Granite installed price?

[Belinda Barfield]

I'd never considered anything but stainless with granite. Are the new stainless sinks different that ones from 18 years ago? We've got a stainless sink now and haven't had any scratching isses. its not as shiny as a brand new one, but doesn't look bad. And whenever it starts looking nasty I clean the whole thing with a scotchbrite pad which leaves it looking good.

How durable are the porcelain ones from chipping due to stuff dropped in the sink?

I believe the stainless steel sinks are different than the ones from years ago. Like many other things, cheap sells. As cheaper sinks have cornered the market some of the good sink maufacturers have closed their doors. A lot of builders tend to use a "builder grade" sink in new construction. You can pick one of these up for around $200.00. A good quality heavy guage stainless will hold up and look good a lot longer of course. There is an abrasive product (if you can find it) called Zud. Similar to Barkeeper's Friend but less abrasive. Zud can do a lot to rejuvenate a stainless sink.

I have had a Kohler porcelain sink for seven years or so now and have not had any problem with chipping. Like granite, porcelain can be chipped if something very heavy strikes in just the right spot, but it is pretty tough. One advantage to a porcelain sink is that you can match it to your appliances if you aren't going with stainless appliances. Stay away from a black porcelain sink. . . it is almost impossible to keep it looking good.

Here is the link to Kohler's kitchen planner. Note that many, if not all (I didn't go through the entire selection), have a positive skin reveal. I still recommend a countertop overhang.

http://www.us.kohler.com/planning/ki...inkPlanner.jsp

[Dick Strauss]

Matt,
We had a porcelain over cast iron kitchen sink growing up and never had a single chip in over 25 years. Porcelain sinks also don't show all the water spots, etc.

[Kevin Groenke]

I like stainless, our basins are big and bigger, 7.5" depth. Kohler K-3353. Yeah, the stainless is "scratched", but it's a working kitchen, the absence of polished SS never bothered us. SS appliances I don't really get though.

The only thing that doesn't fit in the sink is my 35qt brew kettle, that wouldn't fit in a single bowl either. Guess it's time for a pot filler --- or a basement brew center.

It's personal preference of course, but mixing stone and solid surface seems "off" to me.

Where did you get those foot pedals? The only place I have seen those is on a hospital surgery suite!

Dan

Isn't a kitchen kinda a surgery suite? Have you ever seen the contamination of an entire kitchen from parting out poultry? Not pretty.

The idea to install the foot pedal actually came from my memory of basin sinks w/foot pedals in elementary school.

There is also a single handle control on the deck next to the gooseneck so you can use either control. It's pretty simple to hit either pedal or both depending on water temp you want. I'd estimate we use half the water rinsing dishes that we did using the tap.

I will never have a kitchen sink without a foot pedal.

[Belinda Barfield]

It's personal preference of course, but mixing stone and solid surface seems "off" to me.

When honed granite was all the rage I got a lot of requests for solid surface sinks because of the matte finish. Same with honed marble. Many people like solid surface sinks because the rim of the sink is designed to glue up seamlessly to the solid surface countertop, so there is no lip like we see on many stainless sinks.

[Dan Mages]

I would love this sink from Elkay when we redo the kitchen. at 84", It would extend over the two dishwashers and go from one outside wall to the fridge. No seams and very sanitary. But at $2000 I might have to pass on it.

[Belinda Barfield]

I've got the time. Since we're now discussing sinks, here are a couple of photos of a kitchen we did five or so years ago. You won't get this for $55 a sq ft. Just for kicks I included the shower. Seriously, would you ever leave this shower?

The sink in the island is part of a pasta cooking unit.
Smith Kitchen 2.jpg

Smith Kitchen 6.jpg

Smith Shower.jpg

BTW, this was an addition. The original structure was 7,000 sq ft, and the addition added another 7,000 sq ft. We did all the bathrooms and the kitchen, as well as an outdoor kitchen in soapstone and soapstone wall caps and seats around the pool.

[Ben Hatcher]

I paid $45/sq/ft installed for mine. I bought my own stainless undermount sink off of ebay for about $100 and I was very pleased with the quality. The fabrication shop just used the template that came with my sink to do the cutout. The granite that I chose is varigated. The good part is that crumbs don't show up very well so they look clean even when they're not. The bad part is that dark twist ties and such are almost impossible to find.