Thanks, that one I missed, I'll look further at it. Price certainly is good. Do you have one, and if so have you had it for years and is it holding up well?

I had one in my last kitchen remodel and it was great. We moved 2 years after remodel but it was as nice as first installed. We did get the sink grid too, which I highly recommend. We are in the midst of another reno and I just ordered my sink from them again. 16g. Good luck!

A center rear drain (which I have) will not interfere with your pulldown faucet. I have a Blanco Stellar 28" sink in a 30" cabinet with a pulldown, garbage disposal, detergent dispenser, recycling, trash, and compost bins all fitting and functioning nicely. No puddling in the sink either. I don't think it is noisy.

If you want a patina look, you don't want polished. Probably you want satin, maybe brushed.

All stainless steel can be and will be scratched, and that is where your patina comes from. The grids help prevent it on the bottom of the sink, but stuff hitting the sides can still mark it. There was someone here a few years ago that posted about buffing her SS sink with sandpaper and (I think) mineral oil to create an even patina.

I have an Elkay SS single basin sink with offset drain. It's only 18 gauge but it's definitely not flimsy or loud.

We just bought a Zuhne 36" apron front - 16g, sound deadening material, bottom grid and came with the drain assembly and a few accessories. The finish is called satin but it looks more like the brushed finish we had on our prior Elkay sink although that's just semantics. Not installed yet, we're still building, but we're very impressed with the construction. We bought ours through Amazon but I see they no longer have that size.

Stan Z:

A patina is a bunch of scratches. Scratches are part of stainless steel. I would suggest you get used to the idea or pick another material. Fortunately stainless is very easy and inexpensive to refinish.

There is little difference between a 16 and 18 gauge sink.

All stainless steel sinks scratch. There's no such thing as "excessive scratching" as you put it. They just scratch, period. You can use a sink grid which will prevent most scratching, but even with a sink grid you will get scratching when, for example, a fork slips through the grid onto the stainless steel. I don't like the sink grids cause it's one more thing to clean, and gunk does get into the little corners. Other people love them, it's an individual choice. If you want to lessen the chance of scratching, get a sink that comes with the grid included in the price, like Kraus. Other brands that don't come with the sink grid included will charge you $80-120 for the grid.

An offset drain is one of the best features to get. If you can get it offset in the corner, that is even better, but harder to find. Elkay makes one as shown above. Otherwise just get a sink with offset rear center which is easy to find.

I prefer a 16-gauge over 18-gauge. Other people don't care. But since you can find 16-gauge sinks for the same money or less money than 18-gauge sinks, I do not see any reason to buy an 18-gauge sink.

Honestly, it doesn't sound like stainless steel is the right material for you. Perhaps look at enameled cast iron or Blanco Silgranit. The Silgranit BlancoDiamond Super Single is for a 36" cabinet, has an offset corner drain, a good slope, and won't scratch. It comes in a number of colors. If you phone Blanco they will send you color samples of the colors you are interested in.

As with any surface, a matte or brushed finish shows the scratches much less than a polished finish. A polished finish is for a .masochist to inflict pain on themselves every time they notice a new scratch.

It's a sink. It's just a tool. A fancier equivalent of a car tire. It doesn't cure cancer or dance in the school play. Stop obsessing. Go with a big name brand first, and whatever size you like second. Drain location is inconsequential unless you are attempting to stuff 50 gallons of trash and a full cleaning cart under there. The offset drains do have the tendency to have worse drainage than than center drains, for what it's worth.

Thanks for the replies. Yes I am considering the stainless and the Blanco Silgranit Diamond (or Precis) super single. The reason we are looking at stainless is primarily aesthetics as the stainless will definitely look better with the other material choices. Perhaps my question is too subjective as I'm trying to get past the marketing hype of 16 gauge, 18/10, and 304 stainless to find out which ones people are happy with after a few years of use.

I've had 2 Elkay sinks in 2 different homes and loved them but I also happen to love the way SS ages and never gave a thought to scratches. Well, maybe the first one but after that, no. A sink has to be a workhorse. I'm hoping my Zuhne proves to be as much of one as the prior Elkays were. I probably won't use the grid for long but will give it a shot - seems counter intuitive to have another thing to clean and also having to remove it totally to clean the sink .

Sophie Wheeler - I almost always agree with your posts. However, your statement is offbase: "Drain location is inconsequential unless you are attempting to stuff 50 gallons of trash and a full cleaning cart under there"

The increased storage and utility under the sink gained from not having the pipes in the middle of that area is a wonderful benefit. I do not have my trash under the sink, nor do I keep loads of cleaning items there. It is roomy, uncluttered, and easy to find things without the plumbing in the center. I can see no reason not to have it; your hyperbole is out of place.

You've also overlooked the other benefit of the offset drain: that you can set a large pot, roasting pan, or cookie sheet in the sink, and not cover the drain. Once you have this feature, you'll never want to go back to a center drain.

"The offset drains do have the tendency to have worse drainage than than center drains, for what it's worth."

I have had an offset corner drain sink for 12 years, and never had an issue with drainage. I am not sure if you are referring to a slope issue - the water in the sink is not flowing quickly into the drain--a good sink manufacturer has a sink with a good slope, regardless of drain location. Or, are you are saying that having the corner location impedes the drainage in the pipe itself? Either way, neither of those drainage problems has ever been my experience. Furthermore, I have been on this forum for many years, and never read a post of anyone complaining of the corner drain causing poor drainage.

We went with a 36" apron front rear center drain from Vigo. It is 16ga and we ordered it from Overstock. It came with the drain assembly and the sink grid, which I absolutely love and will never be without!!! This pic was taken about 18 months after it was installed and it still looked as good as the day we started using it. I love this sink like crazy. It has gotten a few scratches but nothing that stands out to me...it's stainless, it scratches.

friedajune and DLM, I agree with you both. I bought grids when they first started getting popular around 2000. It WAS a pain to clean and was annoying when noodles or parsley or other foods would cling to it. Only benefit I see is shorter people with deep sinks. Or sinks with uneven bottoms. But like someone else said, it's a personal choice...so many people do love them. I just don't get it. Ruvati is another brand that has some cool features (sliding/cutting boards)...they have low to high end. Sharp zero radius corners, somewhere in between and coved corners too.

I installed this Kohler about 3 years ago and have been very happy with it. The corners are really sharp (can be a hit hard to clean deep in the corners) and the base is fairly flat, but I haven't seen any major issues. Any SS sink WILL scratch and the water spots will show (nature of the material), but a little BKF keeps it looking sharp.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0057571WS/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1