While renovating your kitchen, or building a whole new one, don’t leave the sink to the last. As the expression goes, “everything but the kitchen sink” is always planned out first. But the sink does impact the look of your space quite a bit!
Style comes second to utility when choosing the right sink for your kitchen. You need to remember that the kitchen sink sees a lot of use in a normal home and has to be durable enough to withstand the daily rigors. The material, style, price, and ease of installation are some of the factors you need to consider before making your choice.
Materials
It is the material which is more important than the manufacturer since the performance of branded sinks of similar materials has been found to be on par.
- Stainless Steel: Advantages include versatility of mounts available, affordable prices, and durability. They have good resistance to heat and stains but are susceptible to water spots and scratches.
- Enamel: These are usually available in two types – cast iron with enamel coating and steel with enamel coating. The pros are that these are available in a variety of colors and are relatively easier to clean. The disadvantage is that they chip and crack easily and once the enamel coating erodes, the metal beneath can start rusting.
- Solid Surface: These sinks blend in with the counter tops and are custom-built in the same material as the kitchen counter. Typically, however, they do not score high on the durability scale as far as heat and sharp objects go.
- Stone: You can choose to go traditional and make a sink that becomes part of the stone slab used in your kitchen, like in your grandma’s house. This kind of toughness ensures that they remain undamaged for decades. This proves to be more expensive these days, however, since they aren’t the most popular choice anymore.
Styles
Kitchen sinks are available in a variety of sizes and styles. The right one will have to be in proportion with the size of your kitchen and the décor that you have. Sinks with two bowls are a popular choice. Single bowls are great if you don’t have a lot of big-sized pots and pans to wash on a daily basis.
Mounts
It doesn’t matter if your preference is for large kitchen sinks or a corner kitchen sink. It will have to be mounted to the counter top in one way or another.
Top Mount – The most common and easy-to-install sink appears as if it has been dropped into a hole in the counter. It has a rim which gives it a finished look, but also makes it susceptible to dirt accumulation.
Under Mount – As the term says, it is mounted under the counter and makes for a clean, kitchen look. The installation is a bit complicated and faucets have to be fixed to the counter top, but maintenance is easy.
Farmhouse – These type of sinks have a large forward-facing segment. The faucet can be on the wall or the counter top.
Check to see if items like a drain strainer is included with the sink. Otherwise, you will have to purchase one separately to match the size of the sink drain. Since you will have a long-term relation with your sink, choose wisely because the right one will last you for years without losing its tarnish in any way.
