Bathroom Vanity Installation

Measuring the room before picking a vanity

A vanity that looks right in a showroom can crowd a real bathroom. We measure the width available, but also the depth against the door swing, the clearance to the toilet and whether drawers will open past the trim. Height matters too. Many people now prefer a taller cabinet, closer to kitchen counter height, and a few inches change how the room feels every morning.

Then we look at the plumbing. The existing drain and supply lines come out of the wall or floor at fixed spots, and a vanity full of drawers may have a drawer exactly where the trap needs to be. Sometimes the drawers can be modified; sometimes the plumbing has to move. Going from one sink to two means a second drain and set of supplies, which is a job for a licensed plumber and usually means opening the wall.

The faucet you like has to match the holes in the top, and the top has to match the sink. We check those three against each other before anything is ordered.

We also think about storage. Some people want drawers for everything, others want open shelving or a linen tower beside the vanity. A quick conversation about what lives on the counter now usually tells us which cabinet layout will keep it clear.

What shows up when the old vanity comes out

Old vanities hide things. Very often the floor was tiled around the cabinet instead of under it, so pulling it leaves a bare patch the new one may not cover. The wall behind it may be unpainted, gouged or coated in old backsplash adhesive. We plan for this during the walkthrough by asking what is under and behind the cabinet, but we only really know once it is out.

Shutoff valves are the other surprise. A valve that has not been turned in twenty years may not close, or it may start dripping the moment it moves. We replace those rather than reuse them. A slow leak inside the old cabinet can also leave the subfloor soft under it.

When something turns up, you see it the same day with photos, and you get a written change describing the fix before we do the extra work. That is how Steve runs every job, small or large.

Old houses sometimes hold surprises further down. Opening the wall behind a vanity can turn up a drain line pitched the wrong way or a vent that was never connected. When that happens, the licensed plumber corrects it, because a new vanity on a drain that gurgles and runs slow is not a finished job.

If you want a recessed medicine cabinet, we check the stud bay first for plumbing vents, wiring and whether it is an outside wall.

Tops, sinks and faucets that work together

A stone or quartz top is measured by the fabricator after the cabinet is set and level, not from the cabinet's spec sheet. That keeps the overhang even and the backsplash tight to a wall that may not be straight.

Undermount sinks give you a clean counter edge to wipe toward. Vessel sinks need a taller faucet or a wall-mounted spout, and the cabinet height has to come down to keep the rim at a comfortable level. Integrated tops are simple and have no seam to clean.

A wall-hung vanity looks lighter and leaves the floor open, but it needs solid blocking inside the wall to carry the cabinet, the top and someone leaning on it. That means opening the wall, and we say so up front instead of mounting a heavy vanity on drywall anchors.

Backsplashes are worth a moment too. A matching stone splash is simplest. A tiled splash that runs up to the mirror protects the wall better and looks more finished, but it needs to be planned around the faucet and any outlets before the top is installed.

Mirror, lighting and outlets around the vanity

The mirror centers on the sink, or on each sink for a double. Lights on either side of the mirror at about face height light a face evenly. A single fixture above the mirror is simpler but casts shadows under the eyes, which is fine for some rooms and frustrating in others.

Outlets near a sink need ground-fault protection, and changes to lights or outlets are done by a licensed electrician. If you want a recessed medicine cabinet, we check the stud bay first for plumbing vents, wiring and whether it is an outside wall. Recessing into an exterior wall means losing insulation, so we usually surface-mount on those walls instead.

Paint and wall repair finish the job. Patches from the old vanity, the old mirror clips and the moved light get repaired and primed so the wall around the new vanity looks as if it was always there.

If you are adding sconces where there were none, the wiring has to be fished into the wall, which can mean small openings that we patch and paint. It is worth deciding on lighting before the vanity goes in, since moving a box afterward means working around a finished top.

A small job run the same way as a big one

A vanity swap is a short project, but it gets the same treatment as a full remodel. You get a written scope that names the cabinet, top, sink, faucet, valves and any wall or floor repair, and the price in it only changes when you approve a change in writing.

The floor and the path from the door get covered. Old materials leave with us. If the bathroom will be without a working sink for a stretch, you know when before it happens, and we tell you when the water is back. When we leave, the counter is caulked, the drain is tested, the shutoffs work and the room is clean.

Before anyone leaves the job, we run the faucet hot and cold, fill and drain the sink, and check under the cabinet for drips. We show you where the shutoffs are and how to work the drain stopper. If it is a stone top, we tell you what cleaners to avoid so it keeps its finish.

Small jobs are often where contractors cut corners: a top set without leveling the cabinet, a trap held together with tape, a gap at the wall filled with a bead of caulk an inch wide. None of that goes out the door with our name on it. If the wall is out of plumb, we scribe the top or the side panel so it meets the wall the way it should.

See the rest of our bathrooms work, or browse the gallery for rooms we have finished.