Kitchen Fixture Upgrades

[AmyKay]

We are in the process of buying a home. While we are not going to do any major renovations, we will need to upgrade and/or modernize some bits and pieces. We are not buying new appliances right now. Having only been a renter up to this point, I have never gone through this process before, and so have never really thought deeply about questions like which sink is best for us. Most of the folks who we have talked to about our options are sales people, so I am not really sure how much stock to put into the information that they share. In addition, most of our friends and family who have bought homes have not really pondered the details that we are wondering about.

SO . . . I am hoping that egullet might be able to shed some light on our decisions.

So far, we are trying to make decisions about what kind of sink we want, what kind of faucet we want, and if there really is a hidden down side to slab granite counter tops (as some dubious sales people have contended).

If anybody out there has any thoughts at all on any of these topics (or other fixture upgrades that I haven't thought of), please share your experiences! Why did you get the sink that you chose, and do you like it? Do those faucets with the pull out spray end up breaking and permanently dangling two months after installation? Have you encountered any other similar conundrums & how did you resolve them?

Thank you in advance for your feedback!

[ChefCrash]

Congratulations on your new home. We changed our sink recently. Things to know:

The overall width of the sink is dictated by the width of the cabinet underneath. So it helps to know that when you go looking.

Very deep sinks are popular these days, as deep as 10", 11.5" when under-mounted. We found them unattractive and unnecessary for us, my wife is not very tall. We were offered a free 9" sink (from the granite Co.). We said no. We had to look hard to find a 7" sink like the one we replaced that could also be under-mounted.

If you're going with stainless, gauge (thickness) is important, I would not go with anything thinner than 16 gauge. The steel is thinner as the gauge goes up i.e. 18 gauge is thinner than 16 gauge and 20 gauge is thinner yet.

We are not big fans of faucets with integrated sprayers. They tend to be bulky and our kitchen is small.

We're new to granite. It looks terrific. It's not as cold and hard as I imagined it would be.

There is nothing wrong with Formica. We installed our previous counter tops 20 years ago and they still looked like new.

Hope this helps.

[AmyKay]

Thanks for your response, ChefCrash!

I am so glad that you mentioned that about the width of the cabinet determining the width of the sink. We had not considered that & could have gotten ourselves into a jam.

What are your thoughts about the different options available now with sink bowls/dividers? My SO says he wants one big bowl, with no divider, in order to facilitate washing large pans. I am not opposed to that idea, but I know that now it is possible to get a sink with an uneven split. That is, one bowl that is relatively large and one bowl that is smaller. I am curious about the utility of this design, and if others have found it useful or not.

I know that this is not the most thrilling topic, but it is very much where my head is these days.

Thanks again!

[Darienne]

Sinks are important. Last year we spent 6 months living with no dishwasher and one big ceramic sink. It was great to be able to wash enormous pieces easily. Never had that before. The ceramic on steel base made me uneasy with breakables.

Back at home we have a double stainless sink, simple tap system, no pull out spray. DH says pullout sprays put too much stress on the tap installation. And big items are a pain to wash again. However, having a dishwasher again is wonderful.

I'm not very tall and DH lowered one set of counters by a couple of inches for me. Heck, he even cut the stove and oven down.

And we are going to replace our Formica counter-tops with laminated wood. We had wood counter-tops in Utah and I just loved them. Warm color. Can repair cuts. Probably not sensible but I just fell in love with them.

[AmyKay]

Hmmm . . . so pull out sprays could put undue stress on the tap? Wouldn't have thought of that.

Glad to hear that the single bowl option wasn't a bad thing for you, since we seem to be leaning in that direction.

Thanks for sharing your response, Darienne!

[Darienne]

The 'stress' thingy is Ed's response. I have no idea. He does all the renovations so I would take it with a grain of salt.

The downside of the single large sink is lack of easy rinse-ability.

[rooftop1000]

The guy that installed our kitchen stuff recomended an offset drain...it's in the upper left corner instead of the middle. He liked that because if you put dishes in the sink they tend to seal off the drain, had never thought about that but the corner drain is good

tracey

[onrushpam]

When we renovated our kitchen 12 years ago, we went with a fairly deep two-bowl sink. The right bowl is slightly wider than the left, but not by a huge amount. I like the sink, but not the material it is made of. I don't know what it's called... some sort of acrylic over castiron. It hasn't held up well at all. We have a tall faucet (arched) with a side sprayer. I like the faucet. It's high enough to get a big pot under it. And, the side sprayer is handy for filling the coffee maker, rinsing the sink, etc. We went with formica counter tops, thinking we'd eventually replace them with granite, when $$$ allowed. We've never found the $$$ and I've not been unhappy with the formica. It still looks new. We put a wood edge on it, matching our cherry cabinets. That dresses it up a bit.

[pyrguy]

Because of some of our cookware we went with this (click) sink five years or so ago.

