Thursday, June 14, 2012

Make Bathroom Vanities From Furniture Using A Vessel Sink

Add a vessel sink to a table or stand to make your own bathroom vanity.


Repurposing furniture can give new life and function to a piece that you love. A vintage side table or nightstand, for example, are readily transformable to a bathroom vanity with the addition of a vessel sink. Because vessel sinks sit above the line of the vanity, they can be installed into most kinds of stands, tables, bureaus or dressers.


Instructions


1. Purchase a nightstand or table that is tall enough so that the vessel sink rim sits at around 30 to 32 inches when placed on top. Most vessel sinks are around 5 to 7 inches tall, so a stand or table around 25 inches high or thereabouts should suffice.


2. Position the vessel sink and faucet as you want them to be on the stand. Ideally the sink and faucet will be centered on the top of the stand; however, the sink may need to be moved toward the front of the stand to accommodate the faucet at the back, depending on the width of the stand.


3. Lightly pencil in the sink's drain position and faucet position on the stand top, then remove the sink and faucet.


4. Measure the exact diameter of the drain and the faucet. Attach a hole bit to your drill that is the drain diameter and drill a hole through the top of the stand at the place you marked for the drain. Repeat for the faucet position with a hole bit the size of the faucet hole.


5. Lightly sand the stand with 220-grit sandpaper to roughen up the surface. Clean off any sanding dust with a clean rag.


6. Apply a coat of lacquer to the stand, following the lacquer manufacturer's instructions. Let dry for the recommended time before sanding the stand again, and apply two more coats in the same manner. This will waterproof the stand and make it ready for use in the bathroom.








7. Place the vessel sink back on the stand over the drain hole and lightly pencil where the bottom of the sink meets the stand top. Everywhere from this line in toward the drain will be the contact area for adhesive.


8. Apply silicone adhesive to the contact area, following the manufacturer's instructions. Leave about 1/4 inch of space between the contact area line and the adhesive, so that it doesn't squish out the sides when you place the sink down.


9. Hold the sink above the drain hole and carefully lower it into position, adjusting as necessary so that the drain hole in the sink and table match up. Apply light downward pressure to the sink so that the adhesive bonds with the stand top and let cure for the time recommended by the adhesive manufacturer. The vessel sink vanity is now ready for installation in the bathroom.

Tags: around inches, contact area, drain hole, sink faucet, vessel sink, vessel sink