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Corner Kitchen Sinks

Kitchens that are painfully small usually benefit the most from a well designed corner sink.  This is because most of the other appliances in there are so small and under performing that having something that is small, yet does its job well, is extremely gratifying.

Elkay makes a double basin sink that is designed for corners.  This thing is absolutely sweet (see pic)!  It is designed to give you the most sink space with the smallest footprint possible.  I was able to help with an installation of this sink a little while back, and it looks fantastic and works great.  The only thing that you have to watch out for is swinging a long spouted faucet from one basin to the other while the water is running, it might spray water all over the floor as it passes the apex of the corner.  A smaller faucet, or even better, a bar faucet, would be perfect for this application.

There are other corner kitchen sinks available, but none that I’ve seen can match the looks and function of this Elkay model.

Corner Bathroom Sinks

Corner sinks for bathrooms are pretty standard fair.  They are almost always porcelain and wall mounted, but the do work well and save a ton of space in cramped bathrooms.

We wrote a post on cloakroom sinks a while back, and I think that some of the tips there should be rehashed here.  You can get some very modern and fashionable designs in  bathroom corner sinks, and one of the hottest trends right now is the long rectangle look.  These are stunning looking sinks, but will have problems when there is too much water pressure.  When you look at a regular style sink it has a rounded basin for a reason, it splashed water back towards the drain.  These rectangular sinks don’t have that quality, so they will shoot water all over the walls and floor.  You can either be ready with a mop every time someone washes their hands, or you can reduce the water pressure to the faucet.  You can do this by tightening the water valves on the hot and cold sides of the plumbing, look to where the pipes meet the wall to find these.

Corner Pedestal Sinks

If you’re looking for something different than the regular corner bathroom sink, pedestal sinks are a great choice.  Their design alone is more stylish than a wall mounted sink, so most any of them you choose will be an improvement.  There are hundreds of different styles and price ranges for these sinks, you can get a stylish one for less than $200, or go all out and spend $500 or $600 for a designer brand.

When shopping for a pedestal sink you want to make sure that it matches with your style of plumbing.  If the sink that you currently have drains into the wall, that’s the style of sink you want.  If it drains into the floor (rare), you can find pedestal sinks that match as well.

Corner sinks are one of the biggest space savers in the home.  With some planning and shopping around you can get a sink that works just as well as their larger brethren.  Be smart, be patient, and do your research.  You’re going to find the perfect one for your home and your budget.

Related posts:

1. Which Cloakroom Corner Sink Is Right For You?
2. Basin Sinks
3. What To Look For In A Corner Sink

The key to a garden utility sink is durability.  It has to be able to stand up to heavy duty cleaning, yet be extremely low maintenance.  No one wants to spend their weekends cleaning out their garden sink!  For this reason, stainless steel and hardened plastic are the popular choices for this type of utility sink.

The word “affordable” is a relative term, and what’s affordable to you is probably way out of my league, so we’ll speak in generalities here.  Stainless steel utility sinks cost way more than the plastic type.  There really isn’t much longevity or strength difference between the two, just appearance.  If you want to save as much money as possible on garden utility sinks, plastic is the way to go.  Freestanding sinks cost more than wall mounted sinks, but require less work (money) to set up.  All you need to get a free standing sink up and running is to hook up the water and the drain and you’re ready to go.  Wall mounted ones need to be hung, which can be a pain with limited space in your shed or garage.

So to save the most money, while still getting quality, get a plastic free standing utility sink.

The choices are certainly limited, but once you know what you need the choice is obvious.  Figure out what your budget and space are like, and the perfect garden utility sink will be evident.

Related posts:

1. Stainless Steel Utility Sink – Freestanding or Wall Mounted?
2. What To Look For In A Utility Sink
3. The Benefits Of A Wall Mounted Utility Sink

In general, a utility sink a bare bones fixture that should require no maintenance at all.  It’s there to do a job, and nothing else.  Dirty hands, muddy boots, and grass stains shouldn’t phase a utility sink.  With that in mind, this post is geared toward the functional-type sinks, rather than anything fancy.  If you’re looking for something a bit fancier, see our post on laundry utility sinks.

