My Kohler Whitehaven does not always look dirty but I have the grills and make an effort not to let food - especially fruit scraps - sit in the sink. This is much easier now that I don't have a bunch of little ones to watch after - though husband still drops tea bags in the sink - usually right after I cleaned it:) As cast iron sinks get older they get micro abrasions in the finish and stain more easily, but it is very easily cleaned. I will use the same philosophy of those with white cabinets - I can see when cleaning needs to happen. My previous cast iron sink was 20 years old. Almost every night I would give it a spritz of clorox and it would whiten right up. I do't need to clean my Whitehaven that often - maybe twice a week, but as time goes on it may need cleaning more often, but then its a sink and should be cleaned regularly.

Can anyone recommend a silicone for around white quartzite where it meets wall that will not bleed into Calacatta Lux Quartzite? It is installed and the edges were not sealed. any help is greatly appreciate to be able to avoid these problems. We had a little silicone bleed one the one piece they sealed and acetone removed it. I want to avoid this, and ESPECIALLY these slow bleeds that take awhile to show. I want to put up tiles but not before I can test a good silicone for the edges and wait a few weeks. Thanks so so much in advance!!!! It is quartzite and passed all the tests, but when I learned hardness and porousity are two different things, it was already installed - came across this looking for maintenance and care.

Stainless steel does not rust. What people are reporting as rust in their sinks could be from several reasons. Most commonly, their water has iron in it, and when the water dries, it leaves rusty spots. Or they’ve cleaned the sink with steel wool, which leaves behind tiny particles which rust on the surface of the stainless steel. Or, they leave a can or utensil in the sink that leaves behind a rusty residue. But the SS itself is not rusting. All of these can be cleaned easily with BarKeepers Friend, which is easily found in supermarkets and Target. Stainless steel is a material that will show water spots and scratches. In return, you get a sink that won’t stain from coffee, wine, etc., won’t chip, won’t crack if boiling water is poured in it, cleans up easily, is fairly inexpensive, and is easy to install. Everyone has a different tolerance for water spots and scratches. If you don’t like them, I would look at enameled cast iron from Kohler though it is costly. Or Silgranit by Blanco - but only the darker Silgranit colors which are very easy-care; the lighter Silgranits like white and biscuit stain easily. I don’t have knowledge of current Corian; have you tried doing a search on this forum?

You can't use the Elkay ELXUFP362010PAO to which you linked becaust it has a full apron and requires a cabinet that accommodates a full apron sink. If you're not getting new cabinets, you'll have to use theElkay ELXUFP3620PAO to get the Parchment color you want. It's easily converted to a workstation sink by having your top fabricator leave a 1/2" rear reveal and having your handyman rabbet a cutting board which is much easier than having him alter your cabinet doors to be able to use the full apron sink. The Elkay ELXFDB3620BGRTO is a possible short apron workstation alternative, however, you'll have to get it in Ricotta which is bright white. Either sink is 36", so your refacer is going to have to leave you a left and a right side dummy drawer to butt to the apron and cover the remaining 6 " or so. It will look fine. I'd get the 3cm. "Is there an advantage to using an apron front and single bowl versus an undermount & double bowl?" Yes. An apron front sink can help greatly with seam placement and veining/movement matching because the only place the slabs touch is in the rear, mostly out of sight and the seam is half covered by the faucet and splash. 98% of my sink replacement customers go from a double full divide to a single bowl. 1% get low divides and 1% fully divided replacements. "Also should we try for a sink deck? Sink cabinets are 48 inches wide. 25 inches deep. We would like a large sink." If you want a 48" sink with an apron that fits perfectly without door alteration and has a faucet deck, you'll have to go custom stainless steel for 4K or so: Bars in islands are out of style right now. It isn't the difference in fabrication costs as much as it is in reworking the electrical, cabinet and wall alterations, etc. No matter what quartzite you choose, make your fabricator take you to the homes of jobs he's already done so you can verify he knows the properties of the stones he sells so bleeding adhesives and other catastrophies aren't an issue.