I'm used to Belfast sinks having had them in my last three houses.
My experience of stainless steel sinks is limited. The more I investigate
the less I seem to know.

Polished or satin finish?
One bowl or one and a half?
How do I determine quality?

What criteria should I apply in choosing and recommendations of a supplier,
please.


mark

mark wrote:
I'm used to Belfast sinks having had them in my last three houses.
My experience of stainless steel sinks is limited. The more I investigate
the less I seem to know.

Polished or satin finish?

satin, then the scratches wont show.

One bowl or one and a half?
definitely :-(

How do I determine quality?


Take a course in philosophy. You wont find out the answer, but you will
at least learn not to ask the question in such broad terms..


What criteria should I apply in choosing and recommendations of a supplier,
please.

Juts got to a good quality builders merchant, and pick something tat
feels strong and not as soft as a coke can.

What sort you get depnends entirely on what you intend to use it for..

mark

mark wrote:

I'm used to Belfast sinks having had them in my last three houses.
My experience of stainless steel sinks is limited. The more I investigate
the less I seem to know.
Polished or satin finish?
One bowl or one and a half?

Finish and shape are entirely up to you.

How do I determine quality?

By price. The £50 ones are crap. The £150 upwards are far better.
Franke is the best make IMO. Far better quality than others I have
fitted.

What criteria should I apply in choosing and recommendations of a supplier,
please.

Find what you want, then search for the best deal on what you want.
Plumbers Merchants do some good deals at times, so no need to go to B+Q
etc.
Alan.



--
To reply by e-mail, change the ' + ' to 'plus'.

mark wrote:

I'm used to Belfast sinks having had them in my last three houses.
My experience of stainless steel sinks is limited. The more I investigate
the less I seem to know.

Polished or satin finish?
One bowl or one and a half?
How do I determine quality?

What criteria should I apply in choosing and recommendations of a supplier,
please.


mark

Its hard to go too wrong with ss. Lower cost sinks may have thin ss
and only little damping pads applied to them, the result is is feels
and sounds tinny if you tap it. But they still work just as well,
other than being noisy in use.

If you cant decide, better to go for 1.5 bowl. When one bowl's in use
you can still then use the other.


NT

writes:

mark wrote:

I'm used to Belfast sinks having had them in my last three houses.
My experience of stainless steel sinks is limited. The more I investigate
the less I seem to know.

Polished or satin finish?

Satin. It's going to end up something like that after a few
paintbrush cleanings and subsequent scrubbings anyway...

One bowl or one and a half?
How do I determine quality?

Its hard to go too wrong with ss. Lower cost sinks may have thin ss
and only little damping pads applied to them, the result is is feels
and sounds tinny if you tap it. But they still work just as well,

Almost. I like heavy pans and have a thin sink... I have a
dented thin sink.

--
Jón Fairbairn
http://www.chaos.org.uk/~jf/Stuff-I-dont-want.html (updated 2008-04-26)

What sort you get depnends entirely on what you intend to use it for..


Probably use it for washing up.

mark

In article ,
mark wrote:
I'm used to Belfast sinks having had them in my last three houses. My
experience of stainless steel sinks is limited. The more I investigate
the less I seem to know.

Polished or satin finish?

A polished one won't stay polished for long.

One bowl or one and a half?

Depends on use. If you do washing up you need a largish one. Two can be
nice for vegetable preparation but not essential. If the choice was
between one large or two small I'd have the large.

How do I determine quality?

Basically how rigid it is - ie the thickness of the metal. Thick costs
more in materials - but may not be reflected in the price. So shop around.

--
*Nostalgia isn't what is used to be.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

mark wrote:

One bowl or one and a half?

One and a half. Then you can pour the dregs of mugs etc down the half
while you're washing up in the one.

Pete

"mark" wrote in message
news

I'm used to Belfast sinks having had them in my last three houses.
My experience of stainless steel sinks is limited. The more I investigate
the less I seem to know.

Polished or satin finish?
One bowl or one and a half?
How do I determine quality?

What criteria should I apply in choosing and recommendations of a
supplier, please.

We've been very satisfied with our last 2 IKEA ones. First was a twin bowl
with single drainer; second has a bowl and a half with two drainers. Don't
know really why we changed over - the second one was in the bargain corner
and gave us more drainage space, but having 2 standard size sinks is nice
too.

