quality sinks

[Bluetooth]

Hi, can anyone please recommend a retailer that sells good quality kitchen sinks are good prices ?

I was considering a graphite one - definitely not steel.

tia....

[Mike]

Why a retailer ? Go to your nearest quality plumbing supplies merchant and look for somebody who looks like he's in charge. As he will be able to get almost all brands at trade prices he's no axe to grind so should be able to recommend suitable brands to you AND give you the best price around.

Legal note : solely for the purposes of this post, I am afraid that my local branch of Plumbcentre do not count as a "quality plumbing supplies merchant" cos they only employ spotty youngsters who don't even know the difference between Polyplumb and Speedfit.

[bigcat]

What do you mean by graphite? There are no sinks finished with graphite, graphite is far too soft and would rub off. Probably you mean graphite coloured plastic, and plastic coated sinks, eg those astroturf things, should be avoided, as they are worse than steel. They may look nice, but after a while they just cant be got properly clean, and dont look so hot.

The main options are steel and ceramic, with lesser contenders being stone and astrolux. Steel may look basic, but I think its about as good as it gets.

NT

[Blue]

Sorry, I meant to say Granite (I think they are some kind of Granite and plastic composite)

eg like these

these poor in comparison to steel and ceramic also ?

[bigcat]

astroturf

>> Are these poor in comparison to steel and ceramic also ?

looks nice, but what could the finish be? Its almost cetrainly a relatively hardwearing plastic. These are nice at first, but become very hard to clean after several years. However, I notice that theyre basically dirt coloured rather than white, this may well help a lot.

If its not plastic its powder coating - unlikely but not impossible. That wuoldnt last at all well.

Steel's better lasting, but if you dont mind replacing it in 10-15 years, go for it, looks good.

NT

[mike ring]

Blue wrote in news: [e-mail]:

You bet they are - I've got one - it's DIABOLICAL.

They are very hard; don't drop a plate or glass you like; but most of all they (well, mine) is absolutely evil for staining and difficulty of cleaning.

It has a slightly ganular surrface which effectively traps and holds water till it turns to scale, and tea etc till it's really stained the scale nicely.

It requires descaler to clean, and to prevent staining it must be carefully dried after EVERY use.

You can have mine if you like

mike

[LanMan]

LOL.... so not really recommended then.

Thanks for the warning.

[Lee]

On t'other hand, our deep blue glossy Asterite sink is very nice ;)

To the OP, if you do decide on an Asterite/Cast/resin sink, best make sure it has a glossy surface if you want to be able to clean it. It *will* show up limescale if dark coloured and tea stains etc if light coloured...

I like manky scratched Stainless much less though... :) ;)

Lee

[mike ring]

Lee wrote in news:C9z8e.1750$c4.1490@newsfe3- win.ntli.net:

I didn't know about glossy ones, when I can afford it (I BET it will need a new worktop, I'll look for one like that.

It's not compo I'm against, it's the like of Fragranit

mike

[Lee]

We are happy with ours, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend one. Having the top acrylic layer smooth, it's certainly easier to clean - until it eventually gets scratched...

Lee

[David]

No they don't, not if you know how to be clean them that is, we are on our third light coloured one without a problem

[bigcat]

feel free to tell us. I'm doubtful though.

NT

[David]

Higher command soaks it overnight about once a month in a bleach solution, comes up as good as new, this ones 8yrs old, a sort of ivory colour.

[mike ring]

David wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Mine stains noticeably in less than a day, horribly in a few days, and if I leave it a week I daren't answer the door to visitors, or they'll call in those two ladies what take no prisoners!

Once a month won't cut it.

mike

[David]

In article , mike ring writes

Ours is nowhere near that bad, I guess there is probably a difference between manufacturers and also what you tend to bung/leave in the sink, we wipe ours as we go but we're not particularly fussy over it and as I said about once a month is normally enough.