Well, it’s included when you buy a house so for buyers the answer is an easy one. Keep it or replace it. Well, maybe an easy one.
Styles of Sinks
The choices today for kitchen sinks are vast. First, you’ll need to know if you want a 2 tub sink or a single tub or 2 tubs with a garbage disposal area in the middle. One reason that we have these choices is because we have dishwashers. In the “old days” there were no dishwashers so 2 tubs was essential. One tub was used for the soapy water to wash while the other was used for clear water to rinse. Then the dishes were stacked on a rack to the side to dry.
Nowadays, a single sink is very popular for rinsing dishes going into the dishwasher and for cleaning those large serving pieces, cookie sheets, and stock pots. You decide.
Materials of Sinks
The next choice is the material. Really, the original sinks (waaay back) were wood. Then when those didn’t hold up, they used aluminium or metal tubs. Then the “tub” was ultimately built into the wood counters with built in faucets. But the nicest homes had white porcelain sinks which lasted a long time and didn’t rust.
Today, the choices are porcelain, stainless steel, granite, composite stone, and other composites with plastics. There are a variety of colors as well. Your choices are great enough that you can have a marital dispute over them. I’ll leave that to you!
Real life scenarios
This past week, I visited two homes coming on the market soon in San Luis Obispo County. Both of the owners of the houses asked me what to do about their old kitchen sinks. One home had a large, 2 tub porcelain sink but the edge had been damaged and poorly repaired. They asked if it should be replaced. My answer was no. This was a kitchen that needed to be completely remodeled including new counters and there is no reason to replace a bad sink, put a nice new one in and then have the buyers say they hate the countertops. Let the buyer decide.
The other home I visited had been built in the ’50s and its kitchen badly needs a remodel. But the original kitchen sink was still there. A very unusual design with 2 tubs except that one of the tubs was extra large and deep. My advice to the sellers was to definitely save the sink! A buyer could then come in, have it restored and keep the original, unique part of the home.
Every property is different, every home, every buyer and nowadays, just about every kitchen sink! The choices have never been better!!
What is your favorite style of sink?
