# Bathroom vanity surface doesn't join to walls



## Toe (Nov 26, 2008)

Hi. I am considering buying a house, and it has two new bathroom vanities, both of which are "stand-alone models." That is, they are made to look like free-standing pieces of furniture.

That's OK, but the weird thing is that there is a gap between the countertop and the wall. On all three sides. Some gaps are nearly one inch, so it's not something I could just caulk.

Can anyone suggest a good, reliable, perhaps somewhat classy way to join those corners so water doesn't get down the walls in unreachable places?


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## RDS (Feb 29, 2008)

You don't mention whether the vanities have an integral backsplash. If not, then a tile backsplash above the countertop (with the joint caulked) would seem to be a straightforward solution, and not too hard to DIY. Or have someone fabricate a granite (or whatever material) backsplash to match the countertop. Current owners can tell you who made the vanities.

The 1" gap would be a problem, though. Obviously most tile wouldn't fill that gap. If it were me I'd try to move the vanity in tighter to the corner to eliminate that gap. Is there a baseboard in the way? If so, remove it. Moving the vanities would probably require redoing at least some of the plumbing, of course. A pain (depending on your skill level, and the material of the pipes) but doable.


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## Toe (Nov 26, 2008)

Thanks for the reply. Below is a pic of most of the bath (from the listing).

As you can see, it has a pretty big gap on the side (other side too). It's painted walls on all three sides of the counter. And there are baseboards below.

The back is relatively snug, but there is enough gap that it would be difficult/messy to caulk. And to make it worse, there is a thick mirror frame descending down to very close to the counter. There may be enough width to fit a cut-down backsplash there, but it looks like the faucets are very close to the back as well.

What a mess. I'm stumped. It seems like we'll be paranoid to ever splash any water beyond the sink for fear of sluicing down the walls. The only redeeming factor here is that the wall paint is eggshell finish, at least.

I'm starting to wonder if the only realistic solution is to install a whole new vanity. Yeesh.


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## RDS (Feb 29, 2008)

Ah, I see, and notice (upon rereading your first post) that you've got *three* walls to deal with -- so moving it tighter into one corner would just create a bigger gap in the opposite corner. So there's no sense in moving it. I agree, that's a real pain. And the low mirror poses an added challenge.

In that case, I can't think of a way of adding tile that would look nice.

You wouldn't need to replace the whole vanity, though -- just the countertop. Order it a little wider than the current one so it fits in there snugly. (And order matching back/side splashes while you're at it.) You could keep the same vanity, sinks, faucets, etc and if the fabricators put the holes in the exact same spots, you wouldn't have to redo any of the pipes. Maybe move the mirror up a couple of inches if that makes it easer to fit a backsplash in behind. It looks as if you've got some room between the top of the mirror and the light fixture.

Looks like a nice room, with nice fixtures, but you have my sympathies with this problem. Whoever ordered that countertop wasn't thinking (or was trying to save a few bucks).


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## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

It looks like the countertop was made to fit the unit and not measured for the room---the whole thing just happened to fit. I agree that replacing the countertop would probably be your best solution.


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