Kitchen sink recommendations?

pweller · 07-06-2008, 11:39 PM

I am thinking about replacing my kitchen sink. The current sink is a Crane brand, which appears to be enamel over steel. It is beige in color, and doesn't feel very thick (I am assuming it is not cast iron). It is 9 years old.

The current sink has a decent sized chip out of it, plus the area under the faucet is rough/worn. There are quite a few deep scratches that probably couldn't be polished out. I don't think the quality of the sink justifies a lot of work to improve it.

I am thinking about either a stainless sink or a Kohler cast iron one. I like the look of the cast iron sinks, but I don't want something that is likely to chip or is difficult to maintain.

1. I read that keeping stainless clean in areas with hard water can be difficult. Does anyone have any experience with this?

2. My current enamel/steel sink has a pretty weak finish, putting dishes under the faucet seems to damage the finish, and it has chipped (I don't remember dropping anything in it, but I may have). I don't want to get a replacement sink that is of an equally low-quality. A friend indicated that his cast iron sink was very durable, and has dropped a lot of things in it without doing any harm. Is a nice quality (Kohler) cast iron sink going to be more durable than the steel based one I currently have? Is the finish on a higher quality sink better/stronger/harder, or is the sink just heavier?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

baksdak · 07-07-2008, 12:53 PM

We have a stainless steel sink in our basment kitchen (kohler) and I have just recently put in a new cast iron sink (kohler) in our upstairs kitchen. I personally do not like the look of stainless because, yes it does show water spots (can be polished out) and it shows scratches from pots and pans REAL easily. Now if I cared too much I could probably polish those out too. On to the cast iron sink...LOVE it. Only had it for a short amount of time but it seems very durable. Kohler also has a lifetime guarantee on the finish.

angus242 · 07-07-2008, 01:18 PM

As far as I'm concerned, the best sink out there is a Blanco Silgranit. I recommend it to all of my customers (and they usually go that route too).
http://www.blancoamerica.com/KS_GR_D...NCODIAMOND.htm
They come in a few colors. HIGHLY scratch resistant. HIGHLY heat resistant. HIGHLY stain resistant.
http://www.blancoamerica.com/index.html?p=WHERE_TO_FIND
Click on "Authorized Showrooms" to find a location to go and see one.

For the money, I think it's the best sink out there (as long as you don't want the stainless look).

pweller · 07-07-2008, 02:22 PM

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

I was not familiar with the Blanco Silgranit, either in brand name or material. I did check out the site, and they do have a few distributors in my area. Did some price checking, and the prices seem reasonable, and not too much more expensive than a Kohler cast iron.

I'll go down to the local showroom and check them out. The same place has Kohler as well as Blanco, so I can do a side-by-side comparo.

RippySkippy · 07-08-2008, 09:43 AM

We put in a Blanco SS and absolutely love it. The scratches don't bother us...it's a work area not a showroom display, so some elements of wear are OK for us. I had a Enamel over cast, and it looked great for a while, then the enamel became dingy and over time it earned a chip or two. It wasn't a Kohler. We didn't choose the Silgranit mainly because of aesthetics, the SS just fit better.