If you’ve been wondering and waiting for it, today is your lucky day! We’re finally throwing the kitchen sink into the mix.

Sinks are one of the hardest working and most used elements of your kitchen. Washing dishes, hands, produce and even a baby now and then. As always, there are a number of things to consider.

Again, going back to some of your foundational decision-making for the project. How do you work in the kitchen? How many people are in the kitchen cooking at the same time? What available space do we have to locate the sink – are we tight for space therefore needing a single bowl or is there an option for a bar sink?

Let’s start with the most basic of decisions – style of installation.

Top or Surface Mounted Sinks

Dropped in through the countertop
Have a flange or rim that carry the weight of the sink which covers the cut-out gap
Held in place with brackets from underneath and some silicone. Most people these days don’t like this style from a cleaning perspective as gunk gets caught up on the edge of the flange and disrupts the look/flow of the countertop.

This style is commonly used with plastic laminate countertops but can be used with any countertop material you may choose. In case you missed it, head back to my blog post about Countertops where I go into the various options.

Undermounted Sinks

What most of our clients choose nowadays.
Most commonly used with stone.
Clean look
Easy to wipe crumbs straight into the sink.
Only possible con is that the overall size might be a bit less as the flange of the sink, not just the sink bowls, need to live within the overall width and depth of the cabinet space.

Farmhouse Style and Apron Fronted Sinks

Generally longer and deeper than average
Normally are single bowled
Often ceramic or porcelain – but can be copper, soapstone or concrete too
Most distinctly, the front of the sink is exposed to the room. The Farmhouse name need not scare you away when your design is more modern as there are options for stainless steel, curved, flat, decorative aprons.

There are a number of things that need to be addressed with how the sink integrates with the cabinetry, the countertop and the faucets from a design point of view. You need to add extra support in the cabinetry regardless of which option you choose and attention to the details with how it marries to the cabinetry and the countertop. Some aprons sit flush with the adjacent doors, some are proud or pulled forward, some are square sided and simply slide-in, others have horns or wings that wrap around to a finished panel or filler piece. They can also be top or undermounted. We also need to make sure we allow the plumbing rough-ins to accommodate it via lower drainage location and supply line access.

They are beautiful and make a statement but they are expensive both to buy and to install correctly.

Integrated Sinks

The sink is integrated to the countertop.
It’s a pretty specialty type of thing qwith specific countertop materials like stainless steel, Corian or stone.
You can’t swap out the sink if it were to get damaged in some way. You’d have to replace the whole countertop. Think carefully about what that means for you in the future.

Special mention - Corner Sinks

Corner sinks have the bowls on a diagonal to each other. They may seem like a good idea, but they are not in my opinion. Water splashes all over between the bowls and the countertops always look weird. Not to mention they are awkward to stand in front of. A corner sink on the flat means the countertop is at a 45 degree vs a 90 degree angle at the corner. After the sink is installed there is a weird triangle of space behind it and only 1 person can stand in front of it at a time. For me it would be a last resort.

How many bowls do you want?

The most typical set up we see in most homes is a two-bowl kitchen sink. But you can get a triple bowl or choose a single bowl. Just make sure it will fit into the cabinetry!

With a double bowl, the bowls can be split in different ways: 50/50, 60/40, or 70/30.

And the divider between them can be full height or partial height. The lower option allows you to fill both bowls for washing larger pots and pans but still allows you to just use one side the majority of the time. This allows you to still rinse or discard liquids down the drain or wash produce in the other while you have a sink full of dishes on the go.

Some of our clients have opted for one large single bowl sink and then also have a bar or prep sink nearby which allows for wash-up capability, washing vegetables or whatever else in the other one.

Bowl depth is a Goldilocks thing – you want to get it just right.

The depths vary from 6” to 9”, or even 10” deep. With a shallow 6” bowl water tends to splash up a bit more than you may want but as a middle bay in a triple sink it’s fine, I think.

The standard is about 8” deep. Once you get to 9”-10” deep, which is great for washing pots for instance, it may not be ideal on the back for someone who is very tall.

Bowl Shape and Drain Location are also considerations.

Rounded corners were the norm for a long time, but square or sharper corners are more contemporary in nature.

Centre Drain locations are most standard, but you can get sinks where they are pushed towards the back of the sink allowing for more usable cabinetry volume on the inside.

Sink Finishes

Kitchen sinks come in a variety of finishes: stainless steel, enameled cast iron, copper, composite, and porcelain (steel or cast iron frame). As I mentioned, the integrated versions come in stainless steel solid surface, granite, and concrete soapstone.

Stainless Steel is by far the most common finish.

The quality of stainless steel is measured by what the gauge is. It is counterintuitive but a lower number is actually better quality, so a 23 gauge is really thin, and a 16 gauge is more ideal.

It’s also ranked on what the stainless steel is comprised of - an A300 series has about 18% chromium and 8% nickel in it which is optimal for corrosion and stain resistance.

You also want to look for a sink that has a lustrous satin finish, which will develop a better patina over time than matte-finished stainless steel sink.

Pro Tip: If the sink holds a magnet, it is not a 300 series.

You also want a sink that is undercoated for sound absorption. Dropping an item or the sound of the water filling the bowls will not echo as much.

Composite sinks are becoming popular right now.

Similar to an engineered stone countertop, composite sinks are a combination of resins, and mineral content – usually quartz and/or granite.

They come in a variety of neutral colours (beige, taupe, charcoal) and they are hard and really durable. Clean up only requires dish soap. They are on the heavier side so you may need to beef up the cabinetry or be sure to put straps under the bowls to the cabinetry, to make sure the weight of the sink isn’t pulling too much on your countertops.

Cast Iron or Steel and Porcelain or Enamel finishes

Enamel and Porcelain seem like the same thing and they kind of are, but you can get a porcelain product that is fired at high heat and molded into a sink or it can be used to coat another material, such as cast iron or molded steel.

Cast iron is super heavy, a little pricy and their forms tend to be traditional in nature. They go really well with a farmhouse sink, or in a bathroom (think of a clawfoot tub).

Steel is lighter, less rigid, can dent and overall, even with a porcelain finish, they are less durable overall, but they are more economical than their cast iron cousins. They are often found in a more modern form or style.

Copper sinks

They make a statement, develop a beautiful patina over time, are durable, antimicrobial and recyclable. They do require some maintenance and are quite pricy. If you want this to a statement piece, this would be a great option for that. You can get them in farmhouse or apron-front style as well.

Accessories

There are a number of accessories that some manufacturers produce as well.

Sink Bottom racks are common which help prevent scratching – they look like a rack you’d use to allow cookies to cool after taking off them the baking sheet.
Integrated cutting boards, strainers.
Integrated drain boards which are popular with a single sink option

For more information, check out our podcast All Things Renovation at www.AllThingsRenovation.com . The second series of episodes focuses on kitchen renovations.

The Kitchen Sink