DO-IT-YOURSELF : With a Bath Vanity, You Can Hide Plumbing, Add Storage

If your bathroom is cramped, as most are, and has a wall-hung sink, you can add storage space by installing a vanity cabinet.

By concealing the sink’s plumbing, it will also make the bathroom look a little less mechanical, and it does so without costing a fortune.

When you add a vanity, you may also want to replace the sink, especially if its faucet set is worn and dripping. It also makes sense to replace the sink if you are thinking of painting and freshening up the grout lines in the tile work.

You can spend as little as $150 for a vanity if you shop for specials and close-outs. If you can spend as much as $1,500, on the other hand, you can get a long vanity and high-quality top, basin and faucet.

As for the style of vanity, consider the position of the water and drain fittings in your bathroom’s wall or floor. Don’t buy a vanity with drawers that will obstruct these piping connections. As for length, you’ll find standard sizes to fit almost any space, from 18 inches to six feet. If your vanity will abut the toilet, most codes require that the countertop end at least 15 inches from the center of the toilet.

And finally, if you don’t care for molded tops, you can build a custom top of high-density particleboard and plastic laminate or tile. You would then cut a hole in the top for a porcelain, plastic or china basin.

You can shoot for an entirely custom installation by building the vanity cabinet as well. The cabinet is simply a box with a space for a toe-kick beneath it. The cabinet can be built of a high-density particleboard and covered with the same plastic laminate used on the top, or you can build it out of lumber. You can make the doors yourself or buy them separately.

To get an idea of what’s involved in this kind of project, here are main points of the operation:

* To remove the old sink, shut off the water at the meter or beneath the sink, then cut through the caulk seam between the sink and the wall with a utility knife.

* Disconnect the sink’s plumbing by loosening the compression nuts on the supply risers, and undo the trap by loosening the nut at the wall and on the drain’s tailpiece.

* Once all the plumbing connections are undone, lift the sink from its sides and pull it clear of its wall bracket. Remove the wall sink support bracket as well, as it will interfere with installing the vanity.

* Set the vanity in position. If it tips away from the wall, shim the base with scrap or cedar shingles. Find the wall studs, bore the pilot holes and drive two screws through the vanity’s back brace into the studs.

* Press plumber’s putty around the drain flange, and thread the drain into the flange from the underside of the basin. Insert the faucet bolts through the holes in the top of the vanity. Next, install the drain pop up assembly.

* Apply adhesive caulk to the top of the vanity cabinet and set the top on the base, pushing it against the wall. Hook up your water supply and drain connections.

* Seal the vanity top where it meets the wall with latex tub-and-tile caulk.

* Last, cut the baseboard and shoe molding so they fit tight against the vanity, and nail in place.