Hello all,
Seeking the wisdom of this great list again...

I'm in need of a new kitchen sink + taps. Stainless steel being the
material of choice.

I'm looking for a make that is good quality, but not over-the-top expensive.

Anyone any recommendations of good makes / brands to look at - or ones to
avoid, particularly with reference to the longlivity (sp?) of the taps. My
preference at this stage is for a monobloc mixer unit.


Thanks in advance,


Mike Abbott

Mike Abbott wrote in :

Hello all,
Seeking the wisdom of this great list again...

I'm in need of a new kitchen sink + taps. Stainless steel being the
material of choice.

I'm looking for a make that is good quality, but not over-the-top
expensive.

Stay away from Franke Fragranit, impossible to clean, always looks grubby,
hard as old boots, anything that slips out of your hand will smash.

DAMHIK :-(

mike

"mike ring" wrote in message
.4...
Mike Abbott wrote in :

Hello all,
Seeking the wisdom of this great list again...

I'm in need of a new kitchen sink + taps. Stainless steel being the
material of choice.

I'm looking for a make that is good quality, but not over-the-top
expensive.

Stay away from Franke Fragranit, impossible to clean, always looks grubby,
hard as old boots, anything that slips out of your hand will smash.

Odd. That's what we have and would recommend were it not for his request
for stainless steel.
What cleanser are you using ?

in article , Mike at wrote on
12/2/05 11:03 pm:

Stay away from Franke Fragranit, impossible to clean, always looks grubby,
hard as old boots, anything that slips out of your hand will smash.

Odd. That's what we have and would recommend were it not for his request
for stainless steel.
What cleanser are you using ?

Jumping back in here...

Stainless is the current preference because the sink we are scrapping
(installed when we bought the house) was a white finish job - empty the
dregs of your tea cup in it and it was soon a 'lovely' dirty brown
colour.... The surface also chipped too easily - which is why it has now
rusted through.

I've no idea how old this was, maybe the current versions are better.


Mike A.

Mike Abbott wrote:
Hello all,
Seeking the wisdom of this great list again...

I'm in need of a new kitchen sink + taps. Stainless steel being the
material of choice.

I'm looking for a make that is good quality, but not over-the-top
expensive.

Anyone any recommendations of good makes / brands to look at - or
ones to avoid, particularly with reference to the longlivity (sp?) of
the taps. My preference at this stage is for a monobloc mixer unit.


Thanks in advance,


Mike Abbott

We've got a Franke S/S double sink with monobloc tap and 1 drainer board.
Dunno how long its been installed (we've been here 4 years). Does what it
says on the tin! The only prob I've had is that the ceramic inserts on the
HW side of the tap leak. Replaced with new - still leak! If I was
(re)designing the kitchen I wouldn't use monobloc taps.
--

Reply address is spamtrapped. Remove theobvious for valid e-mail address

"Mike" wrote in :


Stay away from Franke Fragranit, impossible to clean, always looks
grubby, hard as old boots, anything that slips out of your hand will
smash.

Odd. That's what we have and would recommend were it not for his
request for stainless steel.
What cleanser are you using ?


VEry little, and none of the *normal* cleaners, will touch it.

Barkeeps Friend is rubbish. So is that stuff that "really works" -
forgotten it's name.

Astonish paste is good, but hard work.

Sillit Bang is pretty good, the reccommended way using descale is also
good, but who needs to keep descaling sinks.

Melamine foam is also good, but impossibly pricey.

The lady at the supermarket says to keep a lemon handy and rub it over
after every use - I haven't tried that yet.

ISTM that the sink needs to be cleaned *and* dried after *every* use.

Washing up, rinsing out a glass, washing hands, wringing out a sponge,
etc etc... have you ever counted how many times a sink gets wet, if not
dirty, during a day?

:-((

pikey mike

in article 1108258588.297fa6b43dd76dabad564f8ed66bb7d3@terane ws, Paul King
at wrote on 13/2/05 1:36 am:


If I was
(re)designing the kitchen I wouldn't use monobloc taps

Please tell me why. Just the bad experience with these, or is there
something else?

Mike

"Mike Abbott" wrote in message
...

Hello all,
Seeking the wisdom of this great list again...

I'm in need of a new kitchen sink + taps. Stainless steel being the
material of choice.

I'm looking for a make that is good quality, but not over-the-top
expensive.

Anyone any recommendations of good makes / brands to look at - or ones to
avoid, particularly with reference to the longlivity (sp?) of the taps. My
preference at this stage is for a monobloc mixer unit.


Thanks in advance,

When I refurbished the kitchen; we trogged around all the
'sheds' including MFI, Magnet, john Lewis; etc, etc, ..
I finished up purchasing off a web-site www.sinksdirect.co.uk
Eventually I purchased not just a Franke sink but the
'Designer Kit' which at that time included the sink, taps, basket,
colander, chopping board -and most importantly - a drain manifold!
The drain manifold accepts umpteen (five?) 'drains'* and outputs one
(u-bended) outlet to the world. It's a fantastic piece of precision
plastic engineering (although you have to cut the pipes to length).
I'd never have contemplated ordering such an item and
would've gone off to the sheds and bought white bottles,
and pipes and unions and elbows that'd have filled the cabinet
below the sink. As it is; the Franks drain manifold is a joy to
contemplate; it 'sits' snugly to the left** of the cabinet side
leaving oodles of space of to the right and barely protruding
below the sink's base. There's so much unobstructed volume
that I was able to fit-in a three-drawer sliding unit behind
the sink cabinet door. [OK, the drawers are IKEA plastic
boxes!].
The point about this is to consider purchasing a 'Designer
Kit' of the sink you choose - everything matches and fits together.
BTW, the designer-kit off sinksdirect was cheaper than the
sink-alone from MFI/John Lewis et.al.

