In a turn of the century house, I would choose fireclay. Many people really like the Shaw and the Franke Orca. I just ordered a different Franke fireclay sink which is double bowl. I think fireclay is much prettier.

fireclay would "look" better...but personally, even in a turn of the century home, my main sink will be stainless. I was a lot of crystal and venetian glass and want them to remain in one piece!

I have the Franke Orca in firclay and I love it. I've had stainless in the past and also the heavy enameled type of sink. The fireclay beat both when it comes to looks and keeping it clean. I've had mine in for a year and have never used anything but plain dish soap to clean it. I've not had any glass breakage, probably because I use the SS grates. No spotting either. LOVE fireclay. It looks like beautiful bone china.

Thanks everyone for posting and a special thank you, Susan, for posting you pictures and telling me your experience with the Franke sink. I just showed it to DH and he loves it. One more decision made?

Igloo, I don't have any expensive crystal (washing it is the least of my worries, I can find a dozen ways to break an expensive or irreplacable glass!) but agree with you about SS.

Does anyone have a picture of a double orca fireclay sink? And if it's a different color than the white, even better. Thanks!

I have the Rohl Allia and love it. I also have the stainless grates at the bottom and wouldn't go without them. I like that it is one large sink so I can fit anysize sheet pan, etc without it hitting the sides. I also just clean with soap and water. No problems at all so far and by far one of my favorite things in my new kitchen.

Hi Ging9, how do you keep your grates clean inside your Stainless Steel Sink? Do you half to use a brush on them? Does soap & water clean it or you half to use some type of Cleaner? It's really pretty! Razenette

razenette-I usually clean with soap and water with a sponge for everyday use. When I have more time I use a small brush like for vegetables and some comet and water made into a paste. This way it gets all the gridwork. It works for me, and doesn't take too much time. I would never have a sink again without the grid. It makes things so much easier and don't have to be so careful all the time as you tend to be when something is new. I always handwash large pots, dishware etc, so the single sink is great and the grate helps keep things from banging the bottom and i can even air dry them on the grate since it allows air circulation.

ging9,
Would you mind telling me how deep your cabinets are? Is it a 24" deep sink cabinet? And does your faucet work properly (does the lever go fully to the rear)?

We really want the Rohl Allia but are having a horrible time trying to fit it into our 24" sink base and still have room for a faucet (especially the one we like which is similar to yours and has hot water as a push back lever like yours).

Also, would you mind showing me how you mounted the sink? Did you just use the undermount kit from Rohl? Or did you have a support built underneath it somehow? Could you show me under your sink?

My granite people want to leave no less than 3.5" in front of the sink and mount it with the sink kit. That leaves us a tiny little space in the rear to get in a faucet.

The alternative is to get the twice as expensive (and a diff look) Franke Orca (which is what brought me to this post tonight...wanted to see what a fireclay Orca really looks like). It looks pretty nice but just isn't my number one choice. We may have to go that route to be safe on space though.

Ideas would be appreciated!

Thanks!
Dawn

YEAH! I have narrowed my search down to Ticor or Franke are they pretty much the same quality and gauge?

Hi ging9
I am wondering what the name of your granite is.