The biggest benefit that you’ll get from a wall mounted, as opposed to a freestanding, utility sink is space.  That space can be interpreted two ways; get the most from a small space or create extra space.  If you’re looking at installing a utility sink in a small room or in the corner of a room, a wall mounted one is perfect.  It’s up and off of the floor, so you’re not losing anything there, and are versatile enough to install anywhere that you can run water and plumbing to.

There’s a bit of debate here at Ematerials about whether or not wall mounted sinks actually create more space, but I think the consensus is that they do.  Free standing sinks have plenty of space underneath them, but with the feet you lose the ability to put cabinets, boxes, or whatever under there.  Sure, a wall mounted sink has the drain pipe and P-trap hanging from the bottom and into the wall, but that’s not much when compared to legs.  Another huge benefit, like we said above, is that everything is off of the floor, so there is less to trip on, clean, and get in the way.

The biggest downside of wall mounted utility sinks is that they aren’t as durable as their free standing brethren.  If you’re not planning on hand washing all of your laundry for the next decade or so, this won’t be a big deal.  Wall mounted sinks can withstand most daily abuse, as long as their properly hung on the wall.

Related posts:

1. Stainless Steel Utility Sink – Freestanding or Wall Mounted?
2. Choosing A Garden Utility Sink
3. What To Look For In A Utility Sink

The biggest difference between these two styles of sinks is the amount of abuse they can withstand.  Even the most secure wall mounted utility sinks won’t be able to put up with what a free standing stainless steel utility sink will.  Most people aren’t going to put enough weight on a sink to rip it off of the wall, but over time it might become loose or even bend.  If you want strength, go with a free standing unit.

A freestanding unit will take up more space than a wall mounted sink will.  It has a bigger footprint, but it’s not tough to figure out a storage system beneath the tub.  If you’re looking for something that’s up and off of the floor and allows more space, go with a wall mounted unit.

Wall mounted sinks cost significantly less than a full unit will.  There are a lot less materials that go into the construction, and because they’re smaller they cost a fraction to ship of what a free standing one does.  If you’re looking to get a stainless utility sink as cheap as possible, go with a wall mounted one.  To spend even less, go with a plastic utility sink.

If you plan on bringing your sink with you when you move, a wall mounted on will be tough to remove and fix up its holes.

The differences between the two different types of stainless steel utility sinks are pretty significant, so be sure of what you need before you figure out which sink you want.  These sinks last forever, so be ready to live with it for a really long time!

I should have set that post up like a 20 questions exam to determine the exact sink, oh well.

Related posts:

1. The Benefits Of A Wall Mounted Utility Sink
2. Choosing A Garden Utility Sink
3. What To Look For In A Utility Sink

I may be a little stereotypical when it comes to my judgment of your laundry sink needs, but it really helps me divide this post up so it makes sense!

Functional Laundry Utility Sink

When shopping for a sinks that’s designed to take a beating without leaking it’s actually pretty easy to get a smokin’ deal.  By design there isn’t a whole lot that goes into making this style of sink, so they start out more affordable than the fashionable type do.  Plastic sinks can be found for under $75 without much effort at all at your local hardware store.  They are usually much cheaper online, but unless you find a deal on shipping you’re going to end up spending just as much.

If you’re particularly resourceful, or just want to spend as little as possible, you can find these sinks used all over the place.  Whenever restaurants go out of business their sinks are usually sold at fire sale prices.  Stainless steel sinks last forever, but when inspecting a used sink like this be sure to check all of the welds.  The welds are the area that are prone to rust, and if it’s bad it will take serious repairs or it will break over time.

Fashionable Laundry Utility Sinks

For those on the other side of the fence, or just have their utility sink in a visible area, saving money on your sink takes a little bit more work.  The same principles that you would use to save money on your bathroom sink are used for these.

