Q: Ed: We’re first-time new home builders in the planning stages. I made it through my bathroom fixture choices, but now I’m getting stressed out over my kitchen sink choices. Can you please simplify basic kitchen sink choices for me?
— Tina, Michigan
A: If you made it through bathroom fixture choices, you can make it through a kitchen sink choice.
Surprisingly, choosing a kitchen sink is a lot like choosing a bathtub. To temporarily go off topic, let me go into three basic bathtub options.
First, drop-in tub-only models sit on top of a custom-built tub deck. Next, undermount baths are attached under the tub deck. Then, alcove apron-front tub/showers are self-trimming against three walls with a finished front apron.
Now, let’s transfer that concept to basic kitchen sink styles.
The three basic kitchen sink types are drop-in, undermount and farmhouse apron-front models. More or less they’re all similar concepts to the corresponding bathtub installations we discussed.
So now all you have to do is choose a kitchen sink material, and whether you want the sink installed on top of the counter, under the counter, or on the cabinet base with a finished front sink apron. If you want to dive into a lot of details, more kitchen sink models are available, but be prepared to do a lot more research.
Bottom line: Keep kitchen sink choices simple to avoid making a draining decision.
