Replacing Kitchen Sink... Again!

Back a little over four years ago, we installed a new quartz composite sink.  We really liked this sink because it was so large, very deep and we even liked the color.  Unfortunately and very obviously, it is not nearly as durable and heat resistant as claimed.  

While I was prepping our Christmas dinner, the sink shattered while dumping the hot water from cooking the pasta.  It had chipped and cracked slightly about a year or so ago when Sheila dropped a big, heavy Dutch oven in it but it was not leaking nor was the chip noticeable.  The hot water from the other day, however, shattered it with a deafening pop. 

This shattered crack is so pronounced that we can easily see light through the crack.  The sink was now leaking like a waterfall.  As a temporary solution, I used some duct tape to seal the sink as best as possible.  We now only use the smaller other sink basin for running water.  The duct tape should have no problems effectively draining splashes from the smaller basin on the right. 

Yesterday was our family Christmas celebration so that was not the time for online sink shopping.  We attacked this task today.  Contrary to what all the product descriptions may claim, these quartz sinks are not at all durable so we weren't going to choose another one of those.  If it will shatter by dropping a pot into it, it is not suitable for a kitchen sink.  This meant that no more quartz or granite composites are in our future when it comes to sinks.  A porcelain cast iron sink won't work either because even a dropped plate would chip the porcelain.  It was time to go back to stainless steel.

I'm not the biggest fan of the appearance of stainless steel sinks but I'm even less of a fan of a shattered sink.  I had saved five different sinks to my browser...  many were too utilitarian in appearance and some weren't as deep as we wanted...  we quickly narrowed our choice down to only one.  We chose the heaviest gauge of stainless...  the deepest basin (9 inches)...  60/40 double basin split...  and with two holes (for faucet and for soap dispenser).  We already have an oil-bronzed Delta kitchen faucet with a pull-down head/sprayer that we like so we are not replacing that.  

The new sink should arrive later this week.  In the meantime, I'll need to figure out what plumbing parts I will need to make the swap in sinks.  We'll need to visit Lowes one evening this week to pick up these little plumbing odds and ends. 

I'll write again after I install the new stainless sink...