[*Drains five: sink#1;sink#2, draining board; washing machine;
dishwasher]
** Left could be Right - if 'Sir' dresses that way!

--

Brian

I'm in need of a new kitchen sink + taps. Stainless steel being the
material of choice.

I'm looking for a make that is good quality, but not over-the-top
expensive.

When I was last stainless steel sink hunting about 8 years ago there
seemed to be two thicknesses avaliable. Which was necessary depended
on the type of sink unit cos the actual sink itself was fine in thin
mode but if the sink unit has a drainer part then it has to be made of
thicker steel or it will eventually warp

Anna
~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England
|""""| ~ Lime plaster repairs
/ ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc
|____| www.kettlenet.co.uk 01359 230642

"Mike Abbott" wrote in message
...

Hello all,
Seeking the wisdom of this great list again...

I'm in need of a new kitchen sink + taps. Stainless steel being the
material of choice.

I'm looking for a make that is good quality, but not over-the-top
expensive.

Anyone any recommendations of good makes / brands to look at - or ones to
avoid, particularly with reference to the longlivity (sp?) of the taps. My
preference at this stage is for a monobloc mixer unit.


Thanks in advance,


Mike Abbott


Try Astracast, Alto 1.25 bowl reversable. I seem to rember that it is over
size and so can go where you may have had a plastic sink in the hole. One
problem, you do need to put bleach down the overflow once a month or it
stinks...

In article ,
Anna Kettle wrote:
When I was last stainless steel sink hunting about 8 years ago there
seemed to be two thicknesses avaliable. Which was necessary depended
on the type of sink unit cos the actual sink itself was fine in thin
mode but if the sink unit has a drainer part then it has to be made of
thicker steel or it will eventually warp

Certainly if you're using the type of taps that can't be supported by
rigid copper pipe - ie most - the sink needs to be strong to avoid that
cheap and nasty feeling of the taps wobbling.

--
*Yes, I am an agent of Satan, but my duties are largely ceremonial

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

In message , Brian Sharrock
writes
I finished up purchasing off a web-site www.sinksdirect.co.uk

Would this be Sinksdirect, Elizabeth Mill,Worrall Street,Congleton CW12
1DT Telephone 01260276479 ?

Their www-site seems to be down at the moment.

--
dave @ stejonda

"dave @ stejonda" wrote in message
...
In message , Brian Sharrock
writes
I finished up purchasing off a web-site www.sinksdirect.co.uk

Would this be Sinksdirect, Elizabeth Mill,Worrall Street,Congleton CW12
1DT Telephone 01260276479 ?

Their www-site seems to be down at the moment.


Yes; that's be;-

Sinks Direct
Elizabeth Mill,
Worrall Street,
Congleton,
CW12 1DT

Tel: 01260 276479

Ctrl-C; Ctrl_V off their website at 10:20 14 feb ...

as I said ... worked for me
BTW, it was the Franke Papillion that my wife wanted ...
but I didn't find it on my quick perusal today ...

--

Brian

Mike Abbott wrote:
in article 1108258588.297fa6b43dd76dabad564f8ed66bb7d3@terane ws, Paul
King at wrote on 13/2/05 1:36 am:


If I was
(re)designing the kitchen I wouldn't use monobloc taps

Please tell me why. Just the bad experience with these, or is there
something else?

Mike

Well, with the one we've got there's just too much to go wrong with it!
Apart from the ceramic tap inserts constantly dripping (as described
previously) there's O rings which wear as the whole tap assembly is
swivelled from one sink to the other. It goes loose and flops about too
much!

All in all, nice when new - a bugger a few years later
--

Reply address is spamtrapped. Remove theobvious for valid e-mail address

Paul King wrote:

Apart from the ceramic tap inserts constantly dripping (as described
previously) there's O rings which wear as the whole tap assembly is
swivelled from one sink to the other. It goes loose and flops about too
much!


Can't comment on the ceramic inserts, but if you load the O ring area
with Castrol water pump grease (for cars), then IME the life is 20years!

Regards
capitol

"dave @ stejonda" of by a window at home in the UK
wrote:

In message , Brian Sharrock
writes
I finished up purchasing off a web-site www.sinksdirect.co.uk

Would this be Sinksdirect, Elizabeth Mill,Worrall Street,Congleton CW12
1DT Telephone 01260276479 ?

Their www-site seems to be down at the moment.

It's been down for quite a while. I used it in the very early part of 2004
to find a sink I wanted. When we got scheduling of the kitchen refit sorted
I tried to go back to buy the sink, in about October. No sign of the
website then. Got my Schock from the importers in Preston instead.
--
If you steal from one author, it's plagiarism;
if you steal from many, it's research. - Wilson Mizner
Steph Peters delete invalid from lid
Tatting, lace & stitching page http://www.sandbenders.demon.co.uk/index.htm

Best value for money is 2nd hand and scrap yards are full of good
quality SS sinks - thanks to everybody changing from one ****ty
fashion to another like sheep to the slaughter; granite work tops
being the latest and probably most short lived as everyone suddenly
realises that they look seriously horrible!
You might even get a commercial heavy duty quality which will last
forever.

cheers

Jacob