What Sink Should You Buy? | A Guide to Purchasing the Right Sink 

Check this video out for my top 10 kitchen trends for 2022 - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-JkMET4pKyaw.html If you would like a kitchen design, please visit mtkd.ca

IF you have a stainless steel sink and it's loud enough to bother you, find some Dynamat. It's peel and stick sound dampening material typically used in car audio. There are others as well, but this was one I could remember off hand.

Our builder offered a couple stainless steel sinks we went with the 31' undermount options as it was the largest that wasn't an exorbitant amount.

Thanks for the video. We may be going quartz because of some of the reasons you mentioned, but also it is available in more colors.

This was very helpful, thanks!

Very pleased I found your channel. Appreciate your videos and information while navigating kitchen planning

I loved my large enameled cast iron sink at my last house, I dislike my current sink, small stainless (mostly because it's small). My dream sink is a large heavier gauge copper apron sink with work station accessories. I was surprised & a little disappointed you didn't mention copper.

Thanks Mark! I’m loving your channel👍

Great video!!!!!will be getting cast iron…just my pick…ty for all your opinions, knowledge, and know how….m,my Moma and grandma both had cast iron ….the lil chips of love show the wear and tear but not enough to be a deal breaker👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻😀🔨🔧🛠🔩⚒ keep them taters coming

Great information! Thank you for sharing the pictures along the way!

Thank you for the great advice Mark! 🙏🏽

Lots of good points to think about, thanks!

I bought my first home 3 years ago, and have moved very slow with making changes. I appreciate your content! I am in the process of making a couple of minor upgrades to my kitchen (i.e., countertops, sink, backsplash). I currently have a porcelain sink and use The Bar Keeper's Friend to keep the basin clean. Your video confirmed my sink selection. Thank you!!!

I had a massive porcelain two bay sink with drain boards that I suspect was original to the 1928 build (or at least to the 1950 remodel) of my first house. It has been thirteen years since I lived in that house and I still miss that sink dearly. I never had a problem with it chipping, and stains were easy to remove with the right cleaner. I used Sun and Earth all purpose cleaner and it worked well.

Thank you🥰

Great video. One paint on composite sinks gave me pause. Hard water! I loved my former black granite sink and already bought one for my present impending kitchen redo. The difference is - my first adorable and adored black granite sink was in Scotland where our water was very soft. I’m back in USA, Calif specifically where our water is not exactly hard but isn’t soft either. I’m gonna stick to my black granite composite guns though and hope for the best. I love the clean-ability, quiet, solid looks of black granite.

I have a cast iron sink, and we are going to replace it soon as my wife hates it. Ya we've had it for 16 years, and ya it takes some comet to clean, but you got to scrub that thing and buy the comet. I don't have to buy comet or scrub the crap out of a SS sink and your dishes don't shatter if you accidently drop them like they do in a Cast Iron. Probably 3/4 of my dishes broken the last 16 years have been from the cast iron sink.

My new sink, cast iron white porcelain, 140 lbs. I'm old, grew up with this type, and absolutely love it. Looks beautiful with my new bridge faucet. The sink is double, which I wanted due to the way I cook, clean up. Also, I suggest using Barkeepers Friend for stubborn stains. The weight wasn't a concern due to custom cabinetry in our older home. Get compliments on my new sink over and over, bowls are good and deep. Only thing missing, the attached side draining area that came with such sinks many many years ago.

Another reason why I won’t choose a Corian integrated sink again is the possibility of blow-out if you dump boiling water into the drain and you can not put pans directly from the stove into the sink. Stainless sounds like the best choice for me. However I’ve been warned that the square cornered sinks are harder to clean than the ones with the round corners.

Just finishing the remodel of a kitchen built in '68. Kept the top mount porcelin dual basin sink to cut costs. Goes well with the white cabinets and appliances. My mother hates cleaning stainless steel appliances to look their best all the time. May have to look further into the composites with more color choices. Thanks for sharing.

I also have a 25 year old integrated Corian sink and I've kept it bright white the entire time. I still love it. The only disappointing news is that Corian no longer makes their own sinks. Another company does that now and I'm hoping they are the same quality as Corian`s.

I've had a large, deep undermount hammered copper sink for 18 years. It is stunning, It gets the dark bronze patina and I just embrace it most of the time. Occasionally it reacts to ketchup, lemon juice, etc. And I will smear the offending acid it all over to regain the beautiful, original shine. It has character and is pretty unique.

