I Just Want To Wash The Dishes...

We are actually getting to the point in planning our new space that we need to consider appliances...as in consider appliances as real things and not just as mythical Internet creatures that we will never actually lay our hands on. A lot is still up in the air about the appliances...we have limitations surrounding us courtesy of square footage, money, and pesky mechanical engineers with concerns about amps and codes. Even when you have an idea of what you want to buy, then you have to think about if you want new equipment or used equipment.  For a little while, we thought about leasing new equipment to avoid laying out a ton of cash at once, but it turns out that leasing companies only like businesses that have been open for at least 36 months.  (Which makes no sense to me at all.  If I've been open for 36 months, let's hope I can afford to buy a new oven without a leasing agent.)

All that said, we had to start somewhere...so true to form, we started with the easiest:  the sink. We need a three vat sink to meet health code regulations.  Our original plan was to not get a dishwasher, but after being spoiled at the Elks Club with their fancy pants dishwasher, we have seen the light and realize that we can't live without it.  A monthly rental fee for an Ecolab "sanitation system" seems to be a small price to spare our sanity.  (Of course, I don't know how much it costs yet to rent one but short of multiple zeros in the price, we will be signing on the dotted line.  It just occurred to me that they should rent those things for household use as well...how awesome would that be?  I hope you are reading this, Ecolab person.)

Turns out it can't be all "yeah, so we would like a three vat sink..." because then you have to know what gauge of steel you want that sink to be.  What?  How about one that doesn't leak?  Apparently you can choose from 14, 16, or 18 gauge and they are in reverse order for price (14 is most expensive).  I would like to do some consulting work for the commercial sink industry and alert them to the whole problem that categorizing sinks that way is confusing (just saying).  Is 18 gauge a nightmare...like if I drop a fork on it, will it puncture through the sink and thus I will need to give the sink as much loving gentle care as I do the meringues?  Or is it the sort of thing that no one really knows the differences in gauges but the sink industry has convinced us all that it matters so we pay more?

And once you figure out what sort of gauge you are willing to pay for, you have to think about how long you want the whole unit to be.  I thought I found a great deal on the Internet and then discovered it was only 58 inches long...whereas conventional wisdom (and dishwasher requirements suggest that we only consider a 120 inch sink.  (And then your $439.99 sink becomes a $3,849 sink.)

I haven't broached bowl depth or drainboard length because I just can't bring myself to consider or discuss such a detail.  To think that I considered the sink to be the easiest place to start and then have to make 318 decisions about that sink?  Well, that doesn't bode well for buying a refrigerator, a freezer, or a single oven.  And it just occurred to me that the sink doesn't even come with the faucets or handles or anything...MORE DECISIONS.

We both like to think of ourselves as decisive women until we are standing in a showroom of sinks and need a glossary and a cocktail to even hold up our end of the conversation.  I would like a sink that works.  I'd be happy if it looked nice.  I would like to keep it a while and I would enjoy to wash a lot of dishes in it.  Where is that sink?