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Tell me about your Copper sinks? Please weigh in...

15 years ago

We are comtemplating a copper sink (even though I have the Ticor SS6502 which was delivered last night....). We are doing dark cherry (not reddish though) with Golden Caramel granite, ORB knobs, Stainless appliances. I think the copper would be gorgeous.

From what I've read (I checked out Copper Sinks Online)they are not difficult to care for. We would go with the darker, hammered finish (much less upkeep from what I understand).

If you have one, let me know about your experience and of course, pictures would be much appreciated :)

Also, has anyone seen a copper sink with the 'creases' or criss-cross bottom? We really like that look but I'm not having luck locating this design in copper online.

Thanks!

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Comments (9)

kitchenredo08
15 years ago
We just installed ours this past weekend, so not much experience to share yet, but so far it is great.
From 90% Done
igloochic
15 years ago
I have copper (dark hammered) sinks in our master bath (this is an unfinished pic)

They wipe clean easily with soap and water, and we just love them. I will warn you..you can have trouble during inspections with them. They are not approved in a hammered finish because it's supposedly harder to get clean. You may have no issues, but if you do, you can go sign a waiver of that item at your county office. I didn't have trouble, but my friend who has one in her kitchen had her inspection the same day as me, and she did.

Warning.....cats love them:
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dlspellman
15 years ago
We also did a copper bar sink from Copper Sinks Online. Ours was patina'd dark with a protective finish - although it came w/ clear warnings about the finish wouldn't stop everything. And it doesn't it. I will caution you that my kids left a glass with lemonade in it (acid) and it has left a ring. Any acidic food will return the copper to it's bright copper color, even with a finish and then it's hard to work back. I use to use ketchup on the bottom of my copper pans - same theory! So ketchups, lemons, etc. in the kitchen might be a problem...
Just test and do your research.
Good luck!
christen7
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks guys! Gorgeous sinks! And gorgeous kitty-she fits in there perfectly :)

I never heard the ketchup trick to shine the pans-I'm goigng to have to try that on my pans :)

Has anyone seen the criss-cross type of copper sink? I read about it on this forum but it didn't say where it was purchased...
sautesmom Sacramento
15 years ago
Cats love them--hahahaha! Too funny!

Carla in Sac
susan205
15 years ago
We have a large single bowl sink from Coppersinks online, and have been very happy with it. My kitchen has been done a few months now, and it is really easy to care for. Soap and water does great. I did have one or 2 small spots from something left in the sink, but after a few weeks it ages right back to the dark color again. We have the dark smoke hammered finish.
lucky32
15 years ago
I have 4 of them, 3 bathroom inset sinks and one large bowl kitchen sink similar to above, I just love them! I am NOT and never will be a meticulous housekeeper and things are always getting left in and stuck on them, and yes it will get lighter, darker, greenish streaks and spots but that is the beauty of copper, and with time it all evens back out.
I have also read the copper inhibits the growth of bacteria so that's a plus!
I did read on here in a post the other day about cleaning them with soft scrub and putting a light coat of baby oil on them and WOW!!! it really makes them look clean and shiney longer! I was amazed so who ever posted that THANK YOU! Everything just washes\rolls right off, NO more stuck on tooth paste! I actually used comet powder and baby oil gel cause that's what I had around and I bed if you really wanted them shiney just rub more, I just rubbed mine enough to even out all the darker and lighter patina areas and they look so good! I'll try to figure out how to post a pic...
BTW there are alor of NICE copper sinks on e-bay they have one I saw last week end that was gorgeous! I wish they had the apron fronts with the texas star when I got mine, mine has stars along inside of large rectangle bowl but the one I saw had the apron front with 3 stars and 2 towel rings attached to front of it...OMG it's to die for! I got all mine from e-bay and they are all still great 3 years later!
flyinghigh
15 years ago
Hello,

We have several as well and purchased from Copper Sinks Online. Here is the farmhouse:

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If you click on the picture, you can get to other photos from our project.

Everything we were told by the copper sinks online folks is true - they are very easy to clean (soap and water). We keep ours waxed with the stuff they sell on their website and have not had any problems as described by others. We did have one issue where a lemon was left in the bar sink. There was a shiny copper spot the next day. ...after a few weeks, it was almost gone and today (months later) you can barely see where it was. It's like they have their own personalities! We love the rustic look.

I would not hesitate to buy one again. I did a lot of research before buying our sink and one of the best resources was the "Copper 101" article I have provided a link to below. Two things to consider that are really big issues when buying a copper sink:

1) make sure your sink is 14 gauge (the thickest we found in the market). Almost everyone out there sells the thinner 16 gauge. This may not be as big a deal for a bath sink but it is definately a big deal for a kitchen sink. There is a huge weight difference and the thinner gauge sinks will dent over time from pots and pans (first hand experience). Our sink (14 gauge) is built like a tank. It's quiet and will outlast me for sure.

2) Buy only a genuine hand hammered copper sink from Mexico - but from a reputable US based company. There are less expensive sinks (some on Ebay) that you can buy from and most ship from Mexico - although they try their hardest to hide that fact. I have had several friends go through nightmare scenarios by buying from this huge internet garage sale. ...not saying some haven't had positive experiences, but for a few hundred dollars IMHO it's just not worth the risk. Just my $0.02.

As for the sinks with a "criss cross" on the bottom - I know that Copper Sinks Online has these as a friend just bought one. They are called "Fernanda" or "Fernando" - something like that. I would just call them.

One final thing. I just went to the website to get the link for the article and saw that they have a very cool video of how these sinks are made. They truly are "hand crafted" one at a time. It also underscores why there are such differences between one artisan to another - again, buy from somebody reputable!

Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: Copper Sinks 101
janefan
15 years ago
Another big fan of copper sinks here. I ordered mine from Copper Sinks Online, too. I believe the finish is Dark Smoke. It does change, but I kind of like that about it! Aluminum foil darkens it; a knife made it shiny. It all evens out eventually, though. I have noticed that when I scrub with the sponge, it seems like the finish comes off (sponge gets brown). Been wondering about that, but not enough to inquire about it! Anyone else notice that, though? These are probably the most unflattering photos, and I still love it!

The dark spot in the upper left here was from foil..

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