Good thickness steel on both and the undersink gubbins were easy to fit. A
cheapo Screwfix ceramic disc mixer tap on the replacement was also easy to
fit.

A.Lee wrote:
mark wrote:

I'm used to Belfast sinks having had them in my last three houses.
My experience of stainless steel sinks is limited. The more I
investigate the less I seem to know.
Polished or satin finish?
One bowl or one and a half?

Finish and shape are entirely up to you.

How do I determine quality?

By price. The £50 ones are crap. The £150 upwards are far better.
Franke is the best make IMO. Far better quality than others I have
fitted.

Agreed. Never fitted a Franke, but the cheaper sinks are very thin metal &
a heavy 'designer' tap will cause them to buckle and/or it will woble about.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

mark wrote:
I'm used to Belfast sinks having had them in my last three houses.
My experience of stainless steel sinks is limited. The more I investigate
the less I seem to know.

Polished or satin finish?

Satin

One bowl or one and a half?

One and a half or two

How do I determine quality?

Price / rigidity. Cheap ones are bendy and thin. Better ones are more
solid. Remember that adding taps on ridgid pipework will firm up the
more weedy ones a bit.

What criteria should I apply in choosing and recommendations of a supplier,
please.

Frankie is ok. Screwfix will do.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

John Rumm wrote:

Price / rigidity. Cheap ones are bendy and thin. Better ones are more
solid. Remember that adding taps on ridgid pipework will firm up the
more weedy ones a bit.

Also be aware of the nasty tricks pulled by some suppliers of cheap
stainless sinks. Extremely thin sinks are sometimes braced with wood as
plywood plates under the bowl and a softwood bar beneath the tap hole.

These sinks can feel rigid, but they don't last well.

John Rumm wrote:
mark wrote:
I'm used to Belfast sinks having had them in my last three houses.
My experience of stainless steel sinks is limited. The more I
investigate the less I seem to know.

Polished or satin finish?

Satin

One bowl or one and a half?

One and a half or two

How do I determine quality?

Price / rigidity. Cheap ones are bendy and thin. Better ones are more
solid. Remember that adding taps on ridgid pipework will firm up the
more weedy ones a bit.

Most taps come with flexibles these days. Heavy taps +long spouts +
flexibles = much wobble about on weedy sinks



--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

Most 1.5 bowl sinks need a 600MM base cabinet or larger so that is one
thing to watch - stainless steel is durable and not too expensive and
has massive variations in design, hence its popularity.

I would insist on a sink that has at least 0.8mm steel - most are 0.6
and this gives them an alarmingly flexible feel. They don't make em
like they used to.Tthe 0.8mm sinks are a great asset if you have a
particularly tall or heavy tap as they don't flex nearly so much under
such pressues.

LINEN (or pre-dulled for your convenience) is not popular but is the
most durable.
BRUSHED is an attractive version of stainless steel but it limits the
amount of sink types and matching taps that are available.
STAINLESS STEEL are still the best INHO and have a very wide choice of
both design and quality - also, just about evry tap available looks
good on it.



I'm used to Belfast sinks having had them in my last three houses.
My experience of stainless steel sinks is limited. The more I investigate
the less I seem to know.

Polished or satin finish?
One bowl or one and a half?
How do I determine quality?

What criteria should I apply in choosing and recommendations of a supplier,
please.


mark






http://www.jsmdistribution.co.uk

Taps, Sinks, Showers
MP3 Players & Spy Gadgets

JSM Distribution wrote:

Taps, Sinks, Showers
MP3 Players & Spy Gadgets

Christ on a bike. The Medway Handyspam has a lot to answer for. Thin end
of the wedge.

Coming soon uk.d-i-y.spammers.united.

The Medway Handyman wrote:
John Rumm wrote:
mark wrote:
I'm used to Belfast sinks having had them in my last three houses.
My experience of stainless steel sinks is limited. The more I
investigate the less I seem to know.

Polished or satin finish?
Satin

One bowl or one and a half?
One and a half or two

How do I determine quality?
Price / rigidity. Cheap ones are bendy and thin. Better ones are more
solid. Remember that adding taps on ridgid pipework will firm up the
more weedy ones a bit.

