When we bought our farmhouse sink, I naively thought I wanted one because they looked so beautiful in photos of farmhouse style kitchens. Now that we’ve had our farmhouse sink for three years, I want to tell you What No One Will Tell You About Farmhouse Sinks, especially cast iron sinks.
Fact #1:
You will chip dishes and break glasses if you aren’t careful. It happens. We’ve lost two dishes and two glasses in our sink. Cast iron sinks are made tough to prevent chipping. Honestly, it’s cheaper to replace a glass or dish than the entire sink.
Fact #2:
You may get wet. We’ve found that when our faucet is on the spray setting it spatters us. I’m not sure if this is a factor of the sink design or the sprayer. We didn’t have this issue with our old two basin sink. To solve the problem we use stream most of the time and put the water on low when spraying.
Fact #3:
It will get dirty. A white sink will definitely show dirt and grime.
This was a bit of a bummer, as someone who had to constantly shine the surface of our old stainless steel sink with baby oil to hide the hard water spots. But, I’ve come to terms with it and only have to clean it once a week to keep it looking like new.
Fact #4:
It will get scratched. Cast iron sinks will scratch, but I expected as much since we cook almost daily using heavy cast iron pans. Honestly I’m surprised we haven’t chipped the sink yet. It’s held up to a lot of abuse. In three years we have yet to chip our sink, but the marks and scratches have happened.
Luckily, I have the perfect solution to clean a cast iron sink (or tub) to help it look new again.
Before:
After:
Fact #5:
You can’t wash dishes on one side and set the clean ones in a dish drainer in the second basin. With one large sink, all the dishes in it will get wet. This was the one change that was less of an issue for us. We simply put our dish drainer on the counter. When we have company, I put the drainer out of sight under the sink.
Conclusion:
If we were to go back in time and do it again, would I buy a farmhouse sink again?
Absolutely! I still love the look. Cleaning the scratches every few weeks is no big deal. I absolutely hated our stainless steel sink because of hard water deposits and spots. Scratches are much less noticeable than the hard water deposits.
I LOVE having a big sink to clean dishes in. I feel a bit like Elaine enjoying the extra wide driving lanes Kramer created. Who doesn’t like a little more elbow room?
Best of all, I can hide dishes in it. Little known fact, my coffee mug and a knife were in the sink when I took this photo:
The apron front farmhouse sink we have is this one. (affiliate link) If you decide to buy one, I think you will love it, as long as you are okay with those 5 Things No One Will Tell You About Farmhouse Sinks!
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These opinions have been very beneficial. I have decided to go with my moms old sink. It is porcelain & white with a single pan. I’d say it is the original farmhouse style sinks used in trac homes of the 50’s. She used a plastic dish pan when she needed to divide the pan. And those magic erasers are little miracle workers. I like your hints ‘prettyhandygirl’.
Interesting! I currently have a White Swanstone sink and was thinking about getting a farmhouse…..Its a (maybe) 80/20 meaning that one side is large and had a smaller sink on the other side. Mine gets Aluminum marks on mine that I use a magic eraser on and they come right off. In the evening after supper dishes are done and the kitchen is cleaned, I use the magic eraser for any marks it may have gotten during the day and a quick spritz of Clorox Cleanup over the surface! After reading about the broken dishes and such, I think I’ll keep my swanstone… have had the sink installed for at least 25 years and never lost a dish or glass…
great review, I LOVE my farmhouse sink!! I have found that a bottom basin rack will prevent scratches to the bottom of your sink, as well as dishes breaking. I believe most Kohler ones do come with one now? If not, they for sure can be purchased separately. Will definitely save you some headaches! 🙂
Ikea sinks are ceramic so actually will chip easier than cast iron. very different materials and benefits. 🙂 They also don’t offer the self trim feature, so they can be more difficult to install or leave gapping and visible silicone beads around your cabinets.
I have a love/hate relationship with my farmhouse sink. I wanted a single bowl for more work room, but now have to keep my drying rack on the counter. My sink bottom is very flat and doesn’t drain well. We use so much water to clean the sink and every time someone pours something in the sink, if they don’t rinse it, it pools up all over. It’s gross! Looks beautiful but if I could do it over again, I’d choose something different or a different brand. Are all farmhouse sinks so flat they don’t drain properly??
I have a Kohler and our’s drains perfectly.
I got a grid too and it has made the sink so much more functIonal.
I got mine at IKEA too and don’t have any of these problems.
I chose a farmhouse sink when we rebuilt after the flood of Harvey. I had sooo many dishes to wash & scrub the gunk off from the flood water. I used a clear rubber bath math in the bottom of my sink and did not break a single dish. Keeps from scratching it too.
Brittany – love that you said you’d still buy it, in spite of the imperfections. We get too caught up in expectations of perfection, and forget that fiddling and tweaking and cleaning and so forth are part of the variety that makes life interesting,!
So true. I do think there are trade offs with any sink you chose. Just want to be open and honest about farmhouse sinks.
I adore my farmhouse sink! We previously had stainless steel double sink, which I despised.
I bought a stainless steel grid to put in my sink. Helps save on the chipping of dishes!!
Here’s an example of several types: https://www.homedepot.com/b/Sink-Grids/N-5yc1vZ1z0lpo0
I love my farmhouse sink…I bought mine at Ikea, not to say you shouldnt buy American…but it is deep enough, no splatters. It is a top mounted sink. It has a ridged platform near the faucet which is good for draining small items like a glass or two. I keep a plastic basket-like item from the dollar tree in the sink to keep from scratching it. I recommend a good rubber mat..my grandma always used those..just keep the mat clean. My stainless sinks always show water spots and look much dirtier.
Great advice Pat. Thank you!
I hate them . Too deep. Use too much water… in Australia a very important consideration… The water goes cold quickly. No draining board for wet dishes. Does not aesthetically fit into most kitchen designs( I have seen many distaste’s) and takes up too much valuable space. I could go on but I think I’ve said enough!!