Kitchen Sink and Faucet

[weinoo]

As we're moving forward with a gut kitchen renovation, and we've dialed in base cabinet sizes to fit in our NYC apartment galley kitchen, I'm wondering what sink/faucet combo people love. Or hate. Would buy again. Would never look at again. Sink cabinet will be 30" wide, no disposal. 

[lindag]

Oh boy, do I have experience there.

I have had just about every kind of sink there is except for the farm style (which doesn't suit me).

The only sink I would recommend for me or for anyone else these days is the very, very best stainless type.  There are quite a few different qualities of stainless and the best (most expensive) ones are thicker and have a finish that is much less prone to scratching and scuffing.

I have gone thru Silgranite sinks, both black and white...won't do that again; they stain and scuff and never look good again.  Also, the enameled cast iron does the same, it just lasts a little longer before it gets looking bad.  So, that's what I'd recommend.  Believe me, it's worth it to spend a bit more on something that gets so much use.  Also, get an under-mount style, easier to contain spills and clean up.

Oh, and I forgot about the faucet.  I like Blanco, I'm on my third one now (different house), this is similar to the one I have:

Edited June 26, 2017 by lindag (log)

[Darienne]

If I ever get to choose a new sink again...I would pick one large enough to fit in a cookie sheet.  And we always stick with Moen faucets.  They are guaranteed for life and you can go to the supplier and get new bits for them if necessary for free.

 

[Anna N]

 Recommendation would be to get a separate sprayer.  

[MelissaH]

15 minutes ago, Anna N said:

 Recommendation would be to get a separate sprayer.  

And I love our Grohe where the faucet part pulls out to become the sprayer (buttons change between stream and spray; can use either mode whether the faucet is in or out. To each their own!

[weinoo]

48 minutes ago, Anna N said:

 Recommendation would be to get a separate sprayer.  

Anna - what's exactly a separate sprayer?

[robirdstx]

I love our Moen faucet with two touchless sensors. The one on top of the arm will stay on for two minutes unless you wave your hand over it before then. The lower sensor comes on when you place your hand within range and will stay on until you move your hand away, stopping automatically. Ours is similar to this one in the photo below which I found on Amazon.

 

 

[ElsieD]

I too am fond of a separate sprayer and also a built-in soap dispenser.

[Anna N]

30 minutes ago, weinoo said:

Anna - what's exactly a separate sprayer?

I have the one Melissa is describing above but I preferred it when the sprayer was not part of the faucet but was separate like so.

[Porthos]

I have no direct experience with anything but a traditional 2-compartment sink. I deeply desire to replace it with a farm sink when the time comes. My DW isn't on-board with it - yet. I do not hand-wash dishes so I don't need 2 compartments. A farm sink would afford enought space for any pan, baking or otherwise, to be placed completely in the sink.

 

Faucets are far to varied and personal for me to weigh in on with advice. We have an inexpensive spray or stream faucet-on-a-hose that pulls out. Second one we have owned. I like it for several reasons, one of which is the ease of filling the coffee maker (not an issue for you):

 

 

[Lisa Shock]

I'm putting in a small commercial (steel, free-standing) 3 compartment with a regular set of taps plus a pull down sprayer.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

Does anyone remember when faucets lasted twenty years or more? I do. They used to be easy to work on for the homeowner too. That was when they were made in USA. Now "American Standard" plumbing fixtures are made elsewhere, which shall not be named due to its political incorrectness. 

 

I have to second @Darienne's recommendation for Moen. I do not have the kitchen or bathroom faucets, but rather the shower/bathtub diverter. This was installed at my expense and labor 18 years ago when the landlord kept replacing it with a cheap version that the plastic handles broke off in three months and the damned things started leaking before that. I have not had one bit of trouble with the Moen in those 18 years. As she said, it is guaranteed for life, but I've not had to avail myself of that. It remains an excellent product in a world that is swirling down to mediocrity or worse. I can't say enough good things about my experience with Moen, which has been install and forget, although I depend on it every day.

 

Also, to those of you who like farm sinks, more power. They just are not for me. When I'm cleaning up after cooking, I stand in front of the dishwasher, blocking opening the door, so I clean dishes in the disposal side closest to the dishwasher and then stack them in the second sink without having to worry about dripping on the counter. I have worked with an actual farm sink on my grandparents' actual farm. I hated it. YMMV

[asthasr]

I like high arc faucets, because they let you get stuff under them. I haven't had any complaints about our pull-out sprayer, either, and I'll be a vote against built-in soap dispensers. (My experience is that they inevitably start leaking, and then you have a soapy mess under the sink.) The biggest thing, though, is that I only want a large, single compartment sink. Stainless steel. I resign myself to the fact that my sinks will always be scratched, because I drop things--but I want the scratching to be a purely cosmetic concern, not a functional issue as it is with enameled sinks.

Edited June 27, 2017 by asthasr (log)

[DanM]

I am very happy with our Elkay stainless steel sink. It is very forgiving and easy to keep clean. Ours is 28" wide and 10" deep (very deep!). One option I highly recommend is an off center drain. This allows you to place large items in the middle of the sink and not block the drain. It has also reduced the number of items that have fallen into the drain by 95%. 

 

The faucet is a nothing fancy Kohler pull out faucet.

 

My 2 bits... 

 

Dan

Edited July 19, 2017 by DanM (log)

[Martin Fisher]

I also like high faucets.

I have the "French-Style" Price Pfister Marielle.

It's a very expensive piece of junk!!! 

No more Pfister's for me! 

Edited July 19, 2017 by DiggingDogFarm (log)

[gulator]

For a "quality" kitchen faucet, here is aDelta Faucet 9159-CZ-DST Trinsic Single Handle Pull-Down Kitchen Faucet with Magnetic Docking...must be beautiful...  Can't afford that, but anyway, just wondering, for that price, water filter... 

