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wildturkey450

granite countertop with integral dish drain

wildturkey450
15 years ago

Has anyone installed a granite countertop where slits are cut into the granite so that dishes can drain directly into the sink? Any words of wisdom would be most appreciated like how deep are the slits, what degree slope, what you would do differntly, etc. I would like to do this in conjunction with a farmhouse or apron front sink.

Comments (3)

  • raehelen
    15 years ago

    Have you had a farmhouse sink before?

    The reason I ask, is that I thought I wanted the runnels ground into my granite, but my fabricator didn't do it, (It would be quite expensive), so I just let it go. However, with my new much larger sink (I have a double sink), I just leave my dish drainer in the small sink. I absolutely LOVE not having my dish drainer on the counter, and really utilize that added counter space now.

    So, with the new kitchen, I am using the sink in a different way than I did before- the DD used to be a constant fixture, and took up a good 2 linear feet of valuable counter space.
    You might find that you don't need a DD on the counter anymore with a large sink.

  • rmkitchen
    15 years ago

    What you're talking about are also called runnels -- if you do a search using "runnels" you'll find lots of info and great pictures!

    On one side of our (apron front sink) we have petite runnels -- we use them to drain produce. They're pretty good -- they definitely do drain better than if it were just a flat countertop, that's for sure!

    Now on the other side of our sink we have a dish drain -- it's a large surface completely cut away, draining into the sink. We keep our dishrack on it and it s FABULOUS! We got the runnels specifically for produce, but if we had them for draining dishes I'm not sure how happy I'd be ... having to wipe out the individual runnels of gunge. The dishdrain is a breeze to wipe down and, again, it is terrific for not having water pool on the countertop or a soggy towel (as we did before) or one of those ugly rubber trays underneath. Yea!

    Our countertop is marble, and I think most of the runnels / dishdrains I've seen here on GW are in soapstone.

  • zelmar
    15 years ago

    We put sloped counters on both sides of our main single sink. We usually keep the dishdrainer on one side but I love the slope on the other side because it contains the puddles I inevitablly get around the sink and is a place I can set a colander to drain. I wish we had also put sloped sides on both sides of our prep sink where I have to be mindful of mopping up the water before it runs down the front of the cabinet. The slope is very gradual and doesn't limit the use of the counter (wine glasses can be set down without tipping over.) I asked for runnels but our fabricator doesn't do them so we got the sloped drainboard instead--a happy accident.

    It seems that most of the people who have runnels have reported being very happy with them.

    I like having the dishdrainer on the counter because I find the space designated for wet work (washing and prepping and draining) already too limited. I guess it all depends on the layout and the way the kitchen is used.

    Our counter is schist from W. Mass rather than granite.

    {{gwi:1570741}}

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