Counter action!

Just a brief word to let the world know that the counter is back and the sink is where it ought to be!  I'm sure you've all heard enough about it so that's all I'm going to say!

The cat and the sink

Our one-year-old cat is very fussy about the source of his drinking water. He will never come when he's called and will hide for hours if even one non-resident person enters the house, but if we turn on the kitchen tap he'll come running for a drink.

The kitchen sink is one of his favourite sitting spots. Not beside it or near it, but in it. He licks at the end of the faucet and waits for someone to fill the kettle or a saucepan, hoping for a drip. Sometimes we let the water trickle for a few minutes and then watch him perform contortions as he tries to get a drink without getting wet.  When he's had enough he reclines on the draining board as if it were a velvet pillow.

Recently he was confused when we had a new sink installed because at first there was no tap.  He jumped in the sink, quizzically sniffing for the water supply and finding none.  Now, because of an error in manufacture, the counter and sink are going to be removed next week, and returned to us two days later as good as new, but with everything moved two inches to the right. There will be a minimum of 48 hours that we will be without sink, counter or tap.  I wonder what the cat will make of that.

Old sink, new sink

Old sink, with no draining board and manky old tap.

New sink with draining board and new tap...

...but sink is not in the middle of the cabinet.

Washing-up bowls

What is a washing-up bowl? In America it's a 'dish pan' and it looks like this.  A lovely white plastic rectangle.

 If you're lucky you can find a red one and occasionally, if you know where to look, you'll find a round enamel one. However, if you go into your local store to buy a dishpan, this is what you will find.  Not very inspiring, is it.

DH dislikes washing-up bowls so from Day One of our marriage I have managed without one - which isn't hard when you have a dishwasher, but can be inconvenient at times. Such as now. Now I have a Corian sink that can't take boiling water directly into it and it's been recommended that I pour such boiling water into a pan in the sink to cool before pouring down the sink.  Inconvenient? I should say so, but I can adapt to this new situation with the purchase of a simple, but attractive washing-up bowl.  So having been to two or three local stores and found that white one, I thought I'd look online.  Guess what? More white rectangles.  So, on a whim, I looked for washing-up bowls.  I found these.

They are mostly found on British web sites but I found this set on likecool.com, an American site. But they are designer bowls. They can be unfolded, squashed, will change shape and withstand boiling water but they cost $50 each. I like the colours but $50 for a washing-up bowl is a bit extravagant. So I looked for some more.... Well, this is nice. From DrinkStuff.com it's rubber and stainless steel, and £44.99. (That's $68.73 at today's exchange rate!)  It's not getting any better is it. Back to Google.

Ahh!  Good old IKEA. For $14.99 (£8.99 on IKEA UK)) this handsome BOHOLMEN 'rinsing tub' (US) washing up bowl (UK) can be purchased.  Not sure I really want black but it's a bit better-looking than the white rectangle. I think.

Fire and water

All this talk of kitchen counters and sink installations has led me to a problem I didn't anticipate (besides the off-centre sink). Apparently, Corian isn't as resistant to heat as I had thought it was. I presumed that Corian and Formica (laminate) were equally heat resistant. For years now, I've taken pots and pans straight off the flame or out of the oven and put them on the counter or in the sink when space and trivets aren't available. It's not that I do it all the time, by any means, but it must be said that I have done it. Now I'm told that I can't do that at all with Corian because it will burn or melt. Not only that, but for the first time in my life I don't have a stainless steel sink so I can't put hot/burning/smoking red hot pans in the sink either! I can't even pour boiling water directly into the sink because there is a risk that it might crack!

This brings me to two unexpected problems. Firstly, I need a heavy-duty trivet (with rubber feet) that is big enough to hold at least two saucepans or one large casserole. Secondly I need a washing-up bowl. Hmm....

Diminished disgruntlement

Having had a beautiful new Corian counter and sink installed in my kitchen two days ago, then realising the sink was off-centre, I decided that for once I wasn't going to let it go. As my friend pointed out, it's a once-in-a-lifetime purchase, it was custom-made and there is no reason to settle for second-best. So I called the store to explain the problem and they promised to call me the next day

Well, it looks as though Customer Service is going to come through for me. The store manager called me as promised, yesterday afternoon and said I should expect a phone call from the manufacturers / installers. That phone call came half an hour later. The representative said that a difference of two inches is unacceptable and that they would put things right for us. I have asked for them to send someone to look at the problem, and to explain how it can be resolved before they cart off our counter, and I should hear something on Monday.

The interesting thing is that since it is a solid surface counter, I'm told they can cut it and make seamless alterations. Imagine if this had been granite? The upside is that they are willing to put it right and the downside is that they will have to take it away so we will be without a counter or a sink for a couple of days sometime soon.

Further details as they develop....

Disgruntlement

Is that a word? Probably not, but that's the state in which I find myself just now. Yesterday I was happy that finally my new Corian kitchen counter was installed with its matching integrated sink. The plumber came and installed the new faucet, but because DH was going to reinstall the old garbage disposal unit, he left him to finish up the drain connection.

Anyway, DH came home to finish the job and he found that the drain leaks because the pipes don't quite match up. Then he pointed out that the new sink is not positioned in the same place as the old one. In fact it is not even in the centre of the cabinet; it's at least two inches to the left. This is problem for a lover of symmetry, and a bigger problem for the plumbing.

Meanwhile I have called the store responsible, and await a call back from someone who can do something about my complaint. I have learned to live with imperfection and disappointment over the years, and I love the look of the new counter, but to find that what should have been a simple replacement of like with like has gone wrong, is very frustrating.

More on this when there is more to tell.