Majjie's Blog

I've just been catching up with the comments on my Solid Surface Worktops blog - written nearly two years ago - but still attracting regular comments. Jonny - the latest visitor - was talking about his undermounted sink. It's fitted into a Wilsonart Earthstone worktop ... and Jonny was surprised at how the sink looked (with only a very thin layer of Earthstone above the rim of the sink).

Talking about undermounted sinks reminded me that one of the products I wanted to see, when I visited the KBB trade show at the NEC earlier this year, was the new Silestone integral sink.

I did indeed see it ... here's a picture to prove it:

Cosentino (the Spanish makers of Silestone) are the market leaders in quartz composite worktops - certainly in the USA - and arguably in the UK too. Their worktops are more expensive than some other quartz worktops ... but they have a great selection of colours and their worktops all incorporate Microban, the antibacterial agent. They also have a pure white colour (most quartz colours are slightly speckled) - quartz is the only pure white worktop I'd recommend (apart from a laminate, that is) ... and even then, it's going to show every mark! This is Silestone's Blanco Zeus Extreme:

The new sink is called ‘Integrity’ and is initially available only as a single bowl (as shown above), measuring 410 x 510 x 155mm. That's a bit restrictive, of course ... but it's a start, if you really want a minimal look and an integral sink ... and you could, of course, always fit two, side by side:

The Integrity sink comes in 21 of Silestone's most popular colours; namely:
Stellar Negro, Negro Tebas, Grey Amazon, Gedatsu, Marron Jupiter, Gris Expo, Aluminio Nube, Tigris Sand, Yellow Nile, Kensho, Yukon, Blanco Capri, Haiku, Blanco Norte, Blanco Rivers, Tao, Unsui, Magenta Energy, Verde Fun, Rojo Vital and (of course!) Blanco Zeus Extreme. (See the Silestone website for more information).

The new integral Silestone sink certainly gives you that sleek minimal look, that used to come only with the more expensive, thicker, solid surface worktops (see the original blog). You'll still see the joins in a quartz worktop, though, and personally, I think I'd still go for an undermounted steel or ceramic sink - with drainer grooves in the worktop surface - like this one:

... but perhaps I'm just a bit old fashioned.