It’s important to note that there isn’t a lot of difference between quality of brands, if you’re looking at two sinks by different manufacturers with very different prices, odds are that the cheaper one will perform just as well as the expensive one.  Sinks are very low maintenance fixtures!

I always recommend that when people are looking for deals on sinks they shop online.  Your local Home Depot will have good prices on a few sinks, but online you can find any sink you want at a great price.  The trick to saving money online is shipping costs.  If you can get free shipping on your sink, you’re going to save a lot of cash!  It’s that simple, go find the sink you want and then keep searching until you find a retailer with shipping deals.

Upgrading or installing a new laundry room utility sink shouldn’t cost a fortune.  Save that money for your bathroom, kitchen, or bar sink – don’t waste on the laundry room!

Related posts:

1. Choosing A Garden Utility Sink
2. The Benefits Of A Wall Mounted Utility Sink
3. How To Find Affordable Cloakroom Sinks

The obvious quality when shopping for a utility sink is durability.  You want something that is going to last a long time without showing its age.  That’s why the most common materials are stainless steel and hardened plastic resins.  Materials like these can withstand whatever your family or employees can throw at them, without denting or breaking.  Another good thing about plastic and steel is that they are all one piece so you never have to worry about leaks.

One of the most important, yet overlooked, qualities is mold and mildew resistance.  This is why I never recommend ceramic as a utility sink.  It certainly looks better than steel or plastic, but will start growing mold almost the instant it’s installed in a damp basement or garage.  For those that want style in their utility sink, look into some of the fancier stainless designs to keep it clean!

Another thing to consider is whether you need a wall mounted, drop in, or free standing utility sink.  Each have their own benefits, like free standing sinks are more durable and easier to clean, but the other types are more aesthetically pleasing.  The amount of punishment your sink has to endure should determine what you choose.  Drop in utility sinks will, obviously, need a counter for them to be installed in.  Wall mounted sinks need strong studs for them to mount to or it will just fall right off of the wall.

Each type of utility sink will have models that will fit into your budget.  Plastic will always be the most affordable, but with some smart shopping you can probably find stainless ones at a great price.

Related posts:

1. Stainless Steel Utility Sink – Freestanding or Wall Mounted?
2. Choosing A Garden Utility Sink
3. Utility Sinks

Would you wash off muddy work boots in the bathroom sink?  Don’t answer that.

These sinks will usually reside in the laundry room or in the garage, so they can keep a utilitarian style while fitting in with the rest of the decor.  Most are made from a hard plastic like polypropylene or stainless steel, which is ideal because you need a sink that won’t rust or mold and be able to withstand abuse.

This post is the first in a series that will look at different uses for utility sinks and their different styles.  Here we’ll give an overhead view of the different types and why they are built like they are.  You’ll find more posts in the series at the end of this post.

Stainless Steel Utility Sinks

Stainless steel sinks are the kings of the utility family.  They can take every sort of abuse that you can throw at them without flinching.  The unfortunate part is that you pay for that construction.  Most stainless utility sinks are full units that come with the legs and faucet, but base models will start at around $500.

These are the sinks that you need when you do serious work in the home and need something that can keep up with you.  If the worst their going to see is rinsing out paint brushes or washing muddy hands it may be overkill to buy a stainless sink, unless of course that’s the style you want!

Plastic Utility Sinks

I’m not sure if “plastic” is the right title for these types of utility sinks, but it’s essentially what they’re constructed of.  Not Tupperware plastic, but hardened compounds that are going to last as long as your home does.  They usually are in some shade of gray, and sometimes have a different colored gray speck in them.  Make no mistake, these aren’t “designer” sinks, they have a job to do and are dressed to go to work!

The plastic compound that are used are generally mildew and mold resistant, so they can work out in basements and damp garages.  When dirty, they’re extremely easy to clean.  It usually only takes a quick scrub with Comet or Ajax and they look brand new.

