Franke Grande

I purchased this sink a few days ago but haven't received it yet. It was highly recommended by a sales consultant at a Ferguson showroom. I saw a larger version of the sink and it looked great.

Can we put a stop to the myth that stainless steel sinks rust please? I've installed thousands of different brands and every single case of "rusting" has been customer contamination. Stainless scratches; the scratches are easily refinished.

What does “customer contamination” mean? Haven’t heard that term before. Many of the complaints about rusting had photos showing exactly that, small brownish spots on the stainless steel surface. Is it something else? Even so, who wants to keep scrubbing them away. I haven’t seen those on any of the sinks I had over the years. But you can look at the one and two star reviews to see what I’m talking about.

I’ve had both Kraus and elkay, both were excellent. I think of the little scratches SS sinks get like a patina. My elkay sink had more of a brushed finish though so you didn’t notice any scratches, but it was a prep sink so I didn’t really stick dishes in it. I never had any rust spots, but I also never left steel wool laying around.

Stainless steel does not rust. That is why stainless steel bolts and screws are required for roofing, and on boats and other maritime uses. When rust is seen in a stainless steel sink it is from something left in the sink that has rusted. It could be a metal can, metal spatula, or similar, or the homeowner used steel wool to clean the sink (which should never be used), and the steel wool left behind tiny particles which rusted. Or, the homeowner’s water is hard and has iron content. When the water dries in the sink, the water’s iron appears as a rusty film.

What is exasperating about the reviews that @lidiap has taken to heart, is that people blame the stainless steel sink for rusting which is incorrect. Furthermore, any rust that appears due to the causes I mentioned above can be cleaned in a couple minutes with BarKeepers Friend and a wet sponge when you are cleaning the sink as usual.

The other exasperating thing is reviews about stainless steel sinks scratching, as if it is that manufacturer’s fault. ALL stainless steel sinks will scratch, that is the nature of stainless steel. You could buy a stainless steel sink for $5,000 or for $300, and both will scratch. The scratches blend into a patina after a while and you don’t notice them. But if scratches in a stainless steel sink will cause you this kind of distress, then stainless steel is NOT for you. Pick another sink material.

@M Miller Thank you for your response and I’m sorry for causing feelings of exasperation. I just want to avoid buying a bad product that I’ll be stuck with after installation. It is very surprising to read, and hard to ignore, so many negative reviews that mention the same issues, which I never experienced with my stainless steel sinks (I don’t know the brand.)

So, back to my original question, any recommendations after using your sink for a while?

I have the Kraus KHU100-32. It is 5 1/2 years old. Very happy with it. No rust ever. Water drains fine. The sink does come with a sink grid which helps avoid scratches. I also have the Kraus KBU15 as my prep sink. Again no rust, drains well and comes with sink grid. I would definitely buy Kraus again.

Yes stainless will scratch. The sink grids help with that. The scratches I have were due to me cleaning parts to my venthood without the sink grid.

I have the sink you are considering - I read all the reviews on many 30 inch under mount sinks before buying it. I’m happy with the sink after about two months of heavy use. We are using the grid and we haven’t noticed scratches. There’s no rust and sometimes we aren’t careful about wiping down the sink. The water drains fine, no problems there. But we do have trouble with stubborn scraps of food not going down the drain and we end up chasing them around with the sprayer. This has made me wonder if it has to do with how the sink and garbage disposal were installed-is there enough “give” in the stainless steel that it could have been installed with more of a slope? Anyway, this is solved by lifting the grate and wiping down the sink. Not a big deal.

@lidiap - I wrote that it is the reviews that cause exasperation, not you. We see so many posts on this forum saying “I read reviews of XYZ sink and they say it rusts and scratches!”.

I think it is the configuration of the sink that is more important than which brand, as long as the brand is one of the well-known ones, not the factory seconds which have some name I never heard of. My sink requirements are that it be 16 gauge, single bowl, and have an offset drain. Kraus, Blanco, Elkay are brands that come to mind.

My requirements for stainless steel are 16 gauge, 15 or 20 mm corners for easier cleaning and some sound deadening. I bought a sink from a local company called Bristol. It has been great so far. We have used it for a year. III

We’ve been using our Franke undermount sink, with rear offset drain for 7 1/2 years. Terrific sink, well insulated for sound proofing, and of course, no rusting. We use a grid to prevent scratching.

We've had nothing but stainless steel for decades, Franke, Elkay, Kohler. They all scratch. They eventually patina so only the first few are noticable. :)

For current and previous house, I installed 4 Julien (Home Improvements) SS sinks in the kitchens. No issues with any of them. I have a Kraus SS sink in my outdoor BBQ area and no issues with that either. Have a Kohler SS sink in the laundry room and also no issues.

I’ve had a Blanco 26” for @15 years and its been fine. i plan to buy another Blanco when we redo our kitchen soon (i hope)

I have Kraus and I’m very happy with it. It has a few scratches but I’m sure over time they’ll all blend together. I use the grid it came with and that helps.

Elkay luster tone was my second choice but I liked the shape of the Kraus better.