Vanity installation, against the wall you actually have

What is vanity installation?

Vanity installation fits a new basin cabinet, top and tap, and reconnects it to the existing waste and supplies. The work is straightforward when the new unit is a similar size to the old one and the pipework emerges where the new cabinet can accept it. It stops being straightforward when the cabinet has a solid back panel that has to be cut accurately, when the supplies are old and the shut-off valves seized, or when the unit is wall-hung and needs framing behind the wall.

Signs you need vanity installation

• The vanity top has a failed seam, a cracked basin, or a surface that no longer cleans up
• The cabinet base is swollen or delaminating at the floor, usually from a slow supply or waste leak
• Storage does not work - one cupboard with a waste pipe through the middle of it
• You need two basins and the wall is long enough to take them
• A wall-hung unit would release floor area in a room that has none to spare
• The tap is being replaced anyway, which is the cheapest moment to change the whole unit

Seeing something not on this list? Browse bathroom remodeling problems by symptom →

How vanity installation actually works

1. 1

   Find out where the waste and supplies emerge

   Take the old vanity off and note the height and horizontal position of the waste and both supplies. Every subsequent decision - cabinet style, drawer layout, whether the back panel can be cut cleanly - depends on those three measurements.

   Watch forA vanity chosen before those measurements exist. Drawer units in particular are unforgiving: a waste pipe crossing where a drawer box wants to be means either a redesign or a plumbing alteration.

2. 2

   Check the cabinet back, and the wall behind it

   Some cabinets have an open back and simply slide over the pipework. Others have a solid panel that must be cut to accept it. Bathroom walls are also frequently out of plumb, and a rigid cabinet pushed against a bowed wall will rock or leave a gap at the top of the top.

   Watch forA gap behind the top being filled with sealant rather than the cabinet being packed and scribed. It looks acceptable for a season and then opens up.

3. 3

   Replace the shut-off valves while everything is off

   Old shut-off valves are the most common source of a small job becoming a large one - they seize, or they weep once disturbed after years untouched. Replacing them during a vanity change is quick, cheap and prevents having to shut the whole house off next time.

   Watch forValves that will not close fully being reused because they are "fine". They were fine while nobody touched them; the job that disturbs them is the job that reveals them.

4. 4

   Fix wall-hung units into real support

   A wall-hung vanity carries its own weight plus the top, the basin and whatever leans on it, all cantilevered off the wall. It needs solid blocking or a proprietary frame installed in the wall - which means the wall is open at the time it is decided.

   Watch forA wall-hung vanity fixed to drywall with hollow-wall anchors. It will hold for a while. It is the fixture in the bathroom people put their weight on without thinking.

5. 5

   Set the unit level, connect, and test with the doors shut

   The cabinet is levelled and packed, fixed back to the wall, the top set and the tap and waste connected. Then run both taps hard, fill and drain the basin, and check every joint - including the ones you cannot see without kneeling down.

   Watch forA quick visual check instead of a run test. Waste connections that are slightly out of alignment do not drip on a trickle; they drip on a full basin draining, which is the condition nobody tests.

What does vanity installation cost?

Fitting a vanity typically runs $300 to $1,200 in labour, on top of the unit and top. Replacing shut-off valves, moving pipework, or building support for a wall-hung unit each add to that, and a wall-hung installation into a wall that has to be opened is a different job entirely.

See the full vanity installation cost guide - by material, size and region →

If the number is the problem, here are the ways people pay for it →