Most taps come with flexibles these days. Heavy taps +long spouts +
flexibles = much wobble about on weedy sinks

You can strengthen a naff sink with (wait for it) car body filler and
some ply offcuts (you could also use resin and mat).

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

JSM Distribution wrote:
Most 1.5 bowl sinks need a 600MM base cabinet or larger so that is one
thing to watch - stainless steel is durable and not too expensive and
has massive variations in design, hence its popularity.

I would insist on a sink that has at least 0.8mm steel - most are 0.6
and this gives them an alarmingly flexible feel.

Tale sheets of MDF and use car body filler to attach to the steel. That
stiffens them up. In extreme cases cases cover the whole thing in a
layer of glass fibre. This may end up more expensive though.

John Rumm wrote:
The Medway Handyman wrote:
John Rumm wrote:
mark wrote:
I'm used to Belfast sinks having had them in my last three houses.
My experience of stainless steel sinks is limited. The more I
investigate the less I seem to know.

Polished or satin finish?
Satin

One bowl or one and a half?
One and a half or two

How do I determine quality?
Price / rigidity. Cheap ones are bendy and thin. Better ones are more
solid. Remember that adding taps on ridgid pipework will firm up the
more weedy ones a bit.

Most taps come with flexibles these days. Heavy taps +long spouts +
flexibles = much wobble about on weedy sinks

You can strengthen a naff sink with (wait for it) car body filler and
some ply offcuts (you could also use resin and mat).

Damn. You beat me to it.

I did this when on a very tight budget and B&Q were knocking out
recycled bean can steel as a kitchen sink..for about 20 quid.

In article ,
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
JSM Distribution wrote:
Most 1.5 bowl sinks need a 600MM base cabinet or larger so that is one
thing to watch - stainless steel is durable and not too expensive and
has massive variations in design, hence its popularity.

I would insist on a sink that has at least 0.8mm steel - most are 0.6
and this gives them an alarmingly flexible feel.

Tale sheets of MDF and use car body filler to attach to the steel. That
stiffens them up. In extreme cases cases cover the whole thing in a
layer of glass fibre. This may end up more expensive though.

Wouldn't it be simpler to just buy a decent one in the first place?

--
*You are validating my inherent mistrust of strangers

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Sat, 17 Jan 2009 17:21:12 +0000, Steve Firth wrote:

Also be aware of the nasty tricks pulled by some suppliers of cheap
stainless sinks.

And two tap holes instead of making proper left or right hand sinks. I
detest the look of the blanking cap, it's a dirt trap and gets in the way
of the routine quick wipe down and how to you reliably seal the thing
anyway?

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Sat, 17 Jan 2009 11:18:22 -0000, mark wrote:

I'm used to Belfast sinks having had them in my last three houses.
My experience of stainless steel sinks is limited. The more I investigate
the less I seem to know.

Polished or satin finish?
One bowl or one and a half?
How do I determine quality?

What criteria should I apply in choosing and recommendations of a supplier,
please.

Nobody's mentioned yet that just because it's termed stainless steel
doesn't mean it won't stain.

In article ,
Appelation Controlee wrote:
Nobody's mentioned yet that just because it's termed stainless steel
doesn't mean it won't stain.

Yeh - don't use ordinary limescale remover on it.

--
*I don't work here. I'm a consultant

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Sun, 18 Jan 2009 14:18:03 +0000, Appelation Controlee wrote:

Nobody's mentioned yet that just because it's termed stainless steel
doesn't mean it won't stain.

Ah but if it does a bit of Vim will clean it, another reason for not
having a polished one. Same can't be said for plastic sinks.

--
Cheers
Dave.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
JSM Distribution wrote:
Most 1.5 bowl sinks need a 600MM base cabinet or larger so that is one
thing to watch - stainless steel is durable and not too expensive and
has massive variations in design, hence its popularity.

I would insist on a sink that has at least 0.8mm steel - most are 0.6
and this gives them an alarmingly flexible feel.

Tale sheets of MDF and use car body filler to attach to the steel. That
stiffens them up. In extreme cases cases cover the whole thing in a
layer of glass fibre. This may end up more expensive though.

Wouldn't it be simpler to just buy a decent one in the first place?

cost benefit mate.

sometime there are cheepo bargains, and a tub of bodyfiller, some MDF
and an hour makes em pretty good.

I think that was the 'fitted kitchen for 250 quid' I did in a rented
property..