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Best sink and countertop materials for really hard water

12 years ago

I want stainless or granite counter tops, but with our hard water, I'm now questioning those choices. Will they be fine or will it be a battle I will lose keeping them looking nice long term?

If we do granite, I'll probably get a silgranit sink. If we do stainless countertops, I'd do an integrated sink.

And, if you are telling me to RUN from these with hard water, what would you recommend?

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Comments (5)

remodelfla
12 years ago
We have really hard water in So. Florida and I have a stainless sink and soapstone counters. No issues at all.
leela4
12 years ago
I also have REALLY hard water and have a silgranit sink in anthracite with soapstone counters. No problems with either.
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Funny that you guys started to discuss this just when I am about to start this same project myself. Here are my findings. First off, if you plan of putting a counter on top of the new 3.8 cu ft FL, good luck, and have your pocket book ready. You see, the deepest "standard" counters are those for kitchens, at 25 1/8". Assuming that one leaves around 5" of clearance behind those newer FL machines for vents, air circulation, heat, etc, then you are looking at about 30"-35" of depth, depending on how flush you want the counter to come to the front of the machine. Having said that, there are 3 prices for laminate counters in the stores (like Home Depot). The counters you see in the store in stock are the cheapest, and will cost around $10 li ft. If you need to pick a finish that matches say the sink counter top in your bathroom where the machines are also located, then that is considered a custom order, even if it is a standard depth. This will easily double the price to $20 li ft. Now if you want to order a non-standard depth so that it goes from the back of the wall to the front of your new FL, then you are looking at $35-$50 li ft, depending on type of finish like rounded vs sqaure front edge, back ledge or no ledge, etc... Keep this in mind when shopping for a counter top. I would like my counter to cover the machines completely, so I might have to bite the bullet and order the more expensive counter top.... Again, I am talking about a laminate counter top, no fancy materials here.... I am from Canada, and here is what the local Home Depot quoted me in Canadian dollars for the 3 options.. 1) In-Store counter (limited finishes) 25 1/8" (standard depth) X 6 feet = $68 CAD Custom order counter (you choose the finish) 25 1/8" (standard depth) X 6 feet = $132 - $150 CAD 30 Csutom order counter (you choose the finish) 30-35" (non standard depth) X 6 feet = $222 CAD I believe the last option of non-standard depth only allows for a square front edge finish. If you want a rounder edge in front, like that found on your kitchen counter, the price jumps to $500 CAD, since the guy said that they have to charge for a full 4X8 sheet, and then cut the custom size from there, in order to get the rounded front edge... One other option you can do, which my brother did very nicely is lay down 2 sheets of plywood (for extra thickness), and tile the top and sides, looks really nice, but is a lot more work...
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Thanks for all your thoughts. I think the biggest problem is that on the 10' sink wall, there isn't a wider area to make a natural transition between counter materials. The biggest I could do is 39"ish (the size of the window). My perfect sink is probably white cast iron, but I'm afraid of having that sink run look forced or chopped up with different counters. If I did wood, I was planning to Waterlox the heck out of it. But I'm also concerned about the expansion/contraction of wood that breaks the silicon caulk between sink and counter. I'll check out the Fine Homebuilding article. Thanks for the tip. The warm, older look is exactly what I love. The fridge counter going to be at least 30" deep so I thought it would make a good baking surface (soapstone). Lots of room to spread out the dough. Sounds like maybe I should revisit soapstone...That was my first love before heart pine drew me away. Yes, sw_in_austin...great memory. My uppers and fridge run cabs are planned to be cream/off-whiteish. Autumngal, I'm glad to hear that your wood counters are holding up well. We're a splashy, messy, experimental family too. Maybe I should just stock up on the vino. :-) Bmore, I'm gasping at a $2k sink. My sink price creep is crazy. I initially wanted a $200 sink, then a $500 sink. Now my husband points out a $1k sink with a totally straight face. Eeeekkk!!
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ugh.... we are just at this point now and realized that our new counter/breakfast bar is 12' with the sink cutout dead center. My wife is stuck on an undermount and we really wanted granite... we will, of course, be getting a few fabricators to bid it. But is it feasible to do the seam with a cutout at the seam? The front edge of the sink seems a bit vulnerable to me. Also the current layout has the dishwasher adjacent to the sink and I guess we'd need to get the cabinet built with a support at the seam. If we can seam at the sink it would be small, just the length of the front setback (breakfast bar transitions to countertop there)... how well does the bullnose normally line up on a seam? Do they polish it on-site? Are we better off getting used to NOT granite? The 12' counter is not negotiable in our design.
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Pllog, Well, we are in both in CA, as some would say! ;) I do agree with your comment about granite being the standard because of its perception as being a luxury item. FrmrsDghtr, WOW!!! Love what you were able to do!!! RosySunnyGal, Our counters are Floating Blue which is a mostly turquoise in white cement matrix color. We were able to pick our slabs at the factory when it was still here in the Bay Area years ago. We have several KDs in our area that had samples of Vetrazzo, Icestone and Fuez to look over. IF you are looking for the wow factor, these will do it. With that in mind, I do recommend that you really like your countertop color because it is a very prominent part of your kitchen. They also aren't cheap and I highly recommend that your installer be someone who knows how to work with this material. Our installation fabricators claimed they did and we had multiple problems with them that we finally had to hire a second company to fix. We looked at all of the green countertop materials, and this was the one that my DH and I were able to agree on despite the price. BTW, I don't include quartz or C-stone in this category. I do recommend that you do an online search for recycled glass companies because there are several others besides the three I mention above. The ones that I have ran across are: Gilasi in the Chicago area, Urbanslabs in SoCal, Vetrazzo is now in the Atlanta area, and more that I have seen around the US. I do recommend if you can using one that is near you because of the weight and shipping cost of the slabs. If you are interested in knowing more or seeing some pictures of my counters, please, PM me.
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friedajune
12 years ago
I have slightly hard water, and no issues with granite at all. Granite is a stone after all. The only exception would be a solid-color black granite like Absolute Black, which might show mineral deposit rings if something wet were left to dry on it. Having said that, Absolute Black is so dense, the mineral ring would wipe right up. So, in summary, for granite, no worries for you.

