Quartz top and Belfast sink for IKEA kitchen

[pegasussy]

I'm sure someone's done this before and will have great advice for me - I'm going to get a hybrid kitchen, comprising ikea carcasses and custom doors. Should I just get my quartz top from ikea, or source elsewhere? If the latter, where?

Related to this, I'm not sure I love the ikea Belfast sink, but apparently if you get their quartz top you can't use a Belfast sink from another supplier. Can anyone recommend another supplier of Belfast sinks? I'd be looking for something of the same dimensions so it can easily go on top of the cabinet.

Thank you!

This is the Belfast sink IKEA does. I don't love the placement of the sinkhole (very central)...

Bump!

Nobody? 😞

We have just installed our own an IKEA kitchen with their Matt black "recycled" doors, a caesarstone worktop from an independent supplier, and a stainless steel undermounted sink from Amazon.

Was also keen on that IKEA sink but after reading some reviews about having to wipe it down straight away or it would stain, and knowing that we have hard water and are utter slatterns who dump and leave stuff in the sink all the time, it was struck off the list. Also, because it requires there to be worktop behind it on the wall side (unless you have your sink on a massive island) you have to pay for that length of worktop when most of it will be cut away!

The thing about IKEA which every builder/kitchen fitter will tell you till they're blue in the face, is the lack of service void. This is kind of bollocks because the service void is there, it's just inside the cupboard, the drawers/shelves stop short of the back.

However the IKEA quirk which is more worth bearing in mind is that it is all metric sizes, whereas UK plumbing is imperial. So connecting the IKEA waste to your existing waste will require an adapter or something - we had this done for a cloakroom sink. The happy alternative for kitchens is that a maker called McAlpine does a space saving trap and waste for single or double sinks, and this can be used whatever sink you install.

Will do photos in the morning.

We're also planning a gussied-up Ikea kitchen with non-Ikea doors/ worktop/ Belfast sink.

We're most likely getting a Caesarstone quartz from an independent supplier, so can't comment on the Ikea quartz as we've not looked into it.

The main issue with using a different sink is that the Ikea sink base units are designed to work specifically with their own sinks which are not "proper" Belfast style, so your fitter will have to fiddle around with the unit to get it to support a standard Belfast from another manufacturer.

When you Google the problem, this useful blog post comes up.

Thanks by the way, @TyneFilth, for v useful plumbing info!

Useful link seems to have dropped off somehow!
https://www.simplythenest.com/simplythenestjournal/2017/9/21/ikea-belfast-sink-hack

We've got the ikea double butler sink and their silestone worktops. I love them both! The sink doesn't stain at all and we are in a hard water area, I even mentioned this on another thread recently. Compared to stainless steel which showed up every splash of water!

You are right about the sink hole being central but this doesn't prevent drainage - unless it is just the aesthetics that bothers you?

Thanks everybody, especially for the plumbing advice @TyneFilth! @Zinnia thank you for the link - may I ask which independent seller you're getting your quartz from?
@LittleWingSoul which top is the silestone? Sorry I'm not up to speed on my tech terms! Would love to see a photo too

I've got that sink, no complaints. It does the job

@pegasussy It is the quartz effect, so has a grey streak running through it. Subtle though I think!

@LittleWingSoul omg that looks beautiful. Where's your enamel (?) bowl from?
I showed my husband and he said let's just get IKEA - it looks really good in your photo.

Is your tap Perrin & Rowe?

I have recommended an ikea kitchen to anyone who cares to hear it since we got it. I flipping love it!

Not perrin & Rowe, I wish! It is the tre mercati one, but I think we will eventually replace it as I'd like it to project further into the sink.

The enamel bowl was from eBay I think. Nowhere special!

I guess the bonus with the ikea sink is that they are not as heavy or bulky as proper ones either so we have a lot of space under the sink. Oh and the price

@LittleWingSoul

What tap do you have please, also that quartz is gorgeous

It's this one: www.tapwarehouse.com/p/tremercati-287?sku=tremercati-287-var

I love your tap @LittleWingSoul but I know what you mean re projecting into the sink more. I think I'm going to splash out on P&R 😬 heck, why not.

Do you mind sharing the eBay shop you got the bowl from, or did you just search enamel bowl? I love enamel - Falcon has beautiful stuff but eye watering.

Check the projection on the p&r one too though! I think you need about 19cm.

It was amazon, Karl Kruger enamel bowl 32cm!

Just checked and the projection on the phonenician is 225 or thereabouts. Forgot how ridiculously expensive they are though... I am not sure it's worth it when there are many similar and as beautiful ones out there!

@pegasussy We've not quite decided on which supplier we're using yet, shopping around for the best price.

Caesarstone have a list of suppliers on their website though, and you can get quotes through them.

Little Wing thank you!

Gosh I looked at ikea and can't see silestone.

The pr taps why are they so expensive!

Good question, why are P&R so expensive??

@pegasussy I bought the P&R tap a few weeks ago from this online shop. This is with the rinser. Arrived quickly and looks beautiful

@PoshWatchShitShoes May I see a photo of it in action? I'd like the aged brass and it's always more expensive than chrome 😞

@pegasussy just in the box at the moment. Kitchen being fitted end October. I'm buying ahead and keeping everything in the garage whilst building work underway