Butler/Belfast sinks

A friend of mine in her last house had one but had to treat it with kid gloves as it scratched so easily. Admittedly this was many years ago and no doubt materials have changed but I personally will always stick with my stainless steel sink. It is easily cleaned for starters.

I always find them too deep and low (and I'm not tall), plus they are unforgiving if you drop anything in them.
I would prefer a modern split sink, much more practical.

I really dislike them . I don't think they're very practical , I wouldn't swap my one and half sink . It's not stainless steel, it's a slightly textured finish in dark brown that always looks good.

I wouldn't be without mine. We grow a lot of vegetables so it's great for washing/preparing large amounts - also good for bathing the dogs

We have wooden worktops but I don't see a problem so long as you keep them oiled, usually twice a year.

They are a bit low if you suffer from back problems though.

DD has a split Belfast sink. It is very smart, but she doesn't like it and is terrified of anyone dropping anything in it. So we all walk on eggshells round the Belfast sink and all the "heavyweight" sink work gets done in the utility room sink. We had a stainless steel sink put in our new kitchen, against my better judgement, because I wanted a reconstituted granite one like we had in the last house, but the only colour I liked didn't go with the rest of the kitchen. I was silly. They keep their good looks better than stainless steel and are virtually bomb proof.

There is a Belfast sink in my kitchen, it's too low and makes my back ache, looks good though, it was there when I moved in, can't wait to afford to replace it when it will find a new home in the garden planted up with as many herbs as I can get in it, I will love it then

I had a double belfast sink fitted last we did the kitchen, I love it.

Had one in our last house, in the utility room ( best of both worlds) as I had an ordinary double sink in the kitchen.
If choosing for the kitchen however I would go for normal stainless steel.
Had wooden worktops in the last house utility room, a nightmare, and needed oiling.
The kitchen needs an easily cleaned worktop space, avoid wood.

I've got a double Belfast sink, husband put them at the right height for me, and I find them great.
But there is the risk of dropping something heavy and breaking them.
Memories of living in a bedsit in someone's house when first married. All we had was a porcelain handbasin and I dropped something heavy into it which fell right through to the floor below.

I'd never have wooden work tops again.

I had a Belfast sink in my old house and it was one of my essential requirements for my new kitchen. You can wash large pans and baking trays easily plus I can soak the oven racks in the sink in hot water with washing powder added and they come out clean and don't need scrubbing. Marvellous!

You can put a plastic bubble mat on the bottom if you're worried about breaking pots in it or just use a washing up bowl.

I had wooden work tops in my last kitchen but found it a faff to oil them so I had granite this time.

I am not sure of they still do them but IKEA did do a large sink similar to a Belfast which was evenly divided into two. It had a ridge around the top so fitted into the worktop as a normal stainless or stone sink does. My friend has one of these and has a rack thing she puts across one to do the draining of the odd bits she washes in them.

I love my wooden work tops - had my current ones in this house for about 15 years and they are now just at the stage where we need to give them a sanding and a new seal. When they were new I oiled them a number of times initially -(Liberon) and then did it every couple of months for the first few years. Have done nothing to them for the last ten or twelve.
If you go for granite I think that maybe you need the most expensive variety - DD bought a house with them installed and they were a real pain to keep looking nice - every mark showed up.

Thankyou everyone very interesting , I agree about wood I couldn't be bothered with the faffing around either. One friend said her wood surrounding her belfast sink started going black I presume because she didn't take care of it.
I'm going to stick to my guns and go for the stainless steel one as its seems I was right to be wary of the Belfast/Butler I too suffer with a bad back so it really wouldn't work for me.

You are all lovely ladies and I'm so glad I can come here and get sensible 'real' unbiased reviews of just about everything.

I would like to have one in the utility room but I'm not sure about having one in the kitchen as I like my 1.5 stainless steel sink.

We have MIL's Belfast sink, rescued when her kitchen was re-fitted, in our garden with plants in. Well, it will have plants in in the summer as my idea of a sedum and succulent garden was the squirrels' idea of heaven as they dug it up to bury their nuts.

They are a good size for bathing small babies.

sorry, my posts were perhaps not ^ sensible^

I have had a standard 2 bowl and drainer ceramic sink (but not specifically bright white Belfast sink) for the last 20 years. I have had no problems with it of any sort. As I have a dishwasher the breakage issue (china) hasn't arisen and the sink has not chipped or broken. I have treated it no differently than any other sink I have owned in the 50 years I have been a home owner.

I am due to replace my kitchen in the next few months and intend to have a sink exactly like the one I have at present. ceramic, 2 bowls and draining board, but in bright shiny white ceramic like a Belfast sink. having a ceramic sink doesn't mean it has to be the Belfast shape. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes.

I'd certainly like a butler in my kitchen

We have a butler sink in the utility room. I don't like them for the kitchen, the flat bottom, the way things can break if you don't use a washing up bowl and their SIZE which means loads of water for washing up. So any the big roasting tins etc go into the utility room sink, likewise flowers or plants needing a good soak or drink and I have a steel 1 1/2 bowl sink in the kitchen, which IMHO is the best of both worlds.

If only I had a utility room

We had ours built on years ago tanith and it has been wonderful, especially when the children were young and we had a dog!

I agree they are absolutely right in a utility room but we no longer have one of those so when we built the new kitchen I weighed up the pros and cons and found I couldn't do without the dog washing/plant watering/veg prep/pan soaking facilities so the Belfast sink won.

I do use a washing up bowl for everyday stuff which isn't much because most of it goes in the dishwasher.

I know this is an old thread but I wish I'd seen it before buying a deep Belfast sink. First thing I did was clean fridge shelves - joy, the shelves fit completely in the sink, no need for shifting them around. But after a few minutes my lower back was aching - why had I never thought of that? So now I'm looking for solutions to raise my washing up bowl a few inches from the base of the sink since that is mainly what I will be using it for, not having a dishwasher. Any suggestions please?

We had a new kitchen recently, I can't comment on a Belfast sink but would like to say how pleased I am that I chose corrian worktops .I love how it sweeps up the wall, so no dividing line between back of work top and the wall . This is especially useful behind the sink. Just a thought!