I recommend instead a Blanco Silgranit sink over the Americast. You can do a search on this forum and find all the enthusiastic lovers of their Silgranit sinks. Especially those with hard water who dislike the water marks on stainless, have converted to Blanco Silgranit sinks.

Americast can chip if you bang a heavy pot on it. Silgranit is granite composite, made up of 80% granite, with the durability of granite. It won't chip or scratch. Silgranit comes in several colors from very light to very dark. Since you are thinking of an enameled cast iron sink also, I am assuming you want a sink in the white family. Check out the Silgranit in biscuit, which is a creamy white. I'll link a thread below with pics. If you want a white-white, there was also a thread just posted of a white silgranit sink which I will link.

Silgranit sinks come in many sizes. Also think long and hard about whether you want a single-bowl or double-bowl sink. How wide will your sink be?

Last comment - be careful about buying a sink from your contractor, only because contractors usually charge a middle-man markup, which they should, since they are doing the work of ordering, etc. But that may make your sink significantly more expensive than if you bought it yourself, especially if you buy online. I'm not saying your contractor is definitely going to do that, but I would ask him how much he will charge you for the sink, and check his price against what it would cost to buy it yourself at a place like Home Depot, or online.

Thread with Pics of Silgranit sink in biscuit

Thread about White Silgranit Sink

All about Silgranit

This post was edited by shannonplus2 on Sun, Feb 10, 13 at 13:24

shannonplus2-I have a single basin sink now & I love it. I am looking at the Kohler Bakersfield undermount sink. The inside measures 28x15. Thank you for the suggestion as I had checked out Consumer Reports on the granite composite sinks since I was considering one, but they won't rate them because the sinks broke when they dropped a heavy pot on them. But, how often does that happen? Kids are grown & it's just me. I have a galley kitchen and it is 5 feet wide, cabinet to cabinet. The sink I have now is the same size as the Kohler. Sounds like Americast is not a good choice. I hope others with Silgranit will comment. Any ideas/suggestions regarding my choices on granite, backsplash, etc?

That Consumer Reports issue was ridiculed by the experts on this forum, not just about their "test" for Silgranit, but a whole bunch of stupid stuff they wrote. How ridiculous is its criticism of Silgranit after dropping a heavy pot from a height! I think they said the pot weighed 5 lbs. ANY sink - stainless steel, enamelled cast iron, copper, fireclay - ANY would crack or dent with that kind of treatment. Consumer Reports hates anything that hasn't been around for the last 50 years.

Your choices for your kitchen sound very pretty! I think you will get more answers to your sink questions if you started a new thread with a more specific title about a sink, like "Pls Help Me Decide bet. Contractor's Americast Sink or Cast Iron" For any of your questions you will get more help on this forum with a more specific subject title than the one you have for this one.

Also, you can do a search for other threads on any questions you have. So for example, search with the words "silgranit sink vs. cast iron" in the search box at the BOTTOM of the Kitchens Forum page. You will come up with a bunch of threads. OK, I've done it for you, see below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Search Results for Threads about Silgranit and Cast Iron Sinks

Also, the Kohler Bakersfield costs about $600 or so, right? A single-bowl Silgranit sink is in the mid-$300's. The BlancoDiamond Super Single has the cool corner offset drain that everyone wants, and fits in a 36" cabinet. The BlancoPrecis Super Single has an offset drain in the rear center and fits in a 33" cabinet.

(If you want to know why everyone loves an offset drain (vs. a center drain) - it's cause you can set down a baking dish or roaster to soak, and not be covering the drain. Also, the plumbing for an offset drain means more room under your sink for storage, vs. having the plumbing in the dead center of your cabinet.)

Blanco Precis Super Single in Biscuit

Silgranit Blancodiamond Super Single in Biscuit

Colonial Cream is a lovely granite and should look terrific with your cabinets. I like travertine for a backsplash (I have a one) and I think it will go well with your other somewhat rustic choices. Be warned: travertine is out with the out crowd at the moment, but may be somewhat more popular with those of us of a certain age who are not terribly worried about being "in." ;-)