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36' single-bowl shaw's sink--who's got one?

16 years ago

Hi all,

Well, despite all my careful planning, I think I done screwed up.

We are installing cabinets now in our kitchen and my shaw's 36" single-bowl farm sink arrived yesterday. I opened up the box to check it and make sure it was right and....IT'S HUGE.

I am, apparently, an idiot. We had the same sink, but in the 30" size in our last kitchen and loved it. We wanted to get the same one again and I, for some reason, thought we had the 36" one. Didn't check, didn't think it through. Just ordered it up. DUH....!

So now this huge three-foot bathtub of a sink is sitting in my garage and we're at a loss. We have a 36" sink base and we can use it with either a 30" or 36" sink, so that's not a big deal.

If I return the 36"-er and swap it for a 30", I'll have to pay a 25% restocking fee. If I keep the beast, I'm going to have to re-think my faucet, since the one I have now won't reach into the corners of that thing.

Our plan is to set the big sink onto the base once it's reinforced and all the cabinets are set, so we can get a feel for what it will look like in the room.

This is not a huge kitchen. About 15x15, and I'm afraid the 36" sink will overwhelm the room.

Anyone have one of these? How's it feel? Do you love it or do you think it's too big? What faucet do you have and how does it function with the sheer voluminous space of this thing?

Thanks in advance for your wonderful advice!

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Comments (4)

ricklish
16 years ago
Been there, done that!

I, too, bought the 36" Shaws single-bowl sink and had it delivered to my cabinet manuf factory. Then at the 11th hour, my mom calls because the house they just moved in to has the same sink and she wasn't too happy with it. Basically, every time they rinsed anything off in the sink she had to grab the sprayer and rinse out the entire bowl. She also complained that bc the drain was located to one side of the sink, the faucet spray didn't reach the hole and she is forced to use the spray arm to rinse stuff down the disposal.

I panicked and switched to the 36" two bowl version). Fortunately the plumbing supplier didn't charge me the restocking fee probably bc I was ordering another (more expensive) sink from them. They even delivered it to my cab manuf and picked up the other sink.

I have the 36" two bowl installed and I really like it. I'm so glad I switched to the two bowl.

As far as sheer size - what is the scale of the other features in your kitchen? If everything else is in a smaller proportion, the sink will seem huge. If you have a large range or large refrig, you could be OK.

If you'd feel better about the 30", talk to the plumbing supplier to see if they can waive the restocking fee if you are purchasing another sink.
Good luck!
edlakin
Original Author
16 years ago
thanks. range is 30", fridge is 36" conventional depth.

it's not a huge kitchen.

i'm going to wait and look at it in place tonight, but my gut feeling is that i'm going to try and call the supplier to see if they'll waive the restocking fee.
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This issue has been discussed over and over again on this forum, just do a search on "single bowl" and you'll find tons of threads on it. But to sum up the threads, it all depends on how you do dishes. If you hand wash a lot of dishes and fill your sink with soapy water, a double might be your best option. If you wash very few items by hand, then a single will work for you. And remember, you can always turn a single sink into a double (with a basin) but you can never turn your double into a single. I LOVE my single sink. Have never had one before our remodel and yes, we have a disposal. The sink is so big and roomy that you can shove everything to one side and use your disposal. Hasn't been an issue for me at all. I'll link you to one of the threads that debate single and double bowl sinks HTH! Robin Here is a link that might be useful: single vs. double bowl sinks
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edlakin
Original Author
16 years ago
well, just as an update, my contractors reinforced the base and set the humongo shaw's on top of it, and when i came home from work i was surprised to find that i actually liked it.

it's huge, but it's perfectly centered under my window, and it really becomes the centerpiece of the kitchen.

we crunched the numbers and it's more or less a wash. we'd have to eat a $225 restocking fee if we returned it, but to keep it, we decided we needed to get a different faucet with a sidespray. which will end up costing us just about the same amount extra. so it came down to pure aesthetics.

so we're keeping it. we bought an American Standard Culinaire bridge faucet with a side spray to go on it, and i'm now psyched about how it's going to look once the project is finished!

Here is a link that might be useful: the faucet we bought
kateskouros
16 years ago
i'm ordering the same sink. i'm glad you're happy with yours; please write in after you get a chance to use it!

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