What should be in a SS kitchen sink: 16 gauge, seamless, 304 or 305 (aka 18/8 because it contains 18 percent chromium and 8 percent nickel).

Sinks are one of the easier things in a kitchen to buy because they have no moving parts and pieces : ) .

I didn't get a sink with a ledge or zero radius corners because I was worried they'd collect grime and be hard to clean.

After looking at a zillion sinks, I decided I wanted a ledge with an offset drain. I really like both features. The offset drain allows you to put a big pan in the sink without blinking the water from going down the drain. I also got one without the ring around the drain, which is much easier to clean.

Put this choice in perspective: I have a 50-year old builder-basic stainless steel sink. It's still in perfect condition. I wish it were a larger, one-bowl sink, but I can't complain about the quality. A sink is a low-tech item (as someone else said above, no moving pieces), so thickness of steel and name brand aren't likely to make a big difference. IF you have the misfortune to get a bad sink, you're likely to figure it out right away ... you're unlikely to have a sink develop a leak after five years (the faucet, yes, the sink, no).

On the other hand, I badly want a larger sink ... and that comes with a price tag.

And I really want the off-set drain because it'll make storage better under the sink ... and that cuts down on the choices.

At 6'6", perhaps you need a raised counter to bring the sink "up to you". At 4'11", that's the last thing I'd want.

Finally, the sink is the single most-used item in your kitchen. You should put thought into this choice ... but be sure you're focusing on the things that really matter.

You tend to pay more for design and finish quality. This is primarily aesthetic and don't necessarily add to function. There have been reports that many off-brand Chinese imports that claim 304 stainless are anything but and they rust early or are just low quality. The other thing is that your big standard brands tend to have better support than the oddball brands that sell for less on wayfair etc.

There are of course other options that are major brands that cost less than Kohler and aren't Chinese sourced. Heck, a lot of Kohler stainless sinks are actually made in Mexico. By far the largest producer of US made stainless sinks is Elkay. So that may be another option.

Pick certain features you want, make sure to go with 18-gauge minimum and stick to a reputable brand name and you will be fine without spending $1000+ on sink, unless you just can't pass up on the looks of that $1000+ sink..

“There have been reports that many off-brand Chinese imports that claim 304 stainless are anything but and they rust early or are just low quality.”

Actually, most reports say the opposite. People are very happy with their Chinese-made 16-gauge Kraus sinks for example. Also note that many sinks that have the brand name Kohler, Blanco, and Franke are also made in China. Those manufacturers outsource their lower-priced sinks to China factories, and people are paying more for the brand name than they would for a Kraus.

As to rust, that is not the stainless steel rusting. That is from people either scrubbing their sinks with steel wool, and the steel wool particles left behind rust, or leaving a metal utensil or can sitting in the sink, which leaves a rusty imprint, or the homeowner’s water has a high iron content, and rust spots show up as the water dries in the sink. All can be removed easily with Barkeepers Friend.

”also got one without the ring around the drain, which is much easier to clean.”

Interesting, because I remember seeing another post from someone with the seamless sink drain who said she thought it ended up not being easier to clean.

To the OP - I would decide on the features you want, and also get no thinner than 16-gauge SS. Go to showrooms, and see sinks IRL, before deciding. For me, I didn’t want a ledge cause that is something I wouldn’t use, but that’s me. Others love the ledge and accessories.

The best kitchen sink I've ever had is what I have now - a fully integrated, huge Corian single sink. It can also be used in an undermount application if one does not have Corian countertops. It is SO easy to keep clean, and in my hardware area, any water spots are hidden as they are white as is the sink itself! It's simply the best...

Corian #5610

We are going with light green cabinets, a whiteish quartz countertop and presumably (havent picked backsplash or counter yet) a white subway tile backsplash. I am already concerned about the white in the counter not matching perfectly or generally clashing with the white of the backsplash....although I like the idea of a white sink, it brings more of the same concerns. Quite frankly I feel like a darker counter would solve all these problems as it would clearly contrast a white sink and/or backsplash but alas, that is a battle I am not likely to win :)

Your post struck a chord with me because had almost the very same thoughts when I was renovating my kitchen last year. I wanted something functional and easy to keep clean .Adding on your concerns was that I hated the Rubbermaid dishrack I had on the side of my sink constantly. I almost went with a kohler stages style sink until my hubs showed me a sink he found on a business website he's on. I did the research and decided to go for it.

I absolutely love my sink. ( Hub's calls it the cherry on the icing of the renovation cake hehe.

And I think your white counters with a light green cabinet color will look beautiful!

So what kind of sink did you get Susan L?

Also, from looking at your photo it LOOKS like you just got a non-ledge sink and then got a cutting board made that fits into the counter opening, thus using the counter edge as your ledge. I have been thinking about this as well....but then it looks like under the cutting board is a basket, so maybe it is a ledge sink?

chris

chris- the sink is from a company called RCksinks. I think it is the only style sink they make. It came with the cutting board made to fit the counter. It is not a ledge sink at all. It has a drain board fitted with a custom made dishrack . They do not have much of a website but I did find them on Youtube. I hope this helps!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFYJdkC0DkuT2UEi2owkTqA

I would definitely look at a ledge sink in person. I knew I wanted one until I saw it displayed, and then realized it wasn't for me. We chose a Blanco sink instead.

Seeing sinks in person made a big difference to me. I wound up with a Kohler Prolific sink, the 29" model, and I love it.

