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Small hide-a-hose type thing in cabinet under sink-yay/nay?

12 years ago

we're having hide-a-hose throughout our house and the guy suggested this small pull out thing under the kitchen sink to clean up crumbs, etc. it will take up a good bit of the undersink area. any thoughts? we cant put one in the island, so this is the only area if we decide to have something like that here. i'd love your opinions.

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Comments (7)

liriodendron
12 years ago
Do you mean a central vac?

A few years ago there were a lot GW/KF kitchens being installed with a vac pan - even a home-made type involving a shop vac in the basement. (You sweep crumbs over to an opening in the skirtng board under a cab, and the opening drops, crumbs get sucked in, cover snaps shut.) Perhaps somethng like that would work for you?

I've never been clear how you clean the in-the-wall hoses/pathways with a whole house vac system. I know that every year or so I disassemble my Miele vac hoses and pipes and clean gunk out of them. How would you that with a central vac system?

L.
palimpsest
12 years ago
lirio I don't know that its necessary. We have a 43 year old central vac at home that seems to work fine.
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I have never liked the separate sprayer because of the lack of water pressure and the difficulty of retracting the hose. I currently have the pullout style, and was immediately disappointed in the contortions one has to go through to angle the spray at certain parts of the sink. My favorite spray option was the separate swivel sprayer I purchased and attached to the end of the standard faucet that came with the house. Maybe that's why I'm so disappointed with my pullout, because that little $5 sprayer did everything, and I thought the pullout would be an improvement on that. When we redo our kitchen, I want a new faucet, but in my research, it seems that all of the pullouts have some kind of issue with being able to easily reach all sides of the sink. So now I'm looking at the pulldowns, but I'm concerned about water splashing where it's not supposed to when using it as a regular faucet. I never thought about the pulldown retracting properly, or that spray option staying in that position without holding a button. Plus, I don't like the look of the pulldowns, and just think that high arc will be in the way. It doesn't sound like any of you find the high arc to be a negative, but I just wish I could use one for a day to see what I think of it. I also don't like the side handle, or the handle being in a separate hole. Why don't manufacturers ever make something with all the features I want????
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liriodendron
12 years ago
Pal,

You should see the scurf that comes out of just the short hoses of my vaccuum cleaner! I got something caught in my hose once and had to break it down completely (not just take apart sections, but completely disassemble all the components) to get it out. As long as it was apart, I figured why not wash it. The water run through it came out black. Now I repeat the washing every year or so: I twirl extensible, flexible brushes inside and run a lot of water until it runs clear. Dry well, and reassemble. May be it's just my rural household, many pets and general antique-house dirt?

L.
Brent B
12 years ago
The floor "vac pans" work very well. We have under the kitchen sink which we kick on every once in a while, I would recommend not putting it right where you would stand, to avoid turning it on accidently.

We have 1 at the kitchen sink, and the other by the back/garage door in the laundry room.

We never needed to clean our centrla vac system; one thing not to do is suck up anything wet, most of the other stuff vacuumed up should go right into the vac system bucket.
lalithar
12 years ago
We are planning a hide a hose system and I am installing a vacpan in the bathrooms and the kitchen. Read feeback on older kitchen threads. Based on GW feedback, I am actually putting the vacpan closer to the eating area as that seems to be the crumb central as opposed to sink or cooking areas. We have a tile floor and I want to make it easy to cleanup.

Lalitha
arlocat
12 years ago
We installed a vacpan when we remodeled our kitchen about six years ago. It remains one of my favorite things in the kitchen. We do not have central vac so our electrician hooked it up to a shop vac in the basement. Works great.
lolauren
12 years ago
One difference between a HAH and a regular vacuum is the power. I can't imagine anything hanging on inside the hide-a-hose with that amount of suction. It sucks so good!! ;)

With that said, the hoses (and/or the sock that protects the hose) are replaceable. If they get nasty at some point, replacing the entire hose is an option. I do not think they will get nasty, though.....

RE: the op's question..... I never use our vac pan in the kitchen because the hide-a-hose outlet is nearby. It's just as easy to grab the HAH as grab a broom.... That, and it's difficult to see the vac pan under the toe kick and crumbs get stuck on the sides of it... So... one vote AGAINST a vac pan.

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