After stainless steel sinks for nearly forty years, the first installed myself in our first house, we are going with a granite composite in our remodel. Appearance, color choice, sound dampening and just tired of stainless, was our reasoning.

Remodeled my kitchen 15 years ago when we bought the house. I chose a black granite sink and absolutely love it. It's one large deep basin with the drain on the right end, not in the middle. I keep a small wire draining rack hanging at the right end. This reduces the usable area a little, but has the advantage of making a place to dry hand washed items so they aren't on the counter. It's easy to lift out this rack when I want a really big area for washing something big - or bathing a baby. The best feature of this sink is that it looks brand new after 15 years - something I never had with any kind of white or porcelain sink. (When I feel really ambitious, a special colored sink cleaner brings it back to perfection.) Also, hot cast iron skillets don't damage it.

I purchased a stainless rectangular under mount sink. My only complaint is the crud stays in the corners where the sink goes flat to vertical. I’ve learned to live with it.

Have you done a video about pros/cons of top mount or under mount sinks? I would be interested in your thoughts on this topic. TIA

You didn't mention the most important reason to go stainless. If a glass falls over or a kid drops a glass a little high your chances of it shattering in a Stainless Steel sink are far lower than any of these other sinks. Ya it may be noisy but you're not buying new glasses and plates nearly as often.

Great video! You make sinks look cool! I liked that blue porcelain one. We had a porcelain one in our last house and it was cool. I got rust stains on my stainless steel one. Do you know how I can get the rust off? Thanks again Mark for the great content!! P.s. love the hoodie!!

I like how easy it is to clean stainless, but also like the ease of cleaning an under mount sink. But I don't want an industrial kitchen with stainless countertop. Am I just too picky?

Hi Mark, what are your thoughts if you hate your new kitchen remodel? I didn't realize my cabinets would look so cheap and full of fillers

We're getting a new kitchen in August and we've taken your advice and are getting 1 large sink (with draining board), rather than the 1.5 sink that's common in the UK. I've never seen the metal mesh thing in a sink before your video though - maybe a US/Canada thing?

What are the pros/cons to a centered drain and offset drain in a farmhouse/apron sink?

I love the farmhouse sink look.

Black stainless would be nice.

You have to baby fireclay to some extent though too it seems?

I love the look of the composite sinks but I have seen reviews of water marks that are left after use. I don't know if I would want to have to clean and dry my sink like that to keep up appearances. I use my sink too much!

Can you talk about the black stainless sink and how well it holds up to scratches?

I know that this video mainly touches on the different materials in the sink market but what is your opinion on styles like ones with drain boards and workstation sinks? The Galley, Kohler Prolific, etc. I found a pretty reputable company on the houzz forums that make a comparable or arguably even better quality version of these ledge or double ledge sinks but what makes me hesitant about these ledges is that there are so many third party sink accessories that go over regular sinks without ledges perfectly fine. What makes the ledge more special? 🤔 That they serve as a “track” for the accessories to slide left and right? I imagine they may be an unnecessary pain to clean. I‘ve also seen a general consensus that undermount sinks are easier to clean but I find that ONLY if it’s with a well sealed positive or zero reveal otherwise with a negative reveal (countertop lip overhanging the basin) it is a huge pain! 😞

@MTKDofficial - Is Milosen a good brand for kitchen sinks? Same question for Lippert. They are the only two brands that have the dimensions I need for my sink.

We chose an apron front black stainless steel utility sink.

Hi Mark, we are currently remodeling our kitchen and are considering the black stainless one compartment sink, just wandering if you have researched the black coating and if hard water deposits are an issue? Tfs

Just watched a few of your videos. Very helpful. I couple of questions. 1) Doesn't stainless scratch easily? 2) Is it problematic to replace an undermount sink with a drop in sink? (I'm worried about having to drill holes in the countertop for the faucet. 3) I currently have a cast iron/porcelain sink but it seems to "stain" with the rubber feet of the racks that sit in it. (it looks nasty). Any input would be appreciated.

