Sunday, December 30, 2012

Vanity Hell

Initially we decided to get a new vanity for our new bathroom. After looking at vanities, ad nauseum, at  the big box stores, online and some local bath suppliers, I can to the conclusion that most all vanities are junk. They are primarily made with MDF and particle board for anything under $600. The problem with MDF and particle board is they don't tolerate moisture well and can swell if they get wet. There are a lot of designer vanities for around a thousand and more and I'm sure they're much better quality but I wasn't about to blow that much cash.

Aside from quality of construction, I have a floor register that sits right were most vanities have legs. This means I need to find a vanity with furniture style legs that would not conflict with register. It also needed to go flush again the side wall, and some don't allow this.

I found a vanity at Home Depot that looked like it'd work. I had to order it, but at least it was free shipping. When I attempted to install the vanity I noticed a fatal flaw in the design. The back of the vanity allows 10" in the center for plumbing, but my plumbing wasn't completely centered. Most vanities have an open back to accommodate plumbing anomalies but this one does not. I could cut it but it'd look awful since it has an open shelf design and the plumbing would be visible. So this vanity is going back to the store.

Here you can see the floor register and the plumbing is off to the left


The brand/model is Foremost Exhibit. I learned Foremost is just Home Depots name for vanities they resell from different manufactures. They don't tell you the original manufacturer. It came with a granite top that I was planning on reselling since my wife wanted white.

In this photo you can see the back of vanity only allows a small opening (10") for plumbing. The website doesn't mention this constraint





The open design shows back of the vanity. Best I can tell the only wood used in the vanity is the legs and the backing; the rest is MDF and particle board. Still, it looks like wood, but maybe over time it would delaminate.



The finish quality is not good. Up close there are all sorts of rough edges and imperfections. It looks nice from a distance however.


So back to the drawing board. I found another vanity from a local bath retailer and it's solid wood construction but the leg would hit the register, so it wouldn't work. Now the plan is put a new quartz top on the old vanity.


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