I ordered the Kohler Dickinson and it arrived on my doorstep 2 weeks ago. It's a beautiful sink with a big price tag. It also came scratched and the porcelain was cracked on all 4 corners. We are assuming the shipping company dropped the sink, but for that price tag, I was very disappointed, and expected this sink to be like my old clawfoot tub that is stronger than anything with hardly any wear after 90 years! I guess I expected too much!

I've decided now that I'm going to go with the Whitehouse sink- check out Blue Bath, as they have some pretty good prices and a great selection with free shipping. I haven't bought one yet as I'm still waiting to get my money back from the other one, but that is who I've decided to go with. Would love to hear if anyone else has a better option....

Oldhousegal, they should have made good on your sink!

A cast iron sink can be damaged from dropping when there's nothing supporting it, but once installed and immobile a Kohler cast iron sink is nigh on indestructible.

Fireclay is a lovely surface, but it has to be fitted in place. Because it's clay and handmade there is some variation and shrinkage and difference from spec. You have to be careful not to overtighten the drain/disposer flange as too much pressure can lead to cracking. Chips are less likely than with old style, unsupported (i.e., no cast iron) sinks, but they can still happen, especially on apron front sinks, revealing the red clay underneath the glaze.

If you have tolerance for its idiosyncrasies, fireclay is wonderful. It feels soooo good. If you want something that you don't have to be careful with, get the Kohler.

Thanks for the opinions and advice! I am having such a hard time deciding!

BlueBath does look to have great prices on the fireclay and I think I might like the look better w/ the drain board... but I like that the Kohler req. less care...

It is also driving me crazy that I can't see a picture of the Whitehaus in blue. They don't seem to have one anywhere online?? Oldhousegal, did you find a pic anywhere or how did you confirm color? When you get the sink in can you post a pic of yours?

Beaglesdoitbetter - I am linking a thread in which Circuspeanut provided pics of the Whitehaus blue sink. HTH.

Here is a link that might be useful: Thread about Farmsinks

Whitehaus fireclay sinks are NOT "red clay under the glaze", rather it's a light-greyish clay like china toilets are made from. Look under the lid of a commode for the approximate color.
Casey. owner of a Whitehaus.

Thanks! Seeing the picture was so helpful! The Whitehaus looks great in that threat! Now I'm even more torn though! It looks like over in that thread, the kohler seems to be the better choice due to durability.

I am already getting carerra white marble counter tops that we're going to have to baby. Not 100 percent sure if I want to baby the sink too. I don't cook, but we'll probably have someone come in to cook/clean 2x a week and I don't know if I want to be crazily watching over every area of my kitchen... Plus, some day we'll (maybe) have kids probably and I'm afraid if I have them and they mess up my sink I won't be able to send the kids back, lol.

So many tough choices!! :S

sombreuil_mongrel- how has your whitehaus been for durability? Do you drain hot water in it? Have you experienced any problems/ cracks, etc.?

Thanks, Casey! My mistake. Bisque will look much better in chips than the red!

It occurs to me, re household help, potential future babies, and a kitchen you have to baby, that given your parameters you really don't want to deal with the clay sink. The marble only needs to be babied if you hate patina. When I had marble (cheap beige in an apartment abroad) I promise I didn't baby it. It was fine. Yes, you can get scratches and pits, and if something colorful soaks in it's a pain to get it out (though sealer probably helps a heck of a lot with that), but, as the guy from The Petch House famously said here on GW, "It's ROCK!".

Fireclay is more durable than vitreous china (what normal bathroom fixtures are made out of), but it's not iron. It's fine for the woman who doesn't cook, but all the ifs of who else might be dropping a heavy hot pan or banging into it on his bicycle make me think it might be a problem in the long run. Kohler's current surface is fired at extremely high temperatures which is what they say makes it so very hard to chip. If a greige (thanks, again, Casey!) chip in your dark blue won't bother you, you won't mind redoing that part of the kitchen if it has a problem, or if you're willing to chance that yours is going to be one of the ones that never gets damaged (because plenty don't), then go with the fireclay if you think it's prettiest. And in a very blue moon a Kohler gets damaged too (though I think there's a warranty). But I have a whole list of things that my housekeeper, who's very careful and conscientious, but not emotionally attached to my stuff the way I am, has nicked, misused or broken. And she's a treasure! I was mightily tempted by a V&B fireclay sink, but life's too short to worry about it.

Thanks plllog- that really helped make my mind up! I am now about 99.99 percent sure we will go w/ Kohler now. I'm not going to be OK w/ imperfections and I don't want to babysit the sink full time! We're going to the (other) plumbers tomorrow to see if he can give us a better price on anything on my plumbing list and hopefully they will be a teensy bit more reasonable than the one we went to the first time. If not, oh well, I told DF I'd probably double our plumbing allowance and even w/ the kohler sink, I'm a whole $100 short of doubling it :)

I'm sorry, but I just have to ask...why does the sink have to be blue? That Whitehaus blue sink is lovely, but if you choose it just because it's blue, and override your other parameters solely for the blue color, I am wondering if you are making things hard for yourself.

The sink has to be blue because... blue makes me happy :) And I'm going for a french country theme. I'm doing off-white cabinets w/ blue accents in the kitchen. Blue stonewashed range hood, hydrangea mural behind stove w/ Stone Impressions sei bella listello, a blue plate rack above the (blue) sink and a kitchen china cabinet w/ a blue back wall. Each of the 3 walls has a blue accent, and I'm going to have my cabinet maker match them all to the sink.

Plus, I've always wanted a farmhouse sink & I don't think a white sink will 'pop' with the carrera marble countertops.

Hi,
I installed mine in Jan. 07, so over 3 1/2 years. I just poured another batch of boiling pasta water in it tonight. Hasn't cracked yet. I wash my iron grill grates in it, and put a pinhead-sized chip in the corner. The grill sections are off my Monogram range and have sharp corners and are pretty heavy. The finish itself still looks fine. It has been vary durable and I'm well pleased.
Casey

Thanks for the feedback Casey. I guess I'll see what the plumbing place can do w/ cost and keep both on the table as an option for now. I wish I could see them in person but doesn't seem to be anyplace around here (Wernersville PA) unless anyone knows of somewhere?