Stainless steel or granite kitchen sink

medical

looking to buy a new kitchen sink. which would money savers buy and why. Is it the stainless steel/aluminium or granite

what are your reasons ?

which make will you go for?
all comments appreciated

thanks
medical

leeegglestone

Id like a new one too. at present I have a black one that was in the house when i got here, it always looks dirty. and so too interested in what other ppl recommened

moonrakerz

Just been down that road. In the end we went for a good quality stainless steel one. Granite gets expensive ! Then you have more problems matching it with the kitchen worksurfaces - more granite ! V expensive !

Steel goes with anything. We got ours from the people below - they do granite too if you really want that.

http://www.sterlingdistribution.co.uk/

leeegglestone

I had this question. Is it one size fits all ? I wondered if the space left when the old one is taken out, if it would be sufficient ??

would you need 2 get a plumber 2fit it or can it be done yourself?

Pink.

Hi medical,

I have moved your thread over to the In My Home board where you should get some more replies.

Pink

nearlyrich

We have granite work surfaces with an undermounted Stainless steel sink, I have never seen a granite sink, I have seen Corian which looks similar. Our draining board is grooves carved out of the granite. Stainless steel is really easy to keep looking good, I use bleach once a week to remove tea bag stains etc, we chose a Franke sink and it is quite deep, useful for washing pans etc.

Hizz

We have a ceramic Belfast sink in the utility room and a ceramic sink & three quarter in the kitchen which is fantastic.

Got it from a kitchen sink company in Leeds it had originally been £350 but we got it from clearance section for £130. Looks very classy too. Easy to keep clean.

Raksha

If you want to have a sink that looks clean and tidy, do NOT go for a white plastic one - it soaks up tea stains like nothing on earth!

silvercar

don't go for a dark one if you have hard water. I had a lovely stone coloured one in my old house, always looked like new. Now got a Franke stainless steel. Seems good quality but stainless steel always looks scratched IMO.

medical

Raksha wrote:

If you want to have a sink that looks clean and tidy, do NOT go for a white plastic one - it soaks up tea stains like nothing on earth!

agree entirely as we have this at the moment, what about ceramics
what do i look for
thanks medical

mikeywills

There are pluses and negatives to both, stainless steel looks stunning when shiny but can be scratched fairly easily, the first few scratches bother you but after a while to don't mind so much.
1 small tip do not use a washing up bowl in the sink as the sink manufacturer will not guarantee the unit in this instance, as the likely hood of small particles sticking to the bottom the bowl and scratching the sink are high.

Granite, is actually a composite material made up of crushed stone particles acrylic to bind it and colour for texture and finish. the norm with these sink is to get approx 25 years guarantee against wear and tear, you in theory cannot scratch a granite sink, but if to take a sharp knife and chop on it it will show.
There are a number of colour options available the lighter ones are prone to staining from tea and coffee, but if you fill the bowl with hot water and a little disinfectant and leave it over night this will have gone by the morning.

My personal preference is the granite we have had ours for about 6 years, and it looks as good as the day we bought it, it is black, on a black worktop.

Note: composite sinks fall into two catergories the older style which were sand based and a lot softer and the newer ones which are stone and a lot harder. There is only one product that I no never to use on the composite sinks and that is nitromors, a paint stripper used for stripping lead paint. This will actually breakdown the acrylic particles in the sink and cause pitting and and leave a sticky residue.

(I have sold kitchens for about 10 years, I have no vested interest in any particular manufacturer, so leave the decision entirely in your own hands)