Copper sinks-- anyone have one?

Laura2592
Level 10
Frederick, MD

Copper sinks-- anyone have one?

We are in a pickle about replacing our sink and counters. We made some decisions and due to material shortages and a really difficult experience with a template (long, dull story) we are back to square one. We only have a limited time for an install in November due to bookings. 

 

One of the items we have considered for a Plan B design is a copper sink. Anyone have one? I just wonder how it holds up with guests.

21 Replies 21
Dimitar27
Level 10
Sofia, Bulgaria

What is the reason to use such an expensive item in a guesthouse? Handmade copper sink costs something like 500$ here, where I am. In US the price will be probably x5.

@Dimitar27 actually it's less than $400, the one I'm looking at. About what a nice stainless sink costs. I have a discount place I go due to my design projects. 

 

We have nice items because its OUR house  first and foremost.  And we enjoy staying there. Guests benefit from the little touches we also love. But we don't want to buy something that is too easy for someone to ruin so I am asking. 

Copper is very soft material. Very easy to scratch. That's the main disadvantage.

@Dimitar27 I think that is why most of them have a hammered finish-- so scratches don't show 🙂

My grandmother's copper laundry basin must be somewhere in the basement. This thing is at least 120 years old and looks like it has been survived Armagedon and several nuclear wars. There is some kind of coverage inside...Tin or something similar.

Mark116
Level 10
Jersey City, NJ

@Laura2592  I don't have any experience w/copper sinks, but isn't copper very soft, and would need a lot of cleaning/polishing to keep it from tarnishing?  I did have some friends once who had a nickel sink at their beach house and it was very cool.

@Mark116 I am reading different things about them so I'm not sure. Some sources say they are easy to care for. Others say not as much. I wonder if anyone has one and will give the unvarnished truth!

@Laura2592  I don't have one myself, but I have a friend who designed, had made, and sold copper and ironware. I have a few of her copper creations. She swore by and recommended to her customers just shining them up with lemon juice and baking soda. Works fine.

@Sarah977 that is one camp--they are easy to care for. Baking soda for stains. Polish them up easily. 

 

The other is that they are terrible lol!

 

In the middle somewhere is the truth I bet.

Brian2036
Level 10
Arkansas, United States

@Laura2592 

 

My great-grandmother had one.

 

She scoured it out every morning with Bon Ami and eventually wore a hole in it. (She lived there for 70 years and I don’t know how long it was in use before she got there.)

 

Anything acid left overnight will create green oxidation, but that’s easy to polish off. It’s also easy to scratch, cut, gouge and dent.

 

I would prefer high-nickel stainless steel.

@Brian2036 yeah we have a stainless steel sink right now. That was my first choice. Actually no, that's not true-- my first choice was a 1920s cast iron sink with a drainboard that I found at a yard sale but my contractor doesn't think our old handmade cabinets will support it. 

 

Our granite slabs were sold out from under us and there is a shortage in the finish we want so no way can we get it installed on the dates we blocked from guests. Now we are looking at soapstone or butcher block. In my head I see this cool copper sink with a butcher block counter-- both could be foolish with some of our guests. 

@Laura2592  Don't you think your guests would ruin butcher block in a matter of months?  Burn holes, scratches, stains?  What about a different granite that is in stock?  

@Mark116 thats the concern.  

 

Its a long story but we want a really specific finish on a really specific non-busy color of granite which is not available.  And the template person had a tantrum because we don't have standard cabinets.  So we are scrambling. My contractor can make a butcher block and seal it so that it's impervious to stains but people can still cut it or put hot things to scorch it. So it's definitely something to consider.  

@Laura2592  I would say then you should either 1) wait until whatever you really want is available, or 2) compromise and get a different granite. Granite seems like the best option due to its durability.  Since your space is a 'staycation' you know that guests will use it and be hard on it, whatever it is.  Copper, I don't know, it seems risky, but it would probably still look good even if guests banged it up. Butcher block I suspect would get burned quickly.  

 

Maybe you need a new 'template person'....non standard cabinets are not that rare.

 

I'm amazed how many knife marks the kitchen table has...even though there are 1) a large wooden cutting board sitting on the radiator top 2) a marble cutting board sitting ON THE TABLE and 3) 2 plastic cutting boards in the cabinet.  Yet still people are cutting right on the table over and over again.