Why You Should Purchase a Drop-In Kitchen Sink? Buyer’s Guide
Drop-in sinks are popular for exactly one reason:
They come in a huge range of designs, materials, and colors. This even extends to the design of the basin and finish. Seriously, you don’t even need a finish. You can choose a stone, ceramic, or even marble drop-in sink.
This makes it a piece of cake to have a drop-in sink that matches the rest of your kitchen decor. Really, you shouldn’t have a problem finding a sink that matches your kitchen. In fact, you might struggle to choose a sink because there are so many options available.
That’s a good problem if you ask me.
Of course, you can go with the standard, affordable stainless steel sink if you want. Those work perfectly fine and are very affordable.
Things to Look for in a Drop-In Sink
Selecting a sink that meets all your requirements might sound difficult, but it’s not nearly as difficult as it might sound. I will go over a few of the most important thing to consider when purchasing a drop-in sink.
Size
I think this is obvious, but I’ll state it anyway.
Make sure you carefully select the size of the sink before your purchase. You should have a sink large enough to fit most of your dishes and it should fit in your countertop.
It’s especially important that it fits in your countertop because it is a drop-in sink. A drop-in sink that doesn’t fit in your countertop is a pretty big problem.
Size shouldn’t be that big a problem, fortunately. In a smaller kitchen you should avoid a sink that is wider than two feet – it just takes up too much space.
The sky is the limit in a larger kitchen. You can have a massive sink if you want since you have plenty of space.
Material
Material is mostly a personal choice and a vanity choice. As in, you want a sink that looks good.
If you don’t care about looks, then a basic stainless steel sink will work perfectly fine. If you care about looks, then you will probably want a fancier stainless steel sink or maybe even a ceramic sink.
If you decide to purchase a stainless steel sink, then the maximum gauge you want is 16. I recommend a lower gauge, though. The heat resistance and sound reduction are worth it.
Sound Proof
Sinks are surprisingly loud. I know, how can a sink be loud?
Well, they are loud because of all the metal and sound echoing around. That’s just the way they work.
These days sinks actually have soundproofing that really makes them quiet. Seriously, you don’t know just how quiet a sink can be until you’ve used a sink with soundproofing.
I recommend purchasing a sink with some form of soundproofing.
Temperature
I don’t know about you, but I’m always putting hot stuff into my sink.
This is something that you can’t do in sinks that have low-temperature resistance. The sink can warp and may get damaged.
Bad stuff happens.
Fortunately, there are sinks available with quite a lot of temperature resistance. You can literally dump boiling water into those sinks without any damage. With that in mind, you definitely want a sink with pretty good temperature resistance. It’s just so convenient and can prevent you from destroying your sink.
You probably frequently put red hot pans and pots into your sink. Additionally, you can load up your sink with ice.
Unfortunately, that can damage some sinks with poor temperature resistance. And it will definitely ruin the finish as it gives it a weird oily look that looks terrible.
I took the initiative to only review sinks that have good temperature resistance, though. If you decide to purchase a different sink, then you definitely want to make sure that it has some form of temperature resistance.
Affordability
Everyone wants a good price on their sink. Thankfully, finding an affordable drop-in kitchen sink isn’t too difficult. Some of them are actually pretty reliable, too.
With that said, I still recommend increasing your budget just a little bit to find a sink that actually works well and lasts. The sinks that I have chosen will all work fine for this purpose.
Finally, read a few of the recent reviews from recent sellers before making your purchase to ensure that you’re getting a good quality sink.
Drop-In Sinks – Installation
So, how to install a drop in kitchen sink?
A drop-in sink is the easiest type of sink to install. Period.
It’s also much more affordable than the other types of sinks available. I’m looking at you, under-mount sink. Plus, you can use a drop-in sink with just about any countertop and countertop material, which is extremely convenient. In fact, drop-in sinks are the only top of sink that works with a laminate counter.
Anyway, drop-in sinks have a design that allows the rim of the sink, that runs along the countertop, to support the sink in the hole. In other words, you don’t need to add bulky and annoying support under your counter. This also means you don’t need a professional to install this for you, which makes this extremely easy and popular if you are a DIY person.
Now, you might need extra support if you have a heavy drop-in farmhouse sink. This is most common with ceramic sink – those are quite heavy. And you definitely want to know if you need extra support BEFORE purchasing the sink.
Trust me on that. Finding out that you need support beams in the middle of installation isn’t fun.
So, installation of these sinks is easy. Removal is even easier. This isn’t too big of a concern since most people simply toss the sink in the dumpster, but it’s nice if you want to keep the sink for some reason.
You simply can’t beat this sink when it comes to ease-of-installation.
Countertop Cutout Remains Hidden
The best feature of a drop-in sink, in my opinion, is that the part that goes under the countertop is hidden by, well, the countertop.
Why is this important?
It means you don’t have to be perfect when making the cuts. You can actually be pretty sloppy without having any problems.
On the other hand, other types of sinks will expose the cut out portion of the countertop, which means you will have to spend more time making sure that it looks good. This adds cost, time, and headache.
I’d say this is a huge reason that many people avoid purchasing other types of sinks. It truly doesn’t get better than a drop-in sink.
Faucet and Other Hardware Issues
A sink is not simply a basin – it still has a faucet and holes for the said faucet.
Those holes will save you time when it comes time to install the faucet because you don’t need to drill holes. Drilling holes might sound easy, but it’s not.
The only downside with a pre-drilled hole is that you can’t really customize the sink. I don’t find that too big of a problem because there are so many extra options, but some people do like the extra customizations of other types of sinks.
Keeping a Drop-In Sink Clean
Cleaning a drop-in sink is fairly easy and doesn’t really require secret knowledge or instructions. Just scrub it to clean it.
The crevice near the lip does have a tendency to trap lots of food, dirt, and water. It also has a tendency to get moldy. Keep that in mind when cleaning your sink.
Also, you can see this area while looking from the top of the sink. This is much different from undermount sinks that hide the seam, which means you have to keep an eye on the top of the seam on those.
On top of that, I’d still say drop-in sinks have a huge advantage because you can wipe the countertop right into the sink because there is not a lip that blocks the process. This fact alone is a huge selling point for drop-in sinks.
Final Thoughts
All in all, if you want a well-priced sink or a fun DIY project, then I highly recommend purchasing a drop-in sink. You have many designs, colors, and materials to choose from that can easily fit into the design of your kitchen.
Additionally, a drop-in sink is the most affordable kitchen sink available. They’re also much cheaper to install in both time and cost because you can install them yourself in under 30 minutes.
I will say that drop-in sinks do have one disadvantage: You can’t customize them. This isn’t that big of a problem because most people don’t change their sinks. Ever. You can opt for a drop-in kitchen sink with drainboard, though.
Anyway, I hope this article has offered enough basic information to make purchasing a sink a little easier. The sink is the most important of any kitchen, so you definitely want to make sure that you have a good sink in your kitchen.
