Advice on building a custom bathroom vanity

[jteneyck]

I'm often a little more conservative.  I generally put a stretcher between each drawer.  That stiffens the cabinet, provides a places for undermount slides to sit on which simplifies installation, and provides a visual block.





John

[Cdshakes]

wow, i'm glad I asked here first... lots of good information.
oh, and wow, you guys do some nice work!

[JerrySats]

John how do you attach the stretchers to the sides?

[jteneyck]

Biscuits or pocket screws are my weapons of choice.  There are other options, too.  A Domino if you have one.  Or you could cut a dado in the sides before applying the front trim and glue them into that.  And if you are making a single box and neither side will show, you could use screws from the outside. 

John

[atgcpaul]

John and Mr Mike, would you mind sharing about how much you paid for the vanity tops?

I'm replacing an old 60" vanity that has 2 sinks with another one of the same size but with real wood and better features.  Some of the pricing out there for vanity tops alone makes me want to just buy the whole unit rather than make my own vanity base.

[jteneyck]

I paid about $1000 for this black granite one which is just over 4' long:



I didn't buy the one for the 6' wide mahogany vanity above, but I think it cost about the same amount.  Sure is pretty.  Not sure what the granite is called.  Both are 3 cm thick.  In both cases, the cost included installation and was done by the same company.  



John

[Mr_Mike]

John and Mr Mike, would you mind sharing about how much you paid for the vanity tops?

I'm replacing an old 60" vanity that has 2 sinks with another one of the same size but with real wood and better features.  Some of the pricing out there for vanity tops alone makes me want to just buy the whole unit rather than make my own vanity base.

I used a 49" pre-made vanity top from Home Depot or Lowes. Its about $300 or so. Single sink. You will notice in my picture, that the top doesn't go to the right hand wall. I made a raised area there above the bank of drawers with holes for hairdryers and curling irons. The holes have stainless steel inserts for fire protection. While its a real cool detail, it was done so a 49" counter top could be used. If you go longer, the big box stores charge a premium. They cannot use the cardboard packaging and the 60" tops are crated instead. Costs more to package and ship. The 48" is about $300, the 60" is $600!

At that price, you might get about the same price from your local granite place.

[Mr_Mike]

John how do you attach the stretchers to the sides?

Get a book or read up on frameless construction. Stretchers can be through screws from the sides sometimes, but are generally pocket screwed. Ditto pretty much every other joint. Butt joints with pocket screws is typical. It is a small challenge to hide the pockets sometimes. Obviously you use the screws on the bottoms of floors and the tops of ceilings. Stretchers between drawers you would put the pocket on the bottom. Almost always, you can find a way to hide them.

[JerrySats]

Can anyone suggest a good book on frame less cabinets?

[atgcpaul]

Thanks for the replies. The $1k price is about what I was hearing today when I visited a couple of showrooms today, too. Gulp.