My Kraus Sink After 1.5 Years

So... I was reading through the comments that people left on my blog back in 2016/2017 after my last posting on my reno journey in 2016, really sorry that I didn't reply as I don't really have the habit of reading through the comments. Moreover I had been busy with other things, so had stopped blogging for quite a while.

I had previously bought a Kraus sink, all the way from Amazon US, check out my previous posting. I really love how big the sink is, can really dump all my baking/cooking stuff in after using and wash them altogether after I'm done with my baking/cooking stuff.

So how is the sink after 1.5 years of usage? Well, of course, it no longer shines as it used to be when it was first installed, only makes sense, right, after a period of usage. There are some scratches, not sure how they got there, haha... It didn't rust except for an area... but I think I have to blame my hubby for that... When I cook, he washes... so there was once he left a pot soaking with water for quite a while, really for quite some time, then when I spotted it and by the time I removed it from the sink, I saw some sort of stain (not sure if it's rust) on the sink. I tried to use baking soda with vinegar but didn't manage to remove the entire stain. We were at fault to leave the pot there, so wouldn't be fair to blame it on the quality... we may be able to remove the remaining stain if we were to scrub it but decided to just leave it so as not to create more scratches and yet unable to remove the stain, didn't want to make it looks worse! 

You probably be wondering why the pot would be sitting directly on the sink, where's the metal piece that sits on top of the sink which we were supposed to place the pots... We stopped using that metal piece after a while... when we were using it, we found several spots that seemed kind of "rusty", which we were able to remove those spots using baking soda and vinegar. We were not sure if this piece of metal would also really be made of stainless steel. Although the parts of the metal piece that touched the sink were protected with rubber coverings, the rubber thingy would slowly wear off and start to expose the metal part. Also, it's kind of troublesome to wash down any food particle with that piece of metal blocking in the way. What's more, we also need to wash this metal piece... lei chey!

Anyway the sink served the purposes that I were looking at when I bought it. I love to bake/cook, so able to just dump all utensils/cutleries so that they don't clutter the kitchen top space that I need for baking/cooking, and only wash after baking/cooking done so that I could get my baking/cooking done first. I could wash my wok and flip it during washing within the sink so that I don't splash water out of the sink. I could also wash the bigger pots without the tap in the way. The sink in my kitchen is never meant to be for show only, haha... my kitchen is not part of a showroom where things need to look shiny, nice, etc. If for show, I would just buy a small sink so that we don't need to wash such a big sink, haha... makes sense, right?

Rinnai 3Si Hob, Another Great Buy!!!

I did some research on the Internet and many people had recommended Rinnai hobs, particularly those with the inner burners. After discussion with hubby, we decided to go for a Rinnai hob and choose a stainless steel model instead of the glass top ones, with inner burners. As a SAHM, I do cook quite a bit for my family using traditional wok (except during this period when renovation is still on-going), so we have concerns about the durability of a glass top, especially if we forget not to put any hot pot directly on the glass top. Afterall, both of us are getting old, haha... Also, the stainless one goes better with our pocket, hee...

3Si is the only stainless steel model with inner burners, at least that's what we saw on Rinnai website, so we didn't have to headache over whether to get the 2 or 3 burners. We tested to see how small the fire can go and were really impressed with it as our previous hob wasn't able to have such a small fire. The fire can go smaller than what you see on the photo, just that I took the photo with slightly bigger fire so that people can see the burning flame.

At this point of time, I cannot say if this hob or inner burner technology is good as I have not yet really started to use it. So far, we only used it to boil water as kitchen is still "down". Perhaps, I would share my review later, probably some time 6 months down the road.

We bought the hob from Heritage Bathroom Gallery with Sharrine Yeo. She wasn't able to match the lowest quote that I got for the hob, which was a $15 difference, but she gave us further discount on other items that she's able to "slash" the price. As her explanation, recommendation and service were good, we decided to just buy the hob from her. It would be easier for us to arrange delivery if we were to just buy from one party. The savings from buying from another source may not justify the time that we have to wait at home for the delivery to be made, especially the delivery was done during the renovation period that we did not stay in the house.

