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lookintomyeyes83

Help me find a sink!

9 years ago

Please help me, my google-fu is failing and I'm unable to find a sink that meets our needs.

- topmount/drop in. (Undermounts get grungy and you cant see the grunge, which grosses me out. My chef friend agrees, and I trust her!)

- ADA-approved. (House is built for aging in place, would prefer to not change out our countertops later)

- suitable for solid surface (avonite) countertops

- 50/50 split with low divide.

- stainless steel, may consider pure white. (As our counters are Avonite Alpine Shimmer)

Can anyone help, please??!! I need to order ASAP!

Comments (9)

  • PRO
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Give up the more limiting double bowl and do the Karran Karran E340It's a large single bowl that can fit a refrigerator shelf in it, and it can be integrally mounted to solid surface. Just like a solid surface sink can be mounted. No grungy edge anywhere.

  • 9 years ago

    Hi The Cook's Kitchen - after having a single bowl in an apartment for years, Hubby is ADAMANT (and indeed I did promise him) a double bowl sink.

    If anything I guess I'll have to compromise and remove the ADA requirement for now (since its drop-in itll be easy to change in the future if need be) as it seems there isn't enough bowl height in an ADA sink (6" max depth) to do the low divide.

  • 9 years ago

    Under mounts don't get grimy if you have zero reveal.

  • PRO
    9 years ago

    There is a reason that large single bowls dominate the retrofit market. Just try to fit a large roasting pan in one of those 50/50 sinks! Or anything else wider than the width of a dinner plate.

    I'd really suggest a field trip to a showroom for hubby, even if that is just a Lowes. With a few baking sheets and cutting boards in his hands, he can judge the constraints better. :)

  • 9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    With an undermount sink, if you have a positive reveal, then there's no hidden grunge and you can still brush crumbs, etc., into the sink and have a more modern look. And, no edge to try to get crumbs, etc., out of b/c of the top mount frame.

    .

    If you want a two-bowl sink, then consider a 70/30 split instead of 50/50. Even in a 36" sink base a 50/50 results in bowls too big for smaller work and too small for larger work (like washing pots & pans without having to maneuver the item around to get it clean and without splashing everywhere!)

    My DH also insisted on a two-bowl sink so we got a 70/30 and he loves it! The smaller side is perfect for soaking silverware, filling a pot, etc. The larger size fits all our pots & pans (including handles), cookie sheets, bins & shelves from refrigerator (except the 36" wide shelf), our Vent-A-Hood insert, etc.

    The interior (i.e., usable) size of our sink bowls:

    • Large: 21.5"W x 18.75"D x 9" deep
    • Small: 10.5"W x 16"D x 7" deep

    However, mine is an undermount. I suggest getting a similar as a top-mount/drop-in, if that's what you prefer.

    Note: With a solid surface counter, you can have an integrated sink -- no gunk!

    BTW...I'm with your DH and mine, I don't like large single-bowl sinks. They require either a dish bin (that has to be stored somewhere when not in use and I don't have extra storage space) or wasting a lot of water if you try to fill it as-is. Our larger bowl fits everything I need it to fit! But, I do not like 50/50 -- we had that in our old Kitchen (see my comment above about our issues.)

  • 9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Oh Sophie, whiny and unhelpful as always... FYI, I don't like that solid surface sinks may crack if you pour boiling water on them without running the tap. When I'm carrying three stockpots of boiling water around that's NOT going to happen, and I don't want spider cracks over time. Im not certain about the integral sink...I could possibly use it for the kitchen as I believe Alpine Shimmer is acrylic, though the bathrooms I'm using polyester solid surface.

    I chose solid surface because I love its warmth, the Avonite colors I've chosen make my heart 'squee!' and that I can buff out scratches if I want to keep the same material for 10+ years. I'm getting a solid surface backspash too. I didn't want cold, hard granite or stone, I hate grout! and laminate is boring and ugly to me. So solid surface won! I'm hard on my sinks tho (see below - LAZY!) so a stainless steel seems like the bset fit for me.

    Undermount is trendy, but I'm just not into the look, either. structurally it seems odd to me too, so really its just personal preference.

    Cook's kitchen - I think we'll try to take a look this weekend, as I may have some luck convincing him of a 60/40 or MAYBE a 70/30. In general the small side just seems too small to use. I do like the symmetry and idea of the low-divide sink tho.


    We are both lazy creatures and often leave dishes sitting in the sink, with the drain pushed in, so the water fills up...and then there's no empty spot for filling a pot, coffee maker, etc without getting in the gunk. Sure I could change my habits, but I have a few other bad ones I'm focused on first... ;P

  • PRO
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    "- topmount/drop in. (Undermounts get grungy and you cant see the grunge, which grosses me out. My chef friend agrees, and I trust her!)"

    Your chef friend is wrong. Here's a recent solid surface top stainless steel sink replacement with a slight positive reveal. Impossible to grunge; you can easily see and clean everything; virtually no exposed caulk:

    If you want a seamed undermount stainless steel sink in your Avonite top, check out the Karran edge series. Completely grunge and hot water proof; no caulk:

    I've installed at least 20 of these, have one in my kitchen, and everyone loves them.

  • 9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Large bowl at work:

    Small bowl at work:

    8 quart pot being filled in the top picture