tarnator- We're planning to go from a double bowl down to a single bowl sink, but the main factor for us was not that we would have a prep sink (which we will), nor the drain, which I've seen, but the fact that we will also have a dishwasher. That's where we will be 'drying' most of our items, and for larger ones, we don't mind putting a pot on a towel on the counter. We do it now anyway and we're fine with it. So, are you planning to have and use a dishwasher?

hi Brickton,
yes we will have a dishwasher, but we do seem to have a lot of stuff that needs handwashing - like thermal mugs etc. Somehow, they just get washed and dumped in our drainer for some time.

maybe if we do only have 1 sink we will be forced to put things away a bit more often!

Also, is it OK to have a garborator in the single drain on a single sink?

You can get a drainer/basket thingy that hangs over your sink (there are colanders that do this too). If you have a big sink, you can hang this on one side, and remove it to the counter when you need the whole sink. Some of the pricier sinks have them specifically designed to fit (Franke, for example)

The answer lies is in which is more important to you? If you're washing raw meat, and then want to throw in some spinach to rinse, then having a single basin will be a disadvantage. We're building a new kitchen with a prep and single basin large main sink, so this will never be a problem. But for an "only" sink, you have to decide if you'd rather have the advantage of "2 sinks in 1" (with the difficulty of trying to wash large bulky things in half of it) or the advantage of the big real estate in a single basin. Personally, I would have to have a divided sink if it were my only one. I'm too messy of a cook otherwise.

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Bungalow and Kitchen remodel blog

I had a chance to look at some sinks today and I love the look of a single......but the function of the double. I think that I will try to get the biggest double that I can in a 60/40 type split.

Cheers!

As I mentioned it another post I have the Ticor and love it. If you decide to go with single or double I would suggest a Ticor.

Thanks rufinorox,
I saw your sink post for your Ticor....we seem to be buying the same things at the same time!

Tarnator, this is one of those decisions that people have strong opinions about. I figure it's personal preference and there isn't one right way to do it.

I just installed a Ticor S105-8. That's a double bowl 60/40 for a 36" sink base. Like you, DH and I really like the 2nd sink for a dish drainer even with a DW and a prep sink. We'll put a GD in the big sink. It comes with the sink grids but I still looked high and low for a drainer to fit in the sink. The dimensions would lead one believe this would be easy but it wasn't. For now I found a cheap one at Target but I'll keep looking for a better looking, better quality one.

I have a Ticor S405D in a 36" sink base w/no modifications made to the sink base. It's a 70/30 double-sink. We love it and even though we have a prep sink, we would not get a single sink for the main sink. There are too many times when we use both sinks for different purposes and I would not want to have a dishpan to fiddle w/when needed and to try and figure out where to store it when not in use...those are pretty big items to find room for!

I have found the large bowl in our sink (21-1/2" wide) is large enough for all my cookie sheets, casserole dishes, refrigerator bins & shelves, longest pan including the handle, etc. No, my oven racks probably wouldn't fit, but then, I never wash them in the sink, so I certainly don't care!

The small bowl (10-1/2" wide) is large enough for our largest pot for filling, even though I use the prep sink for that, and yet small enough that we can soak silverware & utensils in it w/o wasting water in a big bowl.

I will say that a sink w/equal-sized bowls (like we had in our old kitchen) is pretty useless and I can see why people would be anti-double bowl if that's all they know...those bowls are too big for small jobs and too small for large jobs!

That said, if you cannot fit at least a 33" sink base, then I would stick w/a single bowl b/c a double-bowl sink in a sink base Here's mine:

Small bowl "at work":

Large bowl "at work":

I had a 60/40 in my last kitchen. The larger size held everything flat except cookie sheets. I kept the small side clean for fruits, veggies and the occasional hand washed item. My present kit is smaller so I went with a large single and I miss the double. Now I have to clean the sink a few times a day for washing veggies etc. ( I like to put greens in cold water not just rinse them) I can now put a cookie sheet flat but I use a lot more veggies than I bake cookies.

Thank you so much for all the thoughts and pictures!

It is great to hear from owners of the 2 sinks that are making my short list, the Ticor S105-8 and the S405D!

I have to admit that I am amazed at how much the small sink on the S405 looks like it will fit. I think that I better let DH have a look at these sinks - I have dithered myself into enough confusion. :)

Tarnator: you are choosing between the exact two sinks I narrowed it down to. I did just what you going to do. I asked DH to help. He liked the S105-8 so I ordered it and moved on. Like Buehl, our cabinet didn't need modification either. And like you, I thought that small sink on the S405 does look to hold a lot!

I don't think either sink would be a mistake, I could have been happy with either one in my kitchen. Call and see what's in stock at Galaxy. My S-105-8 was back ordered for about 10 days at the time I ordered.