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Bathrooms Building a Home

Alcove vanity flush to walls or ok to have space on sides?

3 years ago

Hi all! I have an alcove space that’s 56.5 inches. I’m wanting to do a 55 inch vanity like example pics below, but contractor is advising against it. He recommends I do a custom vanity or do basic cabinets with fillers on the sides so that it’s flush to the wall for easier cleaning and things not falling down. Thoughts? What do you all recommend?

Featured Answer

WestCoast Hopeful

3 years ago

Ours has nowhere near a 4” gap and great is relative. In our new build the vanity for our girls bath being stock was totally fine with us. We are 100% happy with this decision and that’s why it works great. Not everything needs to be picture perfect design amazing ness. This forum caters to many home owners and many budgets. It’s useful to not just suggest that custom is the only option .

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Comments (11)

emp409
3 years ago
I have the same dilemma. I am doing freestanding and hope I like it in the end. It will Be a small gap on each side and will leave room for my hairdryer cord to hang down. Interested to see what others recommend too.
chispa
3 years ago
Unless you have at least a foot of space on each side, you should do a flush vanity. Anything that spills and drips down the side will be a pain to clean.

The photos you show, seem to have a problem with the trim for the bathroom door being in the way of doing the vanity and counter all the way to the wall. So one bad design then forced a second bad option!
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Ha, I just dealt with this (although mine is in a corner, not an alcove.) What a pain! We had a top made for us out of quartzite (like marble) and while I patterned the vanity perfectly, I assumed the corner it sat in would be square. It was NOT. I had planned to tile the wall first, then install the vanity and caulk the edges. What we ended up doing was basically what the kitchen counter granite installers do: We cut into the drywall, just a notch the size of the countertop, and slid the protruding corner into the notch. Then tiled down to the counter (rather than behind it) like a kitchen counter. So that's one option for you: get your granite counter cut larger and recess the front. But WAIT!!! You haven't had the granite cut yet? Why not just template the exact space and get the granite cut to fit perfectly? Otherwise, are you planning to tile the walls around the alcove? a) you could choose fat tile, which would cover the caulk line or gap. b) even if you choose thin tile, only 1/8" of your 1/4" caulked gap will show under the tile :)
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I think I understand you wall situation, but not sure what gaps you have with the granite -- along the sides? Did you tell them there would be tile on the sides? If not, they should have fit that in closely enough to just caulk it. I have a hutch-like cabinet arrangement in between two walls and that's what we did. No tile