Apparently, I am in a minority, because I really like the look of apron sinks. Specifically, single large bowl stainless steel with a bowed front. What I don't like is an undermount that leaves countertop hanging over the sides of the bowl and a funky cut at the front that reveals how thin the countertop material actually is, or any reveal that leaves a ledge to collect water and grunge. Nor do I like the lip on top of the countertop that a drop-in sink like yours leaves to collect crumbs and grunge. That leaves ... flush mount, where the entire surround of the sink shows like it was a drop-in but is actually the same height as the countertop so brushing things into the sink has no lip to catch crumbs on. After drop-in, this is also the easiest to prep the countertop since it only requires straight cuts and no edge profiling in solid materials like granite, butcherblock, etc. Ideally, the sink would include a wide stainless edge on the rear like your drop-in sink does for the faucet hole so drilling holes through the countertop itself is not needed. Drilling granite close to an edge would make me nervous. I'd found sinks from Vigo, Kraus, and Kohler that have everything except the rear edge faucet hole area. Do you know of a brand that includes that in a flush mountable sink ? Or is a drop-in style the only type with faucet holes ? On another note, have you done a video on planning a new kitchen around standard sizes for countertop materials, cabinets, appliances, and how that can reduce costs compared to trying to use every available inch and needing custom sizes for all those elements ? Obviously, you would steer a client away from wanting all their cabinets to be some odd width like 19.3 inches, right, because it would mean every cabinet custom made and be more expensive ? What about savings with standard sizes of other elements ? I always try to lay out my future kitchen so there is no corner to waste a cabinet and avoids a seam in the countertop there. I put a break in the "L" to a door outside or to a corner pantry rather than have two counters meet in a corner, because otherwise I am locked into either a seam or custom made countertop choices. Going to a countertop fabricator and paying $100/sf instead of standard size counters for $25/sf makes as much sense as special ordering 2x4s because you want them to arrive already cut to a specific length.

Hi Mark, can you please tell me the best finish for stainless steel ( satin, polished or brushed)

Is there any safety tip when I dumping boiling water into composite sink ? Should I turn cold water tap at the same time when pouring boiling water?Thank you for your help.

You did talk about staining? And water marks? Etc.

Can we fit an inter grated sink with a laminated countertop?

Will the white composite sink stain and be hard to clean?

Is the ceramic sink the same as the fireclay sink?

I have a silestone kitchen counter around my sink which is integrated....however; the sink apparently cannot tolerate boiling water poured into it. It has cracks all around the drain...I have asked kitchen installers about sanding it down but no one knows anything (installer out of biz). I will put in a stainless next.

I'm interested in what people's preference would be if price did not matter

I'm planning to buy a big single bowl 25cm depth. Is it too deep for 155cm tall person?

Thank you for the video. I’ve seen some very attractive looking coloured stainless steel sinks lately, such as black or gold. They look nice, but I fear they may scratch easily since the colour is likely some sort of coating. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Good video. I wonder if it would be better without the background "music".

My builder won’t install without an official template, what do I do?

What about black stainless steel is that durable?🤔

My Stainless steel is insulated on the outside, I don't have any clanging banging. I also use a custom wire rack on the bottom of the sink so it keeps dishes out of the murky water underneath. Also, Fuller Brush makes a wonderful stainless steel cleaner.

We got a stainless steel sink and it's down right awful. Scratches and discolorations are randomly showing up and rust spots. I have been very careful about what I use on it. Soap is leaving stains that won't come off even with the polish/cleaner that came with it. I looked at reviews of the sink and other people were having the same issue. I would not go with stainless again.

Hi Mark, first off, how is your family after the hurricane coming through? Second, can you recommend your favourite brands of stainless steel single sinks? Third, when I tear out the corner sink in the next couple of months, I will send you a video of us beating it like a gangster movie scene, before sending it off to be recycled in something far more useful! Blessings! Kate

I am disappointed that you did not share the pros and cons related to fireclay sinks, or went into as much details as you did with the other materials because I am very interested in getting one.

Do you have a video about how to figure out the size of siink you need to get for the clearance you have underneath the countertop?

9:49 The first two already add up to more than 100% so how is anyone supposed to use that chart?

Where can I buy a true black stainless sink and not gunmetal? Thats all i can find and when I google back gunmetal is advertised as black! I called Kohler about a granite composite and the rep tried to talk me out of it! LOL. Thats scary! She said they fade and scratch!

how about copper?

