Agree with everything camphappy said. I've got two Rachiele copper sinks in my kitchen and love them. They are pretty darn bulletproof and really easy to clean. I love the living finish. It's kind of fun watching it change.

The complaints that I've heard about copper sinks have been from people who purchased one with a sealed finish or are trying to keep the sink finish uniform. If you can't embrace coppers living finish, then a copper sink isn't for you. If you can, I can't imagine a better sink.

I am considering copper sinks but heard that one needs to wipe them dry after each use and not let water sit in them. Have you found this to be the case? I love the look but am concerned about the upkeep (we have well water also).

Nerd, I'd never use a sink that had to be dried out after each use. I'd always wanted a copper sink but was put off hearing the same thing. I ended up putting two copper sinks in my current kitchen after learning that it was the sealed finish on copper sinks that I wanted to avoid.

If you have a copper sink that has a raw copper interior, you won't need to dry it out. But the finish won't remain uniform. Over time it will turn the same color as an old copper penny. Acidic foods will strip the patina back to raw copper which will change back to the darker patina over time. I've also found the my sink reacts with some metal pans left to soak overnight. One of the things I love about my sinks is watching them change. Maintenance is easy, I just use a sponge and soapy water to wash them. If you can embrace copper's living finish, you'll love having a copper sink.

The apron of my 36" copper farm sink has a sealed finish that won't change.

This is the interior of the sink after I used ketchup to write a birthday message to my daughter. The message started to fade within a few days. You can see how the finish looks in the rest of the sink with lighter spots here and there.

I ended up buying my copper sinks after reading about them on this forum. Both my sinks are made by Rachiele, a small company in Florida. You can find lots of information on their site.

I hope that helps.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rachiele copper sinks

Poohpup, how long did it take for the birthday message to disappear? I have to say, your kitchen is absolutely stunning. Do you mind if i steal the birthday photo for my site? (Dino)

Poohpup, I am in love with your Rachiele copper sinks. I still have my kd looking at Kohler enameled cast iron. I am not sure price wise and not sure if I could deal with the bright spots. My DD has a copper sink in her kitchen and I love it! I figure the Rachiele would double or triple my sink expenditure.

@holly-kay - We were wanting a copper farmhouse sink for our upcoming kitchen remodel, but thought that the price would be too extreme. We actually found a nice hammered one on the Home Depot website for only $699. The reviews on it are very good. The online photos show it mounted over the counter, but you can install it as an under mount, which we plan to do.

We ended up ordering that same sink from Menards, as they had it on sale recently for $559 plus free shipping. We received it last week. It will look awesome once we have our new cabinets and crema bordeaux granite installed!

Here is a link that might be useful: ECOSINKS copper farmhouse sink - single bowl

This post was edited by gpraceman on Wed, May 1, 13 at 14:24

Poohpup sent a follow up photo after 5 days. This is what her sink looked like. I thought this would be helpful to see.

I know this is an older thread, but just regarding gpraceman's post above about getting a copper sink for a low price. You have to be wary about those. Those lower-priced copper sinks are usually lacquered, which leads to trouble, and also not good-quality or pure copper, which leads to trouble. For a copper sink, you get what you pay for. Copper is expensive and expect to pay $1700 minimum for a copper sink. If you cannot afford that, there are many other types of excellent sink materials that would be a great choice and affordable, but don't buy instead an "affordable" copper sink. I am linking a thread that shows the consequences of an inexpensive copper sink.

Here is a link that might be useful: Thread about Copper Sink

The Ecosink referenced is essentially the Lucca made by Thompson Traders. I spoke with the manufacturer, and these are 14 gauge copper, and are not lacquered. The reviews on the Home depot site are outstanding.

Best to buy a copper sink with no sealant on it and let it patina naturally. You can't stop the patina process, and why would you want too? It looks amazing, and any sealants will stop the natural anti bacterial benefits and great colors.

Here is a link that might be useful: World CopperSmith

GPRaceman, I see your post that you bought a copper ecosink from Menards. Just wondering, how is it working out for you? Any downsides of that sink? It looks great on the website! Thanks much!

Here is a link that might be useful: copper sinks pros and cons?

Our sink has worked out just fine. No regrets. More expensive sinks may have some sound deadening material on the underside. I got some of that material off of Amazon pretty inexpensively and applied it to get the same effect.

{{gwi:2139608}}

Seeing some of the comments from Mrs_Nyefnyef, I'll have to disagree when it comes to this particular sink.

This sink is not lacquered at all, so it does lose the patina when you put something acidic on it. However, the patina will return over time. It can get darker marks if you leave a hot pan sitting on it. We've had that happen but have been able to clean it and have the patina return without much trouble. We are well past sweating any loss of patina, as we know it will return before too long. We certainly do not go to the trouble of drying out the sink after each use.

It is not thin gauge metal. It is 14 gauge, which is pretty thick. Some of the more expensive sinks I saw were only 16 gauge (bigger number means thinner metal). You cannot easily flex the metal, if you try by hand.

It is not a cheap copper alloy. The manufacturer states that it is 99.98% pure solid copper. They could be lying, but after 1-1/2 years using this sink, I really have no reason not to believe them.

Overall, I think it is a great sink. I really don't see what spending several hundred more dollars would get us, except maybe some sound deadening applied to the underside. As I mentioned in my previous post, you can get that material inexpensively and apply it yourself. It is the same stuff that people use in their cars for sound deadening. It comes in a sheet, you cut it to size, then peel and stick.

