a new sink, I don't want to replace it again for along time. I would prefer cast iron in white, but maybe stainless steel? I don't know much about the granite or the other what they call solid surface sinks that are supposed to be really nice.
I want to buy it & get it in before the holidays. Any suggestions would be great. This is the 1st house where I've had a well, always lived in the city before & no problems with the water.

[DW]

When we moved here...yes, bad iron in water but had filters & such...we chose stainless. We've had it 16 yrs and it looks good. We did make improvement to water but at first we had BAD water.

[Pigeon Lady]

We are in the middle of revamping our kitchen and bought this "smart divide" sink. The center partition is much lower than normal.:

http://www.us.kohler.com/onlinecatal...subcategory=36

It isn't installed yet so I can't give you a review of it.

I was all for getting one of the beautiful apron front sinks but when I saw this one at Lowes it just made so much more sense.

I find that the center partition is always in the way, especially when I'm washing my milking equipment or large frying pans. I saw this with the lower partition and loved it. It can be two sinks or one big one! Just couldn't justify spending over a thousand dollars on a sink that, although beautiful, wasn't any more practical than the one I already have.

Hope you find one that suits your needs.

Pauline

definitely stainless steel. The brushed finish won't show any tiny scratch, the "mirror" finish will. Also, the deeper sink you get, the better it will be on you. Water tends to splash out of those 5 inch deep sinks.

[Alice In TX/MO]

Ditto on deep and stainless. I wouldn't install anything else.

[perennial]

In our old house we had what i though was an enamel sink on cast iron or porcelin? Anyhow, although for a while it was prettier than stainless, it did
scratch and then dirt would get into the scratches. It was pretty though. I had that 13 years. When we just built, i decided on stainless because it doesn't show as much, although not as pretty, it is very durable. It's a two
sided and had very deep wash basins - which i like.
Stainless sinks do scratch also.

To get your sink clean - try using a bit of "Bar Keepers Friend", it comes in a gold canister (looks like a comet container). You wet the sink, sprinkle a bit on and then just with a sponge scrubber, scrub and it will look gorgeous. I use it on my smooth top stove also and my other showers (we get a slight blue stain from our well). The other good thing is it's only about $1.59 a container it will last a long time.

[Backfourty,MI.]

Thanks everyone, I was thinking stainless would be better than what I have also with the high iron & hard water. We do have a water softner but it's still stains my kitchen sink. I was thinking I really like the white cast iron one's but wasn't sure how they'd hold up. I do alot of canning in the fall, wash dishes by hand, you know all the neccesary things.

[Freeholder]

I agree with DEEP and STAINLESS! I like the integral (built-in)drainboards that some older sinks used to have. And that low divider sink does make sense! I wonder if you can get one of those in stainless steel?

Also, if you replace your faucet, get the high arched kind. It's easier to get large pots and pans under it.

We have hard water here, and the stainless steel kitchen sink looks fine after four years.

Kathleen

[ericjeeper]

Then I came to realize that deep sucks when you are tall.. The deeper the sink the further I have to bend to reach the bottom .
Seven inches is plenty deep.

[Murron]

Katie ~ We have a similar issue with the iron staining, although we do have a softener. Whatever you get - make it a deep sink!

We have a black granite/composite I picked up at Lowe's or somewhere when we renovated a couple years ago. It hides stains, and has the divider for the two parts. I do enjoy having "two sinks", and especially like the fact that it's nice and deep!

[tallpines]

Originally Posted by ericjeeper

Then I came to realize that deep sucks when you are tall.. The deeper the sink the further I have to bend to reach the bottom .
Seven inches is plenty deep.

We are tall and like a deep sink, so to help eliminate the "bending to reach" problem, we built all of our cabinets 3 inches higher than standard.

[Quint]

If you go with stainless make note of the gauge of metal. The cheaper ones are generally lighter gauge while the more expensive ones are heavier. A light gauge cheap stainless sink is noisy and I find that they warp easily.

I'd think about a water softened and either go with a good heavy stainless or a high quality white enameled cast iron. I had a nice cast iron koehler in my old house and really liked it. easier to keep clean than my current stainless one.

[Backfourty,MI.]

Thanks everyone, will probly go with a heavy guage stainless steel sink, 2 sided & I like the deep ones too. We have a water softner already but the water still has alot of iron in it & I use the salt for high iron water.

Murron, the black granite sounds really nice too but it won't match in my kitchen & I'm afraid to spend alot on a white granite sink & then have it look bad in a couple years.

[Murron]

Katie - I'm glad you've decided! I had a thought - if you periodically use Iron Out diluted with hot water by filling the sink, would that help deter rust staining? Don't know if anyone else has experience with it, or if it would work on stainless.... Then again, it is "stainless" steel, right?

[copperpennykids]

Just to give a different perspective...

We rented a house that had a stainless steel sink and it always looked dirty/water spots.

When we put a sink in our own kitchen, I went with porcelain over cast iron (white) that looks and cleans great with cleanser. I couldn't get a single deep sink (unless I was willing to pay $1000.00 - NOT), so went with a 2/3 / 1/3 sink. The 2/3 side is a little deeper and it fits all pots and pans. I like the 1/3 side for most dish washing as it takes less water and I can leave all the big stuff soaking in the big side.

Camille

[HermitJohn]

Those old double drainboard cast iron sinks (double sink) were great, but yuppies wanting retro discovered them and its next to impossible to find one cheap. Sometime back found a reproduction with double drainboards, but it was only a single sink. Cost like $1500 plus shipping. I'd wash dishes in an old bathtub before I'd spend 1500 on a sink.

Maybe could tig weld drainboards and backsplash onto a deep stainless sink.....

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

I like scullery sinks , they may not fit so well in many homes though

they were the original heavy gauge stainless steel , deep , lower dividers between sided of the sinks , sink

these would be the big ones you find in intitutions , schools, hospitals , and so on
if you have a roaster pan or cookie sheets they actualy fit in without half the pan hanging out of the sink they were made for big pots , and pans

most of the things i was can get rinced and go in the dish washer , but the big stuff always sits out cause it is difficult to wash i want to make washing the big stuff easy

and avoid the overflow of the sink that happens far to often that is what is nice about the lower devider the water can't get over the top so long as one sides drain is open

[painterswife]

I have a high backed, apron front white china farm house sink. One compartment.

Easy to clean and I can fit even my large roaster and tall kitchen garbage can under the faucet.

Expensive but, I love it.

[ACountryMomma]

This thread is so timely! I tried my hand at canning the first time this summer, I was SO frustrated trying to fill those big pots in my little sink. Plus I use my roaster very frequently and bake... Trying to wash these big clunky baking sheets and pans is a mess.

I'd been searching through various sites looking for apron sinks/farm house sinks - because I absolutely LOVE the look and they are so nice and deep. But OUCH! The price is painful.

Greencountypete - thank you very much for mentioning the scullery sinks! I'd never thought of these or even known that is what they were called. I don't need my kitchen to look fancy, I need it to work for me when I've got every pot and pan either full or dirty of Thanksgiving day, or when I'm canning, or trying to clean up after processing a deer....

Hey - I would never argue if someone offered to give me Paula Deen's kitchen, but you know what I mean. I have to focus on what I can afford. Thank you all for so many great ideas!

[painterswife]

This is a stainless steel version of mine. You can order them through hospital supply places.

stainleshttp://www.fgico.com/sink-a-18664.htmls