If you’re looking for a utility sink that is going to do the job that you can get at a great price, the plastic variety are for you.  Freestanding utility sinks start as low as $80 with the plumbing included, but not the faucet.

Freestanding or Wall Mounted Utility Sink?

Many people have a hard time figuring out which type of sink is right for their home.  The area that you’re installing it in is going to determine which you choose.  I usually will recommend a freestanding one whenever possible simply because they can withstand more abuse because they support themselves, rather than your walls.  With limited space, a wall mounted utility sink works best but may not be as secure.

Surprisingly, the price isn’t that different between the two types so you can find whichever you need with your budget.

Utility sinks are built to work, whichever type you choose, and are going to see years of dirty hands, paint brushes, boots, and everything else you can throw at them.  Buy the one that’s right for your home the first time, and never worry about it again.

Related posts:

1. What To Look For In A Utility Sink
2. Choosing A Garden Utility Sink
3. Stainless Steel Utility Sink – Freestanding or Wall Mounted?

The first step is to take a look at what you already have.  If you have a wall mounted or corner cloakroom sink, that’s probably what you’re going to get.  Pedestal sinks can use another one of those or any number of cloakroom sink units.  Replacing what you have with a similar style makes installation incredibly easier.

The second thing to look at is how much space you have.  Many people will buy a small cloakroom sink, that is just too small and ends up splashing water all over the place every time someone uses it to wash their hands.  If you have a lot of space, use it!  Get a vanity that goes with the sink that allows you to have extra storage.  If you’re very limited on space, choose one that’s deeper than the norm so that the water doesn’t splash out so much.

Why do so many of the sink choices look the same?  Because they are.  That means that you can save money by choosing the generic brand instead of the designer one and get the same quality.  A sink is there to catch and drain water, and if it looks decent no one but you will know that it isn’t a designer brand!

Utilize your space, big or small, and buy the one that fits your budget, not your ego, to get the best cloakroom basin sink!

Related posts:

1. Cloakroom Sink Units
2. Cloakroom Sink
3. Which Cloakroom Corner Sink Is Right For You?

Cloakroom sinks are traditionally very small, and this is even more true with corner sinks.  How big does it really need to be?  The size of your bathroom will determine the appearance, but the sink has to be big enough to be able to wash your hands without flinging water all over the floor.  You can get away with a smaller sink if it’s deeper than normal, but the cutesy sinks that you see in the magazines just don’t make practical sense in the home.  Luckily with a corner sink, the wall is going to block half of the splash, so with a small sink you only have half the mess to clean up!

The hot designs right now are rectangle corner sinks that extend along the edge of the wall with the tap on the short side.  These aren’t the most functional sinks (see above) but they certainly look great.  Jones and Quadro are both two common manufacturers of this style of sink.

It doesn’t cost a lot of money to install a corner sink in the loo, these sinks are less expensive than their larger counterparts and take up a lot less space since they are out of the way.

Related posts:

1. What’s The Best Small Cloakroom Sink?
2. Cloakroom Sink Units
3. Choosing A Cloakroom Basin Sink

The key to cloakroom sink units is their simplicity.  There is no fuss and pomp with most of these units, it’s the stand or cabinet and the sink (keep in mind that the tap rarely comes with the unit).  Space is limited in your cloakroom, so it’s important that these are as lean as possible.  Most will have a spot for a few towels and a wastebasket.  They won’t take up much space on the floor, so your small space isn’t compromised.

Be sure to watch for some plumbing differences if you’re upgrading to a sink unit from a pedestal sink.  Most pedestal sinks drain straight out of the bottom, but cloakroom sink units will usually drain into the wall behind it.

Cloakroom sink units take all of the thinking out of planning your room.  You get the unit, hook it up, and it’s ready for your next guest!  It really doesn’t get much simpler than that!

Related posts:

1. Cloakroom Sink
2. Choosing A Cloakroom Basin Sink
3. What’s The Best Small Cloakroom Sink?