Bump - I am in a world of hurry and sure could use some help. In one day last week, my dryer stopped working, the hot water heater quit and the painter who was hired to paint my cabinets, remove wallpaper and paint - sold his company and stopped returning my calls. The kitchen ceiling is already down and I have about 2 weeks to get some things done. Which may drive some decisions...... I started with only a small cosmetic update - and you may identify with me that as we've gotten into it, it's grown. Anyway, IF I can decide on a farmhouse sink and could get delivery in about 2 weeks, I would love to have one. I have been reading this website for a couple of yrs and I know about lead times, but I'm just hoping someone could answer one question at least today. If I have my laminate countertop cut for a 33 x 22" sink which I have now, can I swap it for another sink later? I will have to live with top mount - no other choice at this late date. Any guidance would be seriously appreciated. By the way - here's what happened last week... - the kitchen designer showed up and found me a painter inside of 20 minutes who came over an hour later and bid $600 less on the job than the first guy, the hot water heater had the vacuum hose knocked off from a kid standing a piece of wood next to it and falling over - so fixed in literally 1 minute and the heating Co didn't charge me for stopping by, and mysteriously, the dryer is still limping along which is good because I really don't have time for it right now. I felt like I had the Divine Hand handling it all because I didn't even freak with 4 different trucks in the driveway and total chaos.

I've only had mine for 2 years, so I'm not a long-term user yet (although I'm a heavy user), but there are many folks on this forum who have had a fireclay sink for much longer than I. Perhaps you could start a thread with a more explicit title soliciting longevity information? In terms of the material, it's only "clay" in the same way that your toilet and bathroom sink are clay. They are made of the same vitreous porcelain. (If you want to know the texture and feel of a fireclay sink, check out your toilet fixture.) The stuff is darned hard. Wash some dishes in your bathroom sink, if you have the standard white porcelain pedestals or drop-ins -- it will give you a feel for the fireclay. It's not got the resilience of stainless steel, but for those of us who loathe the clank and spots of stainless sinks and are not thrilled with plastic and don't want the chips of enamelled steel -- fireclay is really wonderful. It's silky smooth and washes up like a dream, no stains or etching. I'm certainly no sink expert, but it strikes me that a fireclay sink probably isn't any more difficult to replace than any other undermounted sink? If it's farmhouse/apron style, you're probably committed to the farmhouse style in a replacement, because of your countertop and cabinetry, but that replacement could be of many different materials, including stainless steel if you wind up preferring it. I know that the Rohl (Shaw's) product comes with a 25-year warranty, so that must mean something. They've been using these little suckers for many generations in Europe. Of course, they've also been using marble countertops for many generations in Europe, so there ya go. At any rate, I am very satisfied with my lower-cost Whitehaus 501.

I strongly encourage you to rethink rotating a faucet with the lever, or stick, in front. I was dismayed when my plumber told me that my cleanup sink Hansgrohe faucet would have to be rotated forward instead of to the side like I expected. It really took me no time at all to get used to it. After using the faucet this way and having to wait for my prep sink install, by the time I did get my prep sink I made sure to rotate the faucet front just like my cleanup sink. I can't believe how little water gets behind and around the faucet with the lever facing front. A Tapmaster is a nifty device that allows you to control the faucet hands-free using a foot control. I have the Euro 1775 which only turns on and off with your foot. There is another model that lets you control hot and cold as well as on/off. With mine, you still must use the faucet hand lever if you want to go from hot to cold or adjust flow rate. The majority of the time I turn my faucet on I don't adjust water temp or flow at the faucet, but there are still plenty of times when I still need to touch the faucet. Here is a link that might be useful: Thread about faucet lever facing front

@fatcatz, I don't know if you like Traditional style, but I am about to buy Moen's Weymouth Single Handle Pull Down Spray faucet in polished nickel. I've been researching for a few days and came across an article from Starcraft Builders saying Moen's Polished Chrome, Polished Nickel, Polished Brass, Brushed Gold, Brushed Nickel, and Classic Stainless finishes are PVD. The remaining finishes are either Powder Coat or Electroplate. It's a great article, really goes in depth on the PVD process. Echoed your point about not always being the metal used in the PVD process. That being said, in reading the section on Electroplating, taken from the article: "Undercoats of copper, zinc, or nickel usually precede the final decorative coating. The undercoats have two purposes. Some metals, chrome being one, do not adhere very well to naked brass. One or more nickel undercoats are usually used before the chrome is applied so the finish does not flake or peel. If finishing a zinc component, undercoats of copper then nickel are commonly used. The copper sticks well to zinc, nickel adheres tightly to copper, and chrome bonds securely to nickel. Undercoats also help smooth out any small imperfections in the faucet material. It is not uncommon for faucets to be electroplated with nickel and chrome and then highly polished before a final PVD coating is applied. This process eliminates any potential flaws in the surface so they don't show up in the final PVD finish." Link to the article follows, below. Very high marks for customer service, Starcraft actually ranks Moen's customer service #1 in North America. http://www.starcraftcustombuilders.com/sources.faucets.Moen.htm