I had them in my Corian counter and loved them . i did have to ask for the fabricator to make them a bit deeper.

Looking at my kitchen & trying to visualize built in drainboard……doesn’t work. It would spoil the look of my kitchen. I think the kitchen style would dictate whether or not that would be a good look. So maybe in a true farmhouse kitchen. As for functionality - I don’t see that as a equal trade off to more useable counter workspace. So my vote is a strong no.

@User do you have suggestions about how wide runnels should be? I don't know what you mean by single plane drainboard. I do use the dishwasher, but I don't put my pots, pans or sharp knives in there.

@auntthelma do you remember how deep they were?

This topic was recently discussed here: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6116557/any-problem-with-runnels

I vote no to runnels. Harder to clean, and any water that's between the runnels will just sit there. I suggest a sink with integrated drainboard, or get a good quality drying rack that has a stainless drainboard underneath.

Personally I'm going to do the integrated drainboard because they seem to drain the best and stay the cleanest. On my current drying rack, water pools at the corners of the drain board and can get gross. I have tons of counter space so I can sacrifice a section for this, but also I always have a drying rack out anyway.

"I suggest a sink with integrated drainboard"

The caution I would make with these (in addition to the minerals accumulation I mentioned above) is that sinks with integrated drainboards have quite small sinks. The sink size is sacrificed to fit the drainboard width. If you have found a manufactured sink with integrated drainboard where the sink is a size that would fit a pot to wash, can you please post a link? Or, you can have sink with integrated drainboard custom-made to any size you want, but it will be costly.

that's an interesting point. it depends on how enormous you need your sink to be. The one I use at my sister's house has never seemed too small.

here's a screenshot of what I posted in the other thread. I don't know exact measurements or brands, they came from a google image search. they seem pretty big. however I just noticed the actual drain board seems small for the kind of big drying rack I prefer. I guess there's often tradeoffs.

@User - the top pic is a granite composite sink I have seen before, and if you look up the dimensions, both bowls are tiny. I've seen that one as a single-bowl sink also, and even then, the sink bowl is quite small. The bottom pic - my screen isn't that good, and I am not sure that is a drainboard on the right? But regardless, it is a good-size sink, with the added bonus of corner drain, and might be something you should research what it is if you are looking for one for your kitchen.

Edited to add: I think I might have found it. The sink is 30" wide which is wonderful: https://www.creategoodsinks.com/products/50-drainboard-sink-single-bowl-reversible-drainboard-5ps30c

I don't want just a big slanted area of countertop because it doesn't allow for air flow underneath the way runnels would. It would be essentially the same as putting a glass on a regular flat countertop - no air flow inside so it never dries.

do you mean to just set things directly on it w/o a rack? I never understood that method, as you can't put more than a few pieces to drain there. I plan on putting a rack on the integrated drainboard as I have a ton of daily stuff that doesn't go in the dishwasher.

if you plan on not using a rack, there are drainboards that have raised channels that prevent the overturned pot from "sealing" against it. it would still be easier to keep clean than deep runnels, and the whole thing is slanted to drain.

@User, that makes sense, thank you.

Big giant NO to setting dishes directly on the counter on top of the runnels. Thats just gross and unsanitary. Unless you want to scrub the counter and runnels every time before you wash the dishes. That’s getting silly and way more work than just using your DW.

Get rid of any pots and pans that can’t go in your DW, other than a cast iron skillet. Get rid of anything that causes you so much extra work and expense to accommodate its specialty handling. Like switching to Victoriknox Fibrox knives, and a stainless induction and DW safe pot and pan collection. Hand washing needs should be extremely small, and easily handled by putting down a single small clean dish towel to rest them on.

@User, I understand your take on this, but it's not really adding anything to *this* discussion to suggest tossing what I have and buying all new pots, pans and knives instead of finding the best way to air dry the ones I have.

@M Miller, Julien makes large sinks with integrated drainboards. I am doing the same 30" sink model I used in my last house, but this time I am adding an 18" drainboard.

You can build out the sink on their website. See if this link works:

https://www.homerefinements.ca/en/a_la_carte/3dconfigurator/#/003935-DB118-DP3

Here is a 36" sink with 24" drainboard:

https://www.homerefinements.ca/en/a_la_carte/3dconfigurator/#/003946-DB124-DP3

If you want to kerp doing that many dishes, add a second DW, and use that as a drying rack. It’s less of a loss to storage and utility than doing drain boards. Plus its there to be used for large gathering overflow.

There is no loss of utility or storage with the integrated drainboard as it sits under counter, right over the dishwasher area.

@chispa - I did note in my first post that a sink with integrated drainboard can be custom-made to any size you want, but it will be costly.

I have copper pots I do not wash in the DW but all my stainless goes in and I never wash my good knives in the DWbut so easy to wash as you go. I have 2 Ikea sinks back to back with drainboards built in I like them a lot. i had the one shown in this pic in my last kitchen it was awesome but Ikea does not have it anymore

I had runnels in my soapstone counters and made sure they were big enough to get my finger with a cloth around it into them. I did not want the slanted drainboard because I had limited counterspace so I wanted it to mostly be flat instead of slanted.

In this house if budget allows I am doing a deeper sink with a ledge and a shallow (5") sink with a ledge with a shallow area in between the depth of the ledge (maybe 3/4"). And one of the sinks may be covered at least partly a lot of the time with a cutting board or such. A 10" workstation sink is too deep for me and I think a bottleneck in my kitchen is not having two faucets so there will be two faucets. (There is no powder room or bathroom on the first floor). The shallow sink may be the defacto drying rack area a lot of the time. (Right now the stovetop is used as the plastics drying rack.