If I were getting another sink today, I'd pick the same one -- Franke Orca...many others posting in this forum love their Orcas as well.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tell me why you love your Franke Orca sink!

I had the Orca in my last house and I was madly in love with it. The only reason I didn't get it again is that I wanted a nearly-zero or zero radius this time. I got a Kraus 30" and it's just right for me (and under $400). No noise, 16-gauge stainless.

Check Overstock. They often have some great SS sinks for a decent price. Worth a look at least.

I agree with the advice to check Overstock. I bought our 36 inch, 16 ga stainless apron front farmhouse sink for $384 from them. It is fully undercoated for sound and came with the grid and drain/strainer thingy. My contractor almost fell over when I told him how much I paid for it. I also purchased our faucet and range hood from them for really great prices!

I have never heard of IPT. Did you google it?

Check faucetdirect.com. Great company, good prices, fantastic customer service. I've order from them multiple times including my two sinks in my remodel.

We have the 32" single bowl 16- gauge Krauss sink linked below. We love it! It's under $400 which is a great deal.

Here is a link that might be useful: Krauss sink

I just had delivered a 32" Kraus 16 gauge sink for our new house. Found it for $351 which includes bottom grid plus free shipping.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kraus sink

ck, I got my sink and faucet (and other items) from faucetdirect also. I've also ordered with great success from their sister build.com companies.

Thank you so much for all of your replies! This website has so many helpful subscribers, I am so happy to have discovered it. I had not heard of Franke before today but am very interested in that Orca sink now. I see it for a fairly decent sale price on both faucetdirect.com and kbauthority.com. The Kraus sinks also look very nice though and are less expensive on these sites. I may have to take a look at these in person in a showroom before I order online. I will be sure to post a follow up once we have made a decision and I will let you all know how the new sink works out!

I fell for one of those "free sinks" from my granite supplier too.

I should have known better - but it was late in the whole process of building my house, and all I can tell you is that I was almost clinically-insane at that point. :)

Spend the money and get what you want. The free sink I got is garbage. I don't know the name of it, and who knows - maybe the one they're offering you is the best thing since sliced bread. But what I can tell you is that you'll be looking at that blasted thing several times a day for the next umpteen years....and you don't want to hate your sink as much as I do.

I'm another happy overstock customer. It seemed too good to be true, but it isn't! We love our new big sink and probably love it even more because we feel like we got a good deal on it.

Another one who ordered a Kraus from Overstock. I went with the 36" farmhouse with the 60/40 split. I actually prefer the radius on the inside corners. I had one without the radius and it was a pain to keep pretty and shiny.

I have a 32" Kraus single bowl also and I must say I like it alot. I bought it almost two years ago for $250 on Amazon. It came with a grid for the bottom of the sink and even a towel for wiping down. It's built like a tank. It doesn't have the luster finish like the Elkays do, but it's very utilitarian looking which is what I like.

and even a towel for wiping down

That's what that towel is for? I use it as a dish towel!

Most SS sinks come in 2 gauges: 18 g and 16 g. The lower the gauge the heavier duty the sink.

Nothing wrong with an 18 gauge. I have one in my laundry room. But for the kitchen I would go with a 16 gauge.

Then look to see if you want a classic sink with curved sides or a more modern 0 radius sink with 90 degree corners.

Top of the line brands are Julien (handmade in Canada) and Franke. Juliens run around $1200 and are excellent and have some semi-custom sizes. I had a big deep one in our apartment and loved it.

An 18 gauge sink for $1000 really should have gold inlay and some semi-precious stones on the corners.

But fortunately, like faucets, there are many brands good 16 gauge sinks at very reasonable prices.

The Franke Orca is 18 gauge - really, 18 gauge is fine.