Checking Menards website, they do currently have that sink on sale for $559.20, thru 1/17/2015, with free shipping. That's the same deal that we took advantage of. This is the exact same sink that Home Depot carries. Regular price is $699.

http://www.menards.com/main/kitchen/kitchen-sinks/ecosinks-handcrafted-antique-single-apron-front-14ga-pure-copper-kitchen-sink/p-1741895-c-8510.htm

This post was edited by gpraceman on Wed, Jan 14, 15 at 11:34

Hello gpraceman!

I am looking at possibly buying the sink you purchased at Menards. Looks like the sale ends today, so I will need to make a decision quickly. Anyway, in the picture of your sink in your (beautiful!!) kitchen, I was wondering - how old is the sink in the picture? I think I would be perfectly fine with the patina change to the bowl of the sink, but what about the front of the sink that isn't subjected to much water? Does that change color too? Thanks for your help!

Oops!

I just bought a copper sink at Menards--delivered to our front door yesterday--an even cheaper one--originally 599 on sale for 399.

It's a two basin traditional model.

@theshepherdgirl

That photo was shortly after our kitchen was completed. That was about 1-1/2 years ago. The patina that you see there is pretty much what it looks like today. I don't really notice a difference between the patina on the apron and that of the sink basin.

This post was edited by gpraceman on Sat, Jan 17, 15 at 17:46

Just ordered a copper sink(matte copper-no finish) from coppersinksonline for my kitchen. Hope I'm happy with it.

gpraceman, I just noticed the photo of your kitchen. Love the counters and faucet. Name of granite and faucet, please? How long have you had your faucet, do you like it? Any problems with it and how does the finish hold up? Thanks!

The faucet is Delta Linden
Single Handle Pull-Out Kitchen Faucet, Venetian Bronze. We haven't had any problems with the finish holding up. Our kitchen remodel was 2 summers ago.

http://www.amazon.com/Delta-4353-RB-DST-Pull-Out-Kitchen-Venetian/dp/B002VKSKTK

The granite is Crema Bordeaux. We love the movement in it. Though, we had to look through a lot of slabs to find the ones that we liked. Many were too purple or had smaller grain. These have just enough of the bordeaux, with large nodules of the crema and streaks of quartz. Here's a pic of one of the slabs:

Thanks for the info gpraceman!

Kathy6421 I am looking at a sink from coopersinksonline with a matte copper finish and wondered if you received it yet and do you like it?

cblakeburn, I special ordered it with different dimensions, so it takes several weeks to get, plus we will not be putting it in until we get our countertops. From what I've heard the sinks from there are great. I was told to order the antique copper drain which is the closest match to the matte copper sink(once the sink darkens naturally). The women I spoke to at coppersinksonline has had the matte copper sink with the antique copper drain for 2 years and says she loves it! I will post again once I get it and actually use it. Just curious...What faucet do you have/are you getting? I'm having trouble deciding on one. :)

poohpup Your kitchen looks very warm and inviting! Would you please share more information. Maybe some details about your cabinets, granite and your tile backsplash? I really like how everything ties in together.

I love my copper sink but I recently noticed that it sweats a lot under the cabinet. It's more than just a little moist. Any thoughts?

"Sweat'' is caused by humidity with some item cooler than room temperature for that humidity to condense against. Your sink will be room temperature unless its filled with cold water. Like a toilet tank that gets filled with the cold water line. I'd suspect a bit of a leak somewhere.

jonicrowdis:

Is your sink an undermount? If so, a leaking flange can cause nearly catastrophic damage if your top is stone and has been improperly rodded. Just a thought.

I am thinking of putting in our cabin but have well water. Does well water affect the copper sink coloring or stain it in a certain way?

Probably not, but I think it depends on what minerals are in the water. One way to test is to get a copper diffuser, pour some well water over it a few times, and see what happens. https://www.rachiele.com/copper-diffuser-plates.aspx

Jane, the good news is that well water will actually be better! The minerals will react with the natural copper to re-patina any disturbed areas quickly. I have been on well water with my two copper kitchen sinks and two lavatory sinks and a copper shower since 2001. The photo on the bottom was taken last year. That sink is 17 years old . The shower walls basically take care of themselves. The shower requires almost no maintenance. Literally, 3 times since 2001. All that was done was to wash down the walls with a product to remove soap scum. The soap takes a very long time to cling to the copper, so regular maintenance is not an issue. The top photo is our smaller apron sink. As you can see, it still looks great after all these years.

Wow thanks!

We built our home ten years ago. We have been visiting San Miguel de Allende in Mexico every year for about 20 years. When it came time to finish off our interior details we went to a local shop in SMdA named Counter Cultures. We purchased a big and deep two-well copper sink for the kitchen (heavy and unsealed), a small copper sink for the powder room, a ceramic-coated cast iron bar sink, a stove backsplash of hand cast bronze tiles and some other copper and bronze stuff. After ten years, everything has held up well and the kitchen sink is still getting comments, many of which are envy laden (Yup - I love it!). It turns out Counter Cultures is actually a branch of a place by the same name in southern California. We saved so much money by buying in SMdA, it more than paid for our annual ten-day vacation back in 2008!

Does your copper sink put off an unpleasant odor? Just ordered a Mexican copper sink and a friend said they have an natural offensive odor

@Joanne Bendig Ours didn't have a smell to it. Though, we got ours through Menards.

Joanne-

There should be no reason a Mexican copper sink would have an offensive odor. The only things I can think of are: 1) If it has been coated with a clear finish that is off-gassing temporarily (though I think this is unlikely), 2) If your friend is sensitive to the smell of copper in general. I'd ask for your friend to be more specific. At this point it sounds like sour grapes, or you should "buy American," or "I heard it from a friend who heard it from a friend...."