Fit all of the cast-iron, the tall stock/pasta pot and the gumbo pot.

Never really missed the second sink for the pots and pans.

We are now, due to work, in an apartment with a small double bowl sink. I really miss my kitchen.

Edited May 2, 2010 by pyrguy (log)

[onrushpam]

This is the sink we have, except our drains are not offset like this. (I'd like that!)

I really do like the size/depth. Just don't like the finish. But, that's likely been improved in 12 years.

[LindaK]

Lots of good advice so far. My two cents:

You need a sink big enough to handle your largest pots and baking sheets. Don't think about a split sink unless one of them is sufficiently large to handle your basic needs. If you have the space, though, it would be nice. The offset drain is a good feature.

Your sink options will also depend on your countertop material. You can't install an undermounted sink with laminate counters but can with stone. So decide on your countertop before you buy a sink. Most people think undermounted sinks are great. After all the hype, I was expecting to love mine, but oddly, i do not. I'm always whacking the edges of the surrounding countertop with my pans and worry I'll chip it one of these days, and kinda miss the old drop-in style sink.

A good faucet is shockingly expensive but worth it, it gets heavy use. I have a pull-out spray and LOVE it.

Countertop choices can drive you mad. Nothing's perfect, you need to think about what features are most important to you as well as your budget.

[MelissaH]

I, too, love my pullout spray.

I'm not overly fond of laminate, but remember that countertops are relatively easy to replace after the fact, and laminate is significantly less expensive than any other option. That said, if someone told me I needed to replace my laminate tomorrow, I'd be looking at one of the composite quartz materials.

When you look at sinks, bring your big pots and pans along. Try them out and see if they fit before you buy.

MelissaH

[AmyKay]

This is lots of great information. Thanks to everyone for your responses!

I hadn't thought of the importance of an off-set drain. Maybe we will need to add that to our list.

As far as the counter tops go, I am thinking granite because 1) we are not going to do much else aesthetically to the kitchen (with the possible exception of do-it-yourself tile floors), and I think it will make a big difference in the appearance of the space, 2) We are expecting to be in this place for probably about 7 years. I think that granite will add to the value of the home upon re-sell, and I want to be enjoying it while we've got it, instead of just putting it in at the end of our time there, and 3) I have always really wanted granite countertops.

We don't have an endless budget, by any means. So, even though I want the granite countertops, I don't have the luxury of blowing money.

There are a couple of comments about formica. Is the granite a total waste of money?

[Darienne]

I want to be enjoying it while we've got it, instead of just putting it in at the end of our time there

Now...there you have it in a nutshell!!!!

As for floors, I love pine floors in a kitchen and never want tile again. Wood floors are much easier to keep clean and they don't show the dirt as much. BTW, we live on a century farm and have huge dirty dogs.

[AmyKay]

You know, that is an interesting point about the wood floors. The home we are currently renting has tile floors that always, always look dirty, even right after I mopped them.

Maybe we should be doing wood. I like the look of tile better (not our current tile, but others I have seen), but I certainly don't hate wood floors. Hmm . . . something else to consider . . .

[baroness]

A good faucet is shockingly expensive but worth it, it gets heavy use. I have a pull-out spray and LOVE it.

I LOVE my pull-out faucet as well.

But don't try to economize here; the mid-range and lower priced ones fail quickly.

[aliénor]

twice i went with low cost faucets and both had to be replaced. this last time i went with a franke faucet with a pull out spout and i have very satisfied with it. yes, it was costly but think of all the use you give it. my feelig is buy cheap and replace, so go with the best you can afford- it is realy worth it in the long run. the same goes for countertops we used to have formica beacaues my husband always said it was easy and cheap to replace, so we replaced it four times. now the last replacement is granite and it really is great. it doesnt stain, nothing burns it and so far nothing scratches it. again if you can afford it go for it

[blue_dolphin]

I just bought a 1960's home with a recently (2008) remodeled kitchen so none of the choices were mine.

I have this Blanco 1 & 3/4 sink, with 8" and 10" deep basins and I really like the extra depth on one side.

It also has a pull out faucet, something I'd always wanted, and it seems to be working fine.

If you've always wanted granite countertops, then go ahead and get them. Home buyers do seem to expect them so they should add value to your home. This is the first time I've had granite. My last few kitchens have had tile and I'm so happy to be free of the dreaded grout. I have no complaints about the granite so far. Mine seems to be the color of crumbs and is very easy to take care of.

[AmyKay]

Thanks to everyone for your responses! This is all very helpful!

[heidih]

Stainless steel sinks- YES! - after years of the white guys I no longer have to worry about all those black marks.

Investing in a good faucet- YES! - this kitchen item is possibly the most used in terms of on/off. Sprayer is not a biggie for me and I have had that function fail the most often- yup=====major fountain display as I scramble to find the shut off valve.

