Australia's Science Forum

My sinks are way too low. They are very deep and you have to get right in there to pick up small things from the bottom of the sink.
Also there are cupboards above the sink, so not only do I not have anywhere to put a drainage rack, I hit my head every time I go to get stuff out of the sink. And I'm relatively short, so it would be a nightmare for a tall person.
Having said that though, I don't have too many other things to complain about and in general we are happy with our refurb.

I do agree regarding the Sink, although our white tote trays fit across the sink very well. So I use that as a basin. Because the sinks are so deep. I can not dry the 500ml measuring cylinders, as they do not fit on the drying rakes. I was very lucky to be left a lot of limo after the chaps all went. As the tops mark so so easy, I have covered them with the left over limo. A part from these little things, I am very happy with our new prep rooms.

Just an aside.
You all talk about putting drainage racks on the wall. I understand that, the Lab. Tech. before me had one put up. However, I purchased two that sit on the sink with each having 9 rows of 12 prongs 9 cms high. I have just recently been putting it in the dishwasher to wash the test tubes (so many lately). Each rack is not as large as a dishwasher rack and takes everything that I can think off.
Maree

Hey Maree,

Can you post a picture, or tell me where you got them from. they sound quite useful.

at first sight I thought that my new preproom looked beautiful,bright spaces and airy..........now almost 1 year since they were done(november they were signed off) Im still waiting for them to come back to replace 1 bench because the screws have come throught the top of 1 bench,still waiting for keys to cupboards,still waiting for shower curtain...needless to say I have had to use the shower and theres no drain whole so the water goes into the next classroom under the compactus and under the fridge and flood the preproom,signage has fallen down and locks on some cupboards are broken since it was signed off.My principal did not want to sign off on all this but was told politley from beings above her to sign off on the labs.The sinks are too small I have had to connect a hoser to one tap so I can was measuring cylinders,the dish racks are under the cupboards so I cant hang anything larger than an 800ml beaker on it
....and the benches scratched on the first day I used the preproom.
But I have to work with what Ive been given

Hey Matchstick!
What sort of material did they use for bench tops that scratches day 1?

as far as i knew there was nothing only dust,but could have been anything left over from the drilling,digging,cutting or it was 1 of the wooden drawers I use to store equipment in,All I can say is that the new rooms are not 'sceince prctical' ,the preproom is fitted out like a normal house hlod kitchen.......

Hi all,

Am 'back', after taking LSL to move house. Life's pretty good! Especially now I can enjoy catching up with all you chemtalk folk again....

Some thoughts on reading this post. I use small square 'tote trays' bought for 3 or 4 dollars from the cheap warehouse or auto supermarkets - fit beautifully in the top of the sink, with space to spare at the side for rinsing straight into the sink.
On the other hand I really love the depth of the sinks when I've got something awkward to wash - so much more efficient than the single kitchen sink (and no dishwasher) we had previously!

One of the tradies on our team of builders mentioned using WD40 for the scratches, after I was commenting that the first time I moved one of the new totes across my new main bench it left a deep scratch! Now the cleaner uses it in all the labs every now and then - one application seems to last a long time.

Cheers to all

Good to have you back Liz.

Thanks for the tip about WD40.I just used it on the smaller scratches and they have faded slightly.................OH!...forgot to mention the rusted stainless steel sinks.I rinsed out reagent and dropper bottles with dilute acids and now the sinks are stained too....its such a shame that some things in the preproom didnt last longer than a week...but it is a lot better than the old preproom.

My lab & prep sinks are stained & scratched too, & I've been meaning to try something I saw on Better Homes & Gardens a few years ago.....cutting compound that you use on car duco.

The show renovated an old daggy kitchen. The sink was stained but good quality stainless steel, so they rubbed it down with cutting compound & it came up like new.

I might pop to the hardware store & give it a try.....

Thanks, Sue, it's great to be back - feel 'whole' again!!

Matchstick, we found the same thing with the sinks, and our cleaner is very particular, to the point where she'll spend her own money to get the right product. So she will be very interested in what you discover, Bindibadgi - thanks.

My sinks are also in a deplorable state already, certainly not good quality stainless steel.

I haven't spent energy scouring mine with a cleaning agent as I was worried any friction may damage the obviously fine coating of whatever they are supposed to have on them to prevent rusting and the like and make them even worse.,

or have I got the whole process wrong

Wendy

Morning all, I was very lucky and managed to get a say in the design of my prep. room. I strongly objected to having a stainless steel sink, and managed to get a large porcelain one, which is fantasic, everything just wipes off. The builders told me it came from the Arab Emirates at a price of $3000 "how overpriced is that" but worth it.

At home my house cleaner uses toothpaste on the Kitchen sink and the shine is fantastic, we are on bore water which leaves white marks over everything.

Hope that helps, have a great day everyone.

I guess most of our cupboards & shelves are all the same colour and size. Has any one managed to order extra shelves and supports? Which company did the work men use? We are still not signed off on this yet. Our sink was marked first week. Tops which are a very soft plastic I guess, have scratches on them. But it is so much better then it was.

Great news, they are not putting a thoroughfare through my chem handling area. They are still butchering other parts of the prep room and the labs, but the result will be inconvenient rather then unsafe. Thankyou everyone for your advice and support. I had been challenging the architects for 11 months over a couple of issues after the rest of the science staff were beaten into submission. The only reason we got the meeting to include me was by mentioning Workplace Standards Tasmania. So I don't think I would have been able to reach this result by myself. Again, thankyou, thankyou, thankyou.

So pleased to hear this

Congrats

As someone asked me earlier I am supplying a photo of my drainage rack.
One can buy a similar one from Westlab, but I am sorry, I cannot remember where I bought this one. I will keep thinking about it. Picture attached.
Maree

p.s. picture too large, I will get back to you all on this.

Hi Everyone
Glad to hear things have taken a turn for the better General. WE still haven't moved into the new building and prep room. they went to install my beautiful new Miele dishwasher and have found that it doesn't fit under the bench, its to tall. They can't cut a whole in the bench because thats where they've put the data points for the computer. So now that's become my desk of sorts. But they don't know what to do with the dishwasher because there isn't space left. Rumbles about sending it back and making do with a double sink, OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
Krysia