Bathroom vanities provide great storage space and decorative appeal and can be laid out in an endless variety of arrangements. Here's how to put your woodworking skills to use and construct your own custom-made bathroom vanity.
Starting Out
- Using a tape measure, we took the measurements of the bathroom from wall to wall- -recording the length for the cabinet. We indicated on our floorplan the location of the waste pipes and supply lines with shut-off valves for the sinks. On the final plan try to include as much pertinent information as possible so your final floor plan will be concise (figure A). Make sure that the design will be both functional and accessible.
- We set up the fence on our table saw to make our first cut (figure B). Then we ripped the 3/4" plywood to 21-1/4 inches wide.
- After we made the marks for our 32-inch-high side pieces we began cutting them with our circular saw (figure C). We also cut the bottom and the remaining side pieces for each cabinet.
- Next, we cut the 1x2 oak for the face frame.
- Our next step was to cut the four sides for the center drawer. Once we had these pieces cut, we made 1/4"dado grooves on all of the pieces, 1/2" up from the edge of the wood, for the bottom of the drawer to slide into (figure D).
- Once all of the pieces were cut, we sanded all the plywood pieces with 150-grit sandpaper to smooth all the edges. Sanding at this stage will keep you from having to sand in tight spaces after you assemble the vanity.
Assemble the Vanity
- We marked the location for the dowel holes on the face frame pieces.
- With used our doweling jig to drill two 3/8-inch holes into each side of the wood pieces (figure E). The jig kept the holes aligned and at the same depth in each piece.
- Next, we squeezed wood glue onto each dowel and inserted the dowels into the holes, using a hammer to drive them in all the way (figure F).
- We then aligned the attached dowels to the bored holes and pushed the two pieces together.
- Next we clamped the face frame assembly together (figure G) and allowed it to dry. When using clamps, be sure to apply pressure evenly from two sides to avoid twisting the work.
- We laid out the sides and bottom cleats for one of our cabinets. We then began the assembly by attaching the bottom cleats to the sides using wood glue and nails.
- We then stood the sides upright and used our pneumatic nailer to join the sides together.
- Next, we applied wood glue to the top of our cleats, slid in the bottom of the cabinet (figure H) and attached it with finishing nails.
- We attached the cabinet rail to the top back side of the cabinet. This will be used to screw the cabinet to the wall once we have it in place in the bathroom.
- We used wood filler to fill in all of our nail holes. Once the wood filler had dried we used our palm sander with 220-grit sandpaper to sand all of the exposed areas of the cabinet for a good smooth surface.
- We repeated the process to build the second cabinet.
Assemble Drawers
- We used wood glue and finishing nails to join the first three sides of our drawer.
- Once the sides were joined we applied wood glue into all of our dado grooves and slid the bottom of the drawer into place (figure I).
- Next, we attached the fourth side of the drawer--once again using wood glue and finishing nails.
- Our final step was to attach the backs to the cabinets.
Stain the Vanity
We used a paint stick to thoroughly mix our stain. Then we used a paint brush to apply the stain to the wood surface, covering one section at a time and using a clean lint-free cloth to wipe off excess stain until we had achieved the desired color. We followed the direction of the wood grain as we rubbed the stain in until the color was uniform.
Install the Vanity
- We brought all the components of the vanity into the bathroom, then attached the face frame to the two cabinets using our pneumatic nailer.
- We took measurements for the locations of our plumbing and transferred these measurements to our cabinets. Using a hole saw we made the holes for the plumbing (figure J).
- Next, we maneuvered the cabinet over the plumbing pipes and into place against the wall.
- We checked to be sure that the vanity was level and plumb, then used a stud finder to mark the locations of our studs. We drilled pilot holes and attached the cabinet to the wall with 2-1/2" screws.
Install Drawers
- We attached the drawer slides to both sides of the drawer, then attached the slides to the sides of the cabinet.
- We slid the drawer into place, then centered the drawer front and attached it-- from the inside--with 1-1/4" screws (figure K).
- After we had the pulls attached, we centered the fake fronts over the openings, made marks on the backside and attached the hardware for the sink front storage trays.
- Once the fake fronts and storage trays were in place, we began attaching our doors. Our final step was to attach the door knobs.
Attach Countertop
- We carefully lifted the countertop and placed it onto the cabinet, making sure that it fit snugly against the wall.
- We applied silicon adhesive to the back of the sidesplashes and put them in place.
- Next, we sealed the seams between the sidesplashes and countertop with a bead of silicon caulk (figure L).
- Finally, we ran a bead of latex caulking between the wall and the countertop and smoothed it out with a wet finger.
- The vanity is now in place and ready to go (figure M).
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