I have seen them carved into standard 3cm material. This isn't an option my company offers, but I have been in several homes where this was done.

I've seen it done with soapstone, but granite would need to have the runnels polished, wouldn't it? I don't know that it would be possible to do that. Thinning it out would probably make it more prone to cracking there also. Is there a reason you'd wouldn't just use a freestanding drainboard?

I think it's difficult with granite. What about getting a sink with an integrated drain board? You can find that in several different types of sink.

I've gotten quotes from a few (3 or 4) installers for an intergrated drain board in Typhoon Bordeaux and other granites. The costs range around $500 and no one had an issue with it or gave me any warnings. I read here that it's not good to have water sit on some granites so I'm rethinking this idea. I may still go for it.

lbbannana_man:

Sounds like your contractor's "fabricator" could be just a "rank amateur"...... anybody in this business
with half a brain knows that drain boards can be done any day of the week and
twice on Sundays (if your willing to pay overtime or time and a half...HA!)

Seriously - Drain boards are cut every day (there's one probably being cut RIGHT NOW
somewhere here in the US in a Granite Shop...) Most are done using a CNC
machine which "mills down the stone at an angle to create the slope in each
"slot" so that the water can "drain" off of the sink "board" - hence the term
"Drain Board"......

Drain borads in countertops were once a "given" - done as a matter of routine
PRIOR to the days where dishwashers were the norm in a kitchen. Think about
it - before dish washers - people had to wash the dishes by hand, and lay them
all down somehwere to dry - leaving a big puddle of water.......

Enter the "Drain Board" - either a plastic or steel portable "tray" with a built in "pitch" or "slope"
was set on top of the counter - next to the sink
to allow the run off water from the dishes to collect, and "drain" into the sink
when the rinsed off dishes were put up on the tray to air dry -

OR.......

a series of polished - sloped grooves were literally cut into the countertop - allowing
the water from the rinsed dishes to drain back into the sink.

The drain board feature has pretty much disappeared since the advent of the
dishwasher, but many people still like to add this feature as a nice "extra touch" -
especially if they are trying to re-create the "look" of a "period" look - like from
the 1800's - but with all of the modern conveniences that our culture now has
come to expect and depend on.....

Long story short - I'd ask your contractor to find a "real" Fabricator that knows
how to and CAN do a drain board feature for you - take a look at a sample
of his work, and if you like his quality and service - trust your gut....

hth

kevin