I've installed several Kohler Prolific sinks. They are terrific.

following

I have a 30" wide stainless prep sink with two ledges inside of the the sink so mess is contained in the sink. If I had to choose only one sink, it would definitely be a ledge sink. Ours was made in China branded as Highpoint but I've seen the same sink by Nantucket and Lenova.. No issue wiping the ledges or zero radius corners. It still looks new, so for us purchasing a less expensive sink made no difference in function or durability. Our other sink is a 36" Kohler Whitehaven.

We need to pull the trigger on a sink very soon....we looked at the prolific at a store and thought it was great. My one hesitation is that it is not available with an offset drain...I really think and offset drain would make a lot of sense in freeing up storage space underneath the sink....and I expect that as much as I like all the flexibility of the prolific...in actual day to day use its probably only marginally better than a sink with a single ledge....

What are the thoughts from the group? Prolific? Or offset drain ledge sink? And if I go with the latter, what is the best non-prolific ledge system? CGS has a bunch of accessories but they dont look like they fit the ledge quite as well as the prolific's do.

My customer wanted this drain offset to the right although it did him little good for space as his drain line came through the floor on the left. Check please.

DH is 6'5" so understand your concern. If he is scrubbing a pan, he puts it on the cutting board raising it to a comfortable level. I originally ordered the Prolific but the one that I received had a few bad welds so it went back, likely just a fluke, but I knew that I wanted at least two ledges. At the time, there was not one with an offset drain. If so I would've purchased it. I replaced the original colander with a $10 expandable one that fits either ledge and have found off-the shelf wooden boards to fit either ledge. Cutting and rinsing berries and produce is a breeze when you can easily slide them into the colander one level below. The colander slides out of sight when I don't need it. In the morning my coffee mug gets rinsed and drains right into the sink. I keep cutting mats in the drawer next to the sink in order to keep the poly cutting board that I use everyday in good shape. Nantucket has a new 36" version of this sink.

prep-station

That was something that the sales person at the plumbing store mentioned which I liked....I said I was concerned with the prolific being 10" deep due to my height but she mentioned you can put the two racks on say the middle level in the prolific and create a false bottom in essence on which to do all the dish washing...probably making it more like a 6-7" deep sink.

Wilson853: it looks like the front to back measurement on the nantucket sink is 20" overall, and 18" on the top ledge. Curious are you able to fit this in a standard depth (24") sink base?

And also does a half-sheet pan sit perfectly in the top ledge? due to the 18" measurement?

Is the Prolific preferable to the Stages?

for me it is...the stages offers the dish drain, but I would rather have as big a basin as possible, and I can use the two drying rack inserts with prolific to create dish drain off to one side if I want one (or buy additional drying rack inserts to make it even bigger....or not use them at all if I want a big tub for washing something large)

my base cabinet is only a 36, which means my sink will only be 30-33....definitely wouldnt want it to be even smaller just so I can have a dish drain. I think some people have hacked into their cabinets so that the dish drain "spills over" into the cabinet to the left (or right) of the sink base (thus allowing you to get a 45" stages for example in a 36" base cabinet)...but I dont know if my contractor or I would be crazy about that.

I have the much earlier 18” deep version of this sink which worked well for my narrow island. I don’t think that you should have any problem. I‘ll see if I have a photo before the countertop was installed. I would prefer the new version as it gives you 2” more from front to back on the basin floor.

"My base cabinet is only a 36, which means my sink will only be 30-33..."

You can put a 36" sink in a 36" cabinet, a 33" sink in a 33" cabinet and a 30" sink in a 30" cabinet. I don't care what the manufacturers say.

How is that possible? a 36" base means the total width is 36", and includes the 3/4" plywood for the box on either end...so maximum internal space to undermount is 34.5" no?

Wish I could find someone with a nantucket 20" deep sink to see if a half sheet pan fits perfectly in their ledge as I believe it does on the galley sink....seems like that would be a really convenient and portable prepping space given how often I use them

I will say though I was not thrilled with the support person I spoke with on phone today. Anything that wasnt on the website she had no idea for, no other resource to check and had to go ask a technical person about. and the technical person didnt even give definitive answers (about fitment in a 24" base cabinet). I then asked about where it was manufactured, she said China, and when I asked about warranty she just started to look on the website to see what it said.

Take a look at the dimensions of the rinse tray on the spec sheet. As long as your baking sheets have similar dimensions they should fit on the ledge.

https://static.wixstatic.com/ugd/572662_d75225c1ddc24ed9aa95513e3b97ae9d.pdf

At my height a lower board gives me more leverage but the beauty of a double ledge is that it can accommodate different board sizes and heights. This is a larger Tramontina board that I picked up at Costco.

just a follow-up...we wound up going with the prolific and we love it. Really making great use out of all the trays/attachments and the top 2 levels (havent used the bottom level much yet)

Thanks for the follow up, Robertgoulet. Are you happy with the central drain and garbage disposal?

We dont have a garbage disposal and are still figuring out what we want to do for undersink storage. The center drain has actually been great given our use of the ledges. I often have something on each side of me (maybe cutting board to one side, dish rack to the other, or dirty dish bin on one side, clean drying on the other) so having the drain in the center has kept it accessible while working this way. Thats not to say an offset drain couldnt have worked too, but initially I felt I had to compromise on the improved function of an offset drain to get the ledges...and I no longer feel that way...to the contrary, I am glad I did not let my desire for an offset drain dictate my sink options.