VANITY INSTALLATION IN MURRUMBEENA
You use the vanity more than any other joinery in the house, and it shows up bad planning quickly. Think of a drawer that hits the waste pipe, a basin that splashes the mirror or a power point hidden behind a cabinet door. Bathroom Renovation Murrumbeena plans and installs vanities in bathroom, ensuite and small bathroom renovations across Murrumbeena, Carnegie, Hughesdale, Malvern East and nearby suburbs. We set up the plumbing, power and wall support before the tiles go on.
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Mounting
Wall-hung or floor-standing, chosen to suit the room and the wall behind it.
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Basins
Single or double basins in undermount, above-counter or integrated styles.
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Tops
Stone, solid surface or timber-look tops, with the edges and splashback detailed.
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Services
Tapware, mirror cabinets, waste and power, all placed to suit the cabinet.
Wall-hung or floor-standing, single or double
Wall-hung vanities
With the floor visible underneath, a compact bathroom looks bigger and is easier to clean. The vanity hangs entirely off the wall, so the frame needs noggings or a bracket at the finished height. The water and waste points must also end up inside the cabinet, clear of the drawers.
Floor-standing vanities
A floor-standing or kickboard vanity carries its own weight and gives you deeper storage. It also suits older walls that can’t easily take heavy fixings. At the design stage we decide whether the floor tiles run under the cabinet or around it.
Single or double basins
Two basins ease the morning rush in a shared bathroom, but only if each one has usable bench space and its own tap and waste. On a short wall, one basin with a wider bench usually works better. For tight rooms, see Small Bathroom Renovations.
Tops, basins and tapware
Pick these together. The basin style decides how the top is cut, and the tap position affects both.
Top materials
Stone. Engineered or natural stone makes a hard, heavy top with a crisp edge. The cabinet and fixings have to be built to carry it.
Solid surface. A seamless material that can be moulded together with the basin. Minor marks can often be sanded out.
Timber-look. Laminate or veneer adds warmth to a tiled room. Edges and cut-outs must be sealed against moisture.
Basin styles
Undermount. Fitted under a stone or solid-surface top, so you can wipe water straight into the bowl.
Above-counter. A vessel basin that sits on the bench as a feature. It needs taller or wall-mounted tapware.
Integrated. The basin and top are one piece, with no joint for grime to collect in.
Tapware & mirror cabinets
Wall-mounted mixers keep the bench clear, but the tap body goes into the wall at rough-in, so you have to choose early. Hob-mounted taps are easier to change later.
A recessed or surface-mounted mirror cabinet adds storage, and a power point inside it keeps chargers out of sight. For storage built to fit the room, see Custom Cabinetry.
Where the vanity fits in the job
The vanity goes in at the fixtures stage, but it’s decided long before then. Four stages of our 12-stage renovation process shape how it looks and works.
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Design
We fix the width, height and number of basins against the measured room, and choose the top, basin, taps and mirror at the same time. The cabinet’s internal layout is checked against the waste run. See Bathroom Design.
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Plumbing & electrical rough-in
Water, waste and power are roughed in to suit the vanity you’ve chosen, not a standard height. Support noggings go into the frame for wall-hung cabinets and heavy mirror cabinets.
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Tiling
Walls and floor are set out around the vanity position, so grout lines finish neatly at the cabinet and splashback.
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Fixtures
The vanity is levelled and fixed. Then the top and basin are set, the taps and waste connected and the mirror cabinet hung. Everything is checked for leaks before finishing and handover.
Vanity questions
What size vanity do I need?
Start with the wall length and the clearances around it: the door swing, the toilet, the shower screen and room to stand at the basin. In a small bathroom, depth matters as much as width, because a slimmer cabinet can free up the walkway.
Can my wall support a wall-hung vanity?
It depends on what’s behind the lining. Stud walls usually need extra noggings, which are easy to add while the walls are open. Masonry walls need fixings that suit the brick or block. A stone top adds a lot of weight, so the support is designed for the finished load, not the empty cabinet.
Can the new vanity go where the old one was?
Often, yes, which keeps plumbing changes to a minimum. The water and waste points usually have to move if the new cabinet is a different height, has drawers where the old one had doors, or uses a wall-mounted mixer.
Is a double vanity worth it in an ensuite?
It is if two people get ready at the same time and the wall is long enough for decent bench space at each basin. If not, a single basin with more drawers is usually more practical. Ensuite Renovations covers layout options in more detail.
Plan the vanity with the rest of the room
A vanity works best when it’s planned together with the storage, lighting and layout around it. Look at Custom Cabinetry for joinery made to fit the room. For layouts where every centimetre counts, see Ensuite Renovations and Small Bathroom Renovations. You can also browse Projects or read Bathroom Layout Ideas. Have a question first? Get in touch.