I'm here deciding on sinks for the kitchen. The lady of the house worked for a while as a house keeper for mansion and despises stainless sinks and any stainless that is not coated with lacquer such as is common on stainless trim. In her words, "They are always a scratched-up mess. They belong in restaurant or a hospital where nobody cares what they look or sound like. I get it if they don't care, and they have a lot of company. I've never heard of anyone caring about whether or not they hold their heat but then I don't know anyone who routinely hand washes dishes. People don't wash dishes piled up in the sink and counter until it gets full or before visitors come over anymore. Instead, they hide the mess in the dishwasher until they have a load, and then push the button before they go to bed. It cleans better, uses less water, less energy, takes no time, doesn't abuse your skin, and provides white noise at bed time." I have have Corian white marble pattern with a 4" backsplash for the vanity. We were told when it was installed that if you have an issue with scratching or surface staining you can wet sand it out. After 4 girls, 2 boys, with one bathroom, and 42 years, it looks like the day we had it installed and we've never had to wet sand or even scrub it with anything. Everything wipes up easily. I don't know what kind of resin that is, but it is pretty hard, not like plain epoxy. Due to the color, to be able to see the scratches, you need to have a bright light and look at it on an angle, but even those scratches don't hold dirt. Even coffee cup rings wipe right up. The only issue at all is mold forming on the mold-resistant silicone calking at the backsplash. Today I tell people "All seams are brown, so use brown silicone for calking everywhere so it will match the mold." The only thing I had to do in the bathroom is replace the vinyl. The kitchen is the same age but not doing as well. The Kohler cast iron bone-colored porcelain sink was fine until rust started appearing from under the stainless hudee ring, so it must have started rusting from the edge. It it has a flat finish now in the bottom like quartz/granite sinks have when new, and does mark pretty easily from cast aluminum pans and skillets but we, actually they, never scrubbed the sink over the past 42 years. They wipe wipe any stuff down the drain with a soapy rag, and put bleach water in it overnight. In the morning it is like new. We never owned any cleansers or things like barkeeper's friend to use on it. We have a 33" cabinet, and I find it pretty difficult to find a cast iron in colored porcelain in hudee ring or under-mount in a size that will fit. I think the reason you don't see more fire clay like you were talking about is they are nearly always farm sinks, not under-mounts, nor do they lend themselves to under-mounting due to their great weight. The leathered Formica has the pattern worn off it on the top in the area where people work the most. If people don't think Formica can take it, keep in mind 4 girls, and a boy who got into cooking as a hobby and lived at home until 30. The girls need to impress and cooking and baking for accolades from friends and future mates. If there wasn't a holiday or function planned at least twice a week they would invent one. A permanent fixture on the kitchen counter is a Kitchen Aid commercial mixer that gets slid around and used on average of twice a week, and a commercial blender which is used at least once a day. Cast iron frying pans, cast aluminum pots, baking dishes, cookie sheets have been dragged across, and chopped on with a knife when they only had a little chopping to do each time the main area between the sink and stove for 42 years, and now I hear about how the countertop pattern is worn off the top of the leathered surface, and how down in the crevices it is hard to get clean in the high traffic area where things have been slid across and chopped on every time they just needed to make a few chops, which adds up to a lot of chops in the same are over 42 years. I'd bet I can clean down into the leathered areas but it needs to be replaced now anyway and I need a new sink. If you came into the house you would might think it was part of the pattern unless you compared it to the backsplash. If you think Formica cannot take heat, soon after it was installed, they had a large pot boiling water for canning and the flame was directed against the countertop for a long time before anyone noticed it. It became dark brown. They scrubbed it and it is barely noticeable if you know where to look and then only at the very edge where the side and top Formica come together. The counter has oak trim around the edge. When installed, the builder said you just need to rub it with tung oil and maybe a little stain once in a while. Once in a while over 42 years has been exactly twice, and it looks as perfect as the day he installed it while the counter is worn out. If I go with granite like I'm thinking, or Corian, or anything other than Formica, I will lose the beautiful wood edging, and I already know that by going with the totally maintenance-free, stain-impervious, chip-free Formica, I'm not giving up anything from a durability and maintenance standpoint. The main reason I'm entertaining granite at this point is looks and it isn't that much more expensive to do than a new counter and Formica. Granite costs are driven my availability, not how good it looks. If you want quartzite, which is rarer than granite and where breakage during fabrication is much more common and is slightly harder, and in Taj Mahal, or Fusion, e.g. exotics, you will pay a lot. If you want something in granite that still looks nice, such as Blue Dunes which can have little blue and more earth tones and many others like it, or a little more for Typhone Bourdeaux, they are also at least as beautiful. Even the wild Black Mosaico (where the lava hit the water before all of the rocks completely melting) isn't that crazy. No matter how much Formica or anything else tries to mimic these, nothing comes close to the depth of natural stone. For Formica and Corian, you will nearly always want a matte or leathered finish to avoid showing scratches. They don't care what I pick for a countertop, as long as it goes good with the wood cabinets they treasure, and still look like new. The kitchen vinyl flooring we were told would wear like iron. You have to walk through the kitchen to come and go and had no expectation that it would look like new after 42 years. There is only one problem with the floor. Sometime back the refrigerator was pulled out with its feet down and it gouged out pieces of the flooring in front of it. Initially, I thought it could just be cut out and replaced with the spare flooring from install. The flooring guy asked what we normally cleaned the floor with, and said, I'll bet it doesn't match anymore. He was correct. Because of what we used, it yellowed the wear layer to where the color is no longer even close. Other than the kitchen and bathroom, the rest of the house is all natural oak wood floors.