Stainless steel sink is anther matter. I have a stainless steel sink, and even with only somewhat hard water, there are instant water marks, and a haze of mineral deposits unless I clean it constantly. All I have to do is run the faucet for a second, and the stainless sink is marked. BTW, I have a 14-gauge (i.e. thick gauge), high-quality stainless sink, but that doesn't matter for mineral deposits. My advice to you is to get a Blanco Silgranit sink in one of the lighter colors, like biscuit. Silgranit is largely granite, and will have resistance to mineral deposits. Furthermore, the lighter colors will lessen even more the risk of mineral rings showing up. I like the Silgranit biscuit color; I think their white color too white. I will link below to their Super Single sink which I find awesome, cause it's so big, and has the corner drain. Note: the title says "drop-in" but can be undermounted or drop-in. But you'd need a 36" wide cabinet base. Blanco makes plenty of other sizes and configurations of course. I also do not advise getting another brand's granite composite sink. There has been talk on this forum that other brands' composite sinks may not be as good as Blanco Silgranit in resisting stains, ease of cleaning, etc.

All about Blanco Silgranit Sinks

Blancodiamond Silgranit Sink in Biscuit
bigjim24
12 years ago
Water filters should reduce hard water then you can choose what you like. Perhaps someone will chime in that's more knowledgeable than I.
deegw
12 years ago
We are right on border of an extremely hard to vary hard water region. Our water also has a lovely sulfur smell.

Depending on how obsessive you are, a stainless sink might might be okay. With our water, counters would drive me crazy. I get white spots EVERY time I let water splashes dry in my stainless sink. The sink is not in a really visible area so although the spots bother me, I don't have to look at it too much. Trying to keep a long run of shiny stainless counters spot free would be a never ending battle.

Here is a link that might be useful: Water hardness map

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