[weinoo]

The faucet is going to be a Hangrohe Talis S, for a number of reasons.

 

Not too high, but high enough. I like it's lines and that it has a toggle spray diverter.

 

And the sink is a Franke, 10" deep, because we don't have a ton of room to go very wide.

Edited September 7, 2017 by weinoo (log)

[Anna N]

 Having a very similar looking faucet installed in my kitchen this weekend. Mine is a Moen.  Didn't really get to choose it. My son-in-law bought it for his house but my daughter doesn't like it.  Anything will be better than what I have now. 

[lindag]

10 minutes ago, weinoo said:

The faucet is going to be a Hangrohe Talis S, for a number of reasons.

 

Not too high, but high enough. I like it's lines and that it has a toggle spray diverter.

 

And the sink is a Franke, 10" deep, because we don't have a ton of room to go very wide.

 

I'm continuously amazed at just how expensive faucets have become.  

However, at least the better ones now seem to have lifetime guarantees.

I discovered this when I had issues both with my Moen soap dispenser and with my Blanco kitchen faucet.  In both cases the replacement parts were sent free of charge, no questions asked.  I was impressed.

[blue_dolphin]

21 minutes ago, weinoo said:

The faucet is going to be a Hangrohe Talis S, for a number of reasons.

Not too high, but high enough. I like it's lines and that it has a toggle spray diverter.

 

I was going to ask what it meant to have a "toggle spray diverter" but figured I should look it up. I found my answer and a small chuckle in this Amazon Q&A exchange:

 

Quote

Q:  does the spray function lock or only works when depressed?

A:  That, my friend, is an excellent question. To find the answer to your question, I first looked up the definition of depressed. I discovered that perhaps you were referring to "having the central part lower than the margin ". I discovered from Hansgrohe's website that this faucet has a toggle spray diverter. That led me back to the dictionary which stated that toggle means " a device consisting of two bars jointed together end to end but not in line so that when a force is applied to the joint tending to straighten it pressure will be exerted on the parts adjacent or fixed to the outer ends of the bars". And also diverter, "to turn aside or from a path or course; deflect. " These definitions led me to believe that you may lock on to either the regular flow, or the spray mode. The definitions were inconclusive however, so I took the liberty of calling Hansgrohe's customer service number 1-800-334-0455, and after a very short hold time (less than a minute), I reached Zach in technical support and he confirmed my inclination that the faucet spray head does lock in both modes and you can switch back and forth, or "toggle" between the two patterns while the faucet is running. When the faucet is turned off, and turned back on again, it will return the regular flow and not the spray mode.

 Adams Quality Plumbing  SELLER  answered on July 13, 2015

 

I think I would buy from Adams Quality Plumbing but perhaps not hire them by the hour 

[weinoo]

Yes, the toggle!  Many of the faucets I looked at don't lock in the spray mode, and I really wanted one that did. I also like the laminar flow, which in non-aerated. One of the cons I'd read about concerning the high faucet is that they splash.  The deep sink, plus the theory that the spout is directly over the drain, should contain that.

 

Faucet prices are indeed insane and are nowhere close to what I budgeted for. When you add up the kitchen sink, the bathroom lavatory (more expensive than the kitchen sink), and the shower "system" (more expensive than either), it's crazy.  But other things (wine cooler, fridge, d/w) are actually less expensive than what I budgeted for, so I don't feel too bad.

 

The real cost is actually the contractor!  But I know their work, and it's super quality. They do lots of apartments in our buildings, and I've seen 2 recent projects that came out beautifully.

 

 

Edited September 8, 2017 by weinoo (log)

[Martin Fisher]

Sinks...

There are three things that I absolutely HATE about my ancient, porcelain coated cast iron sink and one thing that I LOVE!

• Many newer faucets can't be mounted on it. Only faucets and such that go into individual openings—hence, the overpriced piece of junk Pfister Marielle "French Country Style" faucet!
• It's not easy to clean!
• It stains VERY easily which makes it even more difficult to clean!

But I do LOVE the drain board! 

I will not have another sink without a drain board.

 

I wish I could easily replace the ancient cast iron sink, but it would be a MAJOR project!

It rests on and old metal cabinet with the water meter and such housed inside it.

It would be a major project!

 

[helenjp]

Maybe slightly off-topic...I recently re-installed Sketchup, years after using it to design backgrounds for a graphic project. Woah! There are lots of different brands represented these days, so if you are toying with kitchen layouts, you can probably build a realistic layout with units from the manufacturer of your choice.

Personally, I think it's kind of funny that I can not only equip my real-life kitchen with Ikea, I can set up my fantasy life kitchen with Ikea too if I want to!

[weinoo]

On 9/8/2017 at 8:35 AM, DiggingDogFarm said:

Sinks...

There are three things that I absolutely HATE about my ancient, porcelain coated cast iron sink and one thing that I LOVE!

• Many newer faucets can't be mounted on it. Only faucets and such that go into individual openings—hence, the overpriced piece of junk Pfister Marielle "French Country Style" faucet!
• It's not easy to clean!
• It stains VERY easily which makes it even more difficult to clean!

But I do LOVE the drain board! 

I will not have another sink without a drain board.

The sinks in this apartment building/complex are all porcelain coated cast iron - as are the bath tubs. Must weigh a ton, and to remove them, I believe my contractors will use a sledgehammer to break them into more tossable pieces.

 

It does have a built-in drain board, which I hope to replicate in one way or another on my new countertop - gonna try to have drain groves cut into it.

[lindag]

I hope your new sink is an undermount.  IMO, the only kind to buy.