Practicality of under-bench kitchen sinks

[thisisme]

So, how practical are under-bench sinks? (The ones that sit below the benchtop so you can't see the edges).

I love the look of them but having never had a dishwasher I don't know how much I will be hand washing once we move into our new house... Also, our sink will be on the kitchen island and we will have no upstand...

However, I love it how they don't take up as much room and don't "interfere" with the beauty of the benchtop... Not to mention the ease of sweeping the crumbs directly into the sink...

Who has one? Do you like it? Who would never get one?

[Milena]

Thisisme do you mean these sinks?

[thisisme]

They are the ones!

[Milena]

I personally love the look of them too. I have been thinking to have them in our new house. Not sure if our builder can do that for us but I will ask

[mjm]

I love them, but you need to remember that if you are getting a slab of granite that it is extra money because the hole for the sink to fit in needs to be finished and polished as its on view. not sure about practical side of it, I can't imagine there being a problem with them.

and hey, I am 42 and only just got a dishwasher for the first time 6 months ago, yay, ok so far I wash most of the dishes in the dishwasher, but sometimes there are a few things that are either not suitable for the dishwasher or too big, but not many, at the moment I still have a sink with drainers on the bench, but when it is just a sink no drainers (which is the plan) I intend to just sit a tea towel on the bench with a dish drainer on top of it for the small amount of dishes that do need to be done

ps my sister has a dishwasher and says she hardly uses it and washes her dishes by hand... pffft buggar that for a lark, I grew up in a family of 8 people having to do the dishes every night.... and now have family of 5 I've been doing the dishes for ... honey, if it fits in that dishwasher, its going in the dishwasher!!

[Abigail]

I love those undermounted sinks. Next house I will be having one. I like them with rails built into the bench for drainage.

[Elements]

I have now got undermount sinks and I wuld have to say, I am not that fussed on them. I really don't think they look that different to a normal sink, they are hard to keep clean especially that top lip part from watermarks.
I use the dishwasher and could have easily had 1 simple round basin and that would have suffice. For the cost and the use I would rather spend the money somewhere else....so for me the crumbs thing Milena mentioned (which is a very valid point) but in my kitchen design this doesn't really matter as I have a pull out bin under my breakfast bench and I sweep all the crumbs into my bin instead of the sink.
I think it will also depend on the layout of the kitchen....I have a non interupted breakfast bench so the sink is not part of general work area......

[Milena]

We have changed our minds over the layout of the kitchen bench island purely because of needing more cupboard space. So instead of having an L-shaped island with an upstand we are having a kitchen bench island like the one on the photos. Btw this is the same layout we are going to have in our new kitchen
This morning I had a look at the undermount sink in the display home and it does look great but it doesn't seem very practical and dh is not keen on it. He doesn't like the idea of not having a drainage board to put the dirty dishes on. I can see his point and I agree with him but I really like the look of it how it sits on the bench.
We also asked our builder rep and she also said they look great but not practical.
So back to thisisme question would you go for practicality or for the look?

[Julie-Ann]

I have never had an under counter sink so I can't speak from experience. I think they look stunning but I have some concerns.
If the seal between the sink and the bench breaks a little you could get water damage to the cabinets underneath. I don't think it is something you would notice until the damage is done.
You would have to stack dishes on the stone bench- which would expose the bench to possible food stains, which should be removable but...I prefer to prevent things happening so that I can stress less.
If you think something is not practical I would choose another option- like a standard sink.
Pop into a kitchen sink store and have a look at the amazing sinks that are on the market. You can buy a very stylish sink that sits on top of your counter and save the cost of having your stone polished.

[Milena]

I am out and about having a coffee with dh and saw your reply. I showed your post to dh and the more he read the more he nodded.
Thanks a very good response