I tried to replace my sink. It is a type you did not mention. At some point, American Standard made a sink that looks like a cast iron one but is actually plastic with a coating on it. This coating stains instantly as well as gets metal marks. I was told by American Standard, they had stopped making this kind as it performed poorly. I looked at big single stainless and cast iron sinks this summer. Here is what I found. Reviews that said their new stainless sinks rusted...more than one brand and model. Their new stainless sink did not drain as the bottom was poorly sloped, more than one brand and model. That their new stainless sink scratched badly and posted photos proved that to be true. Their new stainless sink came with the rim mis-manufactured so it would not lie flat. I can attest to the later. Brought one home, put a straight edge on it and yes the rim bowed up in the center. There was a U channel welded on in this position and pushing did not make it lie flat. Some of these expensive stainless sinks come with a wire grate to "protect the bottom". Why on earth would I want that? I can't imagine anything harder to clean! I have owned stainless sinks in two other homes and they were exactly as you stated. Low maintenance and no hassle. NONE of these problems existed with them. Apparently new stainless sinks have many problems. As for the cast iron sink I found. Reviews warned me that it was NOT the stated size. So we opened a box and measured. Very true. Not only was it shorter and shallower than stated but the corners were very rounded and none of this matched the size of the existing hole in my counter top. In the end, I still have the awful double style, easily stained sink this house came with. The other thing you did not mention was hard water spotting. Anyone with hard water will see white residue immediately on a dark composite sink.

What about copper? 14 gauge

Is there such thing as custom built stainless steel sink?

Cast iron rust around the edges and nothing can be done to fix this once it starts.

What kind of sink do you prefer/have?

What about depth?

The thing I'm perplexed by is why the new one bowl rectangular sinks even in 14 to 16 gauge are so much more easily scratched than the cheap double bowl type that have been around forever. I'm trying to help a VERY fussy client find a stainless, modern sink that doesn't pool water & doesn't scratch up, but it's impossible! Every review, even on the 600 to 700 dollar ones are just countless complaints about slope & scratching. It's maddening.

Asking about cost !not advertising stainless steel ,

knock out? Why not just use a diamond hole drill the right size? I would never take a punch and hammer to any material with some sort of stone or quartz component. It would be like trying to knock a round hole through a piece of glass.

Wonderful video but for the music. No need for the annoying music

If you don't hand wash your dishes in a bowl full of water you're doing it wrong. Under running water is just rinsing them, they do not get clean.

Cast iron sinks are NO LONGER made like they were in the past. Example, Kohler cast iron from the 60s-2000s could take a beating, but their sinks today craze and crack within 2 years with THE most gentle of treatment. The enamel is THIN. You aren’t getting your grandma’s sink.

FINALLY got my big, deep, single stainless steel sink installed this week. I bought it over two years ago, and then couldn't figure out who to call to install it, then the pandemic hit, and I was afraid to have strangers in the house. Two vaxx and a booster, and I got the guys in and it's DONE!! I'm so happy I could wash a cat! (Don't tell my cat, I want it to be a SURPRIZE!!)

Mark your videos are always good however, there are too many cuts in between words and sentences that it becomes quite annoying watching you talk. Why do you cut so much? Can you just simply finish a few sentences? How hard can it be?

Stainless steel sinks are ugly AF.