How do I bathroom / kitchen / extension? etc.

But how much Howard? How much?!?

But how much Howard? How much?!?

Bit more, bit more, too much!

Kitchen sinks. We've got the size and mounting etc figured out, but we have to decide between composite (in black I think) or white porcelain. Is there any obvious pro/con to either? Is composite a shit to clean?

We're undermounting with draining grooves cut into the worktop (not wood obv), if that makes a difference. Help!

Undermounting is king, but I'd go porcelain if it works with the rest of your kitchen erry day. Looks class.

We went for a Belfast thing and it completely swallows even the biggest of our pans, plus a pullout spray tap for easy cleaning.

Our overall size is limited due to small kitchen and packing in a slimline dishwasher. Good to have that vote though, colour scheme wise I think white will be fine, quartz style composite worktop and white-ish tiles

Stainless steel. I don't understand the UK obsession with massive porcelain sinks. Such a waste of water.

the size is the size, my only decision left is on the material

Our (admittedly from the 90s and probably bad quality) black kitchen sink was a daily visual nightmare. It was stained and nothing made the white grubbiness go away.
Our new stainless one is nice, 40x40 is big enough.

For sure, the size thing was more a general comment. Good luck 👍

mm this is a concern, hard water etc. I'm fine with stainless but all the hardware elsewhere will be brass (including tap, and that's a whole can of worms too)

Hard water here too.
The thing was shit for multiple reasons, and I think new ones should be better.
Brass I would go with white, but matte stainless could be funky too.

yeah i think white porcelain has had the gavel come down on it now. Demolition starts monday so we sort of need to pull the trigger on stuff asap haha

I'd go for a stainless steel sink bc it doesn't stain, crack or discolour. Our's is corian which is great bc you can just buff out the discolouring

A pullout tap should be the main thing and ensuring it isn't set so far back that water pools on the worktop.

We opted to not have a pullout tap in the utility bc it was a little cheaper and we're going to replace it after 5months. just much more practical for cleaning sink/pots/pans etc

Stainless also has a bit of bounce, so stuff doesn't break as easily if dropped.

I've had a massive butler sink for the last 8 years, and smashed countless pint glasses after they slipped out of my soapy hands.

Question about cutting tiles: If I just need to make some tiles slightly smaller (about 3mm horizontally and vertically), would I use a tile nipper or a proper tile cutter?

Relations with my architect seem to have broken down. He's invoiced for Stage 4b but we don't yet have answers to loads of questions, haven't seen the design of windows he's quoted us for, that sort of thing. His recommended contractor's quote has come in waaay over our budget and the architect says he's already done "value engineering" options, prior to our quote coming in. But none of it really makes sense to us. We asked for a meeting and he said he won't until we pay that invoice. But we don't feel that he's finalised the design or adjusted to meet budget yet. I really wish I hadn't started now, and have no idea how to proceed.

Sorry, that is a shit and difficult situation. Try not to treat it as a business exchange (ie at work; about something you don’t care about personally) and manage your emotional response.

I tried to focus on what particular outcome I was aiming for, and treat everything else as noise.

Do you have a list of everything that should be done in stage 4b? Can you clearly set out that he/she was supposed to do XYZ and has not - it sounds like you don’t need a call if an emailed list can work?

There are loads of architects and other professionals on here who will have more concrete advice.

I'm trying to lay out a bullet-point list of what is unresolved at the moment, so I can send him a clear email. We just feel like he gave us a nice design, assured us all the way through the process that our budget was appropriate, told us he'd hand-hold throughout, and then just kinda fizzled out at the end. His recommended contractor has sent a big, confusing quote that includes blank numbers for "materials" and a little digging has unearthed that it doesn't include various important bits of the plan. And it's already way over budget. Now the architect has clammed up, and just says he needs the final invoice paying. We're sat here with the house in the same state as at the start, about £9k down on fees, and really tired and confused.

This is a big point for stainless, my OH is clumsy as shit. Also it seems like all the porcelain sinks are flat bottomed, which i think saw some discussion a few pages back

fucking hell we're at serious risk of a gold sink now

That sounds awful.
Sorry if already covered but did they give you a projected cost for their work and did you have any kind of contract with them?
Our original architect was given the boot as he did the same thing "you'll easily be able to do what i've dran on the plans for **£££ .
Reality is the structural engineer we later appointed said part of the design wouldn't even stand up for long and was a huge waste of money and work and was essentially a vanity project by the architect that would have reduced our views.
We've nearly finished our build and we've paid almost double what the original architect said it would cost... (although 2 other architects we spoke to were right on the money when we showed them our ideas!)
Check what you agreed on and then take a step back.. If he hasn't done what he said he would then i wouldn't pay . £9k seems way OTT

https://arb.org.uk/complaints/making-a-complaint-what-happens-when-you-complain-to-arb/

I've had a massive butler sink for the last 8 years, and smashed countless pint glasses after they slipped out of my soapy hands.

This was my sister and borther in law's experience. He refused to have a washng up bowl until about 5-6 of their mugs/glasses got cracked.

Stainless sink bowl in stainless sink for me. Will never again countenance a gross plastic bowl.