I have two Galley sinks and I am so diapointed with them. I would love to remove them, but I cannot without destroying my counters because of the way these sinks mount, which is different from most kitchen sinks. Just be aware, that when you purchas a Galley sink, it is permanent unless you want to redo your counters too. What I don't like about them is how messy they look. I have a busy household, so lots of dishes and every time the water is turned on, it spots the sink unless I hand dry it. This is impracticle for a busy home. Food sticks to the sides of the sink easily and the corners are very hard to clean. Also, the ledge where the boards rest, gets wet because of dish washing so the caulking breaks down easily and there is a moldy rim around the edge of the sink becuase of this design. (I had the caulking fixed within a year, but it happens in a matter of weeks) . I contacted the company and they sent me a product to clean it, but the product was like other products I can buy and the problem is the design and the materials. The company also comes acorss as uncaring and poorly skilled when dealing with customer disapointments. I had a stainless steel sink before and never experienced it looking like this, I actually liked that sink. Also, their bamboo boards broke down very easily. I had new boards made out of walnut and my new boards have lasted two years getting wet daily, with no extra drying from me and they look great. I think Galley sinks wants to be this fancy company but it's just cheap materials, cheap product, cheap customer service. Again, I wish I could remove them, but I cannot without destroying my counters and my counters are so expenisve that I am stuck with these horrible sinks. Good luck with your house remodel!

Thank you everyone for your feedback and photo. Keep it coming! I don't know ANYONE who has concrete countertops. So, cabinfo, I'm impressed that you poured this yourself! My husband and I are only minor DIY'ers and pouring your own concrete countertop falls into the "Major DIY" category. Your countertop appears fairly smooth, is it pretty easy to clean? I'd love to see a photo of your whole countertop. My main concern with the concrete is everything you all have mentioned, the eventual cracking, staining, difficulty to clean and basic maintenance. I'm wondering if it depends on the concrete company doing it or if it's just that "all concrete WILL eventually crack". It's a fairly expensive proposition and I don't want to have any regrets. I do have a friend who has had a copper farm sink in her kitchen for about a year and she loves it. She said she just wipes it out and occasionally wipes it down with some sort of polish or wax. She did say that you have to be careful with acidic things like vinegar and citric fruits because it will change the color of the sink, but she said eventually the color returns back to normal.

Straying a bit OT (though I'm obviously interested in the thread as we have 70 sf of Calcatta Gold countertop scheduled for installation next week), but re the issue of butcher block finishes: I have a strong preference. The standard advice is to use "food safe oil"--mineral plus bee's wax is a favorite. We started with that on our BB counters at the lake house. After repeated coats, a two second encounter with a cut strawberry or a drop of red wine would still stain enough to require resanding. This drove me crazy. We had two smaller pieces of BB flanking the range. Becauase of the spattering issue, our installer had suggested using polyurethane. This would preclude any cutting on them, as urethane forms a protective film on the surface, and thus any cut compromises the protection. It's functional but I hate the way it looks, plasticky and way too shiny. At any rate I decided I needed something better for the island. I did oodles of online research. Had considered Watco BB oil and General Finishes Salad Bowl oil but then in a flash of inspiration realized I still had lots of Waterlox left over from doing our floors. I love our Waterlox'd floors! They are bulletproof, but using the satin finish, there is absolutely no sheen and you can see and feel the surface of the wood, unlike urethane. It's easy to apply and can be reapplied without resanding. It is tough as nails--this is a lake house with kids dripping from the lake running in and out all day. I checked and their website confirmed that it's safe for countertops (it is, for the technically interested, a polymerized tung oil product. Tung oil has been used for centuries to waterproof boats etc, but unlike pure tung oil, Waterlox dries quickly and without a sticky residue). I've put three coats on so far, Water beads immediately and there has been absolutely no staining. This is one of my true favorite products and you owe it to yourself to check it out: Waterlox HTH!

i have to say again, I just don't get it! what is so hard about cleaning a black smooth top? Really, wipe with a hot soapy dishcloth, dry with a dry towel. See? no streaks. cooked on 'whatever', scrape with razor blade. gone in 60 seconds. I swear! need a wiping boost? use a white scrubbing cleaner. I don't know why anyone would say it leaves a residue unless they don't do a good job wiping off the white cleaner. i have not had to clean a gas range or a coil burner in years. but, i do remember how it was. with a coil burner, i remember covering those drip pans with aluminum foil. how ugly! this was to prevent having to look at them dirty when there was no way possible to clean them no matter how much scrubbing you did. I remember my grandmothers gas stove. Ohhhhh, you could scrub for days on that to clean it. a spill not only went into the drip area underneath the grate, it went down way under into every nook and cranny it could find to drip into. there was no end to that. so, do i find wiping, scraping with a razor, cleaning up white cleaners, or polishing and buffing a chore or anything difficult? Heck no. I would rather clean a smooth top anyday. I know that gas is preferred by chefs, but gas was not an option for me. I did consider it, but that idea was squashed by DH because we don't have any gas lines even running to my house. i may have preferred cooking on gas by now after 8 months if i could have had it, i'll never know. But the one thing that i can say for sure is that a smooth top is always easier to clean, no matter what. I really got the best of both worlds. I wanted a gas range in the beginning because i wanted a certain 'look'(I am a decorator at heart, and what looks good means alot to me). I ended up getting a viking professional range but with a smooth electric cooktop. i love it! It cooks wonderful, better than my old kenmore smooth top. its alot more versatile and cooks at higher heat on some of the burners. And, i have a beautiful stainless steel appliance to look at too.