Garbage disposal- I love the air switch. Many think it silly but I like not putting my wet hands on a switch or having "switch confusion".

Granite countertops- I can not express my love for these enough. Coming from tile about 15 years ago it was such a luxury. I have been lucky to have them ever since. Really no care or upkeep and they are beautiful.

[Darienne]

Mine seems to be the color of crumbs and is very easy to take care of.

This would be my reasoning behind having wood floors.

As for the pull-out...which I dearly wanted and didn't get...me thinks I was hornswoggled by my DH.

[Jacquester]

As to the faucet, I have a sprayer faucet and I am quite happy with it. I haven't experienced any problems, I have a HansGrohe which is pretty good quality. I love the deep sink for the bigger pots I am using a "D" sink from bianco.

As far as the counter. I use Silestone. Silestone like the other Quartz products are great products because you get the stone feel and at the same time you get antibacterial properties. I use my counter for working dough etc. It's slightly more than Granite, but CeasarStone is pretty reasonable too. If you do use granite, make sure you go to someone good, as I have heard some talk of radon in untested granite.

[SyntaxPC]

I don't own my house, but I started renting a newly built condo almost four years ago. My wife and I are going to be buying a house in the next ~6 months, so we've been thinking about kitchens a lot.

Sinks

• Definitely stainless steel!
  
• We have an under-mount sink, and it looks great, but there is definitely a problem with chipping the surrounding countertop with large pots. Also, if the under-mount isn't installed correctly you may have a problem of water leaking between the seam down into the cabinet below. We had to re-caulk ours, and it still isn't perfect.
  
• I don't really see the point to a split sink. If the sink is deep enough, then you can rinse things up in the air. Also, keep in mind that with split sinks you may only have one side with a garbage disposal.
  

Countertops

• Granite is nice, but be warned that it does stain (especially for lighter colored granite). You will need to clean up spills immediately. Make sure all of your wine glasses are on coasters and your pots with dirty bottoms are on trivets.
  
• If we were to build our dream kitchen, the counter-tops would probably be stainless steel, but that of course depends on the design of your house. I personally like butcher block, but my wife doesn't like the fact that it requires upkeep and can pick up odors.
  
• We've also been investigating using laboratory countertops (like the ones that schools use in chemistry labs). They also seem to be relatively inexpensive. Does anyone have experience with them?
  

Faucet

• Hands down, get a pull-out sprayer. It's the easiest way to clean the sink!
  

Floor

• Our current place has hardwood. I'd rather have tile (or, ideally, concrete). The hardwood scratches very easily, especially if you drop things (which often happens in the kitchen). Another big problem is that crumbs get stuck between the seams of the floorboards; the only way to clean them is to get down on our hands-and-knees and clean the seams using our vacuum's hand brush attachment.
  

I realize that you're not buying appliances now, but if you have the room (and especially if you only have one oven) then I'd really recommend getting a warming drawer. Lots of people on the TV housing shows say that they never use them---and when we moved in my wife and I didn't think we'd use ours either---but now we love it and use it almost daily. It's nice if only to serve your food on warm plates, but it's also really useful when entertaining to keep everything at the right temperature.

Edited May 4, 2010 by SyntaxPC (log)

[Special K]

I, too, love my pull-out sprayer. I grew up with one, and living in apartments without them was a pain. One thing I really like about ours is that it's mounted on the corner rather than in the center of the sink (right hand corner in our case, which works because we're both right-handed). Very easy to use (unless one of you is right-handed and the other left-handed!).

I don't see the point of double sinks, either (but then I do have a dishwasher). Definitely do get a garbage disposal if you can. My sink is white and I would really love a black one (all the appliances are black), but after trying to find a black bathroom sink I learned that black sinks seem to be pretty hard to come by. I'm just not a fan of stainless steel.

I love, love our (dark) granite. I'll never go back. It's beautiful, and it's nearly indestructable. And really care-free. I don't know how long it was in this house before we bought it (maybe ten years?) but we've had it for about 15 and it looks as good as new.

I would love to have wood floors. Alas, I have (white!) marble tiles, and I hate 'em. (White carpet throughout the house, too, but that's another story).

Congratulations on your first house! It's very smart of you to make these upgrades now so you, and not some future buyer, can enjoy them. We only made the improvements on our first house when we were getting ready to sell it, and we enjoyed the place so much during the last few months there that we were just kicking ourselves for not having done it earlier.

Edited for clarity.

Edited May 4, 2010 by Special K (log)

[JimS]

Also, if the under-mount isn't installed correctly you may have a problem of water leaking between the seam down into the cabinet below. We had to re-caulk ours, and it still isn't perfect.

I was recently reading about a new variety of under-mount sink design that has a resin rim permanently fastened to the top of the sink allowing it to be joined seamlessly to the counter. This seems to be ideal. No seams means no leaks. The pricing doesn't seem too bad either.