Hope readers who have read my blog so far have gained some knowledge on the things that I had shared regarding my renovation journey and have helped you on your renovation journey if you're currently embarking on it. Upcoming posts... just to mention a few, in no particular order as I have not yet decided what to write next - review on Heritage Bathroom Gallery, Baron WC 888, air-con installer, electrician...

Update - 16 Jul:
If you have just bought a Rinnai hob and having difficulty to turn on the flame, you can read the following tips shared by http://renovation-greencoal.blogspot.sg/2008/05/using-rinnai-inner-flame-burner-hob_6584.html.

1 - Push down the burner flame knob and gently turn anti-clockwise until you reach resistance i.e. you feel the knob cannot be turned further. That resistance signals the "end" of the knob-turn but do not let go of the knob yet, continuing to pushing it down.

2 - As you continue to push the knob down, turn a bit more anti-clockwise until you meet resistance again. At that point you then turn back the knob in a clockwise direction until you hear a "click" sound. That' a "locking" indication you've turned on the fire successfully.

My Kraus Sink, I love it!!!

If you had read my previous post, you would know that I had spree a Kraus Sink from Amazon US. It's Kraus 32 Inch 16 Gauge Undermount Single Bowl Stainless Steel Sink, KHU100-32. I managed to ship it to SG with shipping charges waived, thanks to tips shared by fellow Kraus sink owners who posted on Renotalk forum. 

The sink was installed recently, matched with a Grohe faucet. Well, I certainly love how big and deep it is! It looks gorgeous. Whether it'll be long lasting, I can't share with you now for sure, as it's been installed for barely a week. For the price that I paid, which was less than SGD450, I certainly think it's a good buy considering the quality, which you may not get similar quality at similar pricing in SG.

How to get shipping charges waived? Well, you have to write some kind of "grandmother story" to convince the CSO. For me, I had been spreeing a number of times from Amazon US since 2007, so they considered me as a valuable customer and offered me free shipping as an one time exception. Get creative and good luck to you if you're keen to get one of these sinks! 

Our First Major Purchase!

Since we have confirmed on the ID, it's time to do some shopping and researching for plumber, electrician and air-con company. No idea where to start off first, I just "wandered" about in Internet, particularly Renotalk forum. By chance, I came upon a thread that discussed about kitchen sink and the much discussed sink was Kraus brand that people bought and shipped it back from Amazon US. Yup, you heard it right! 

The first few people who bought a Kraus sink actually paid for the shipping fees as it was not entitled to free shipping to Singapore, then someone shared that she managed to get the shipping fees waived! Now that's a pretty attractive deal if shipping fees (it's a whopping USD 250+!) can be waived, so many people tried to get it waived and most of them succeeded doing so. 

With all the good reviews and comments about unlikely to get such a good solid stainless steel sink at ~SGD500 locally, I decided to join the Kraus sink gang on Renotalk forum as well, haha... I wrote in, with a "story", to seek for a waiver of the shipping fees and yay, the CSO granted me an one-time exception based on that I'm a valued customer. I have been their customer for quite a long period, started my Amazon spreeing since 2007 when Jake was born.

I placed my order for a Kraus KHU100-32 32 inch Undermount Single Bowl 16 gauge Stainless Steel Kitchen Sink on 26 Apr and oh mine, they were fast! I received the sink on 3 May. The box arrived with no visible dent. We would usually see boxes with a "fragile" label if they contain fragile items. For this, you see a "heavy" label instead. 

We opened the box to check the sink itself. It took a bit of time and efforts to check as after you opened up the carton box, you see a styrofoam box, after opening it, you see a big black bag, open it up, tadah... The sink is shiny and looks real solid! As for the review on the sink, well... it has to wait, of course! For now, based on what I can see and feel, getting it for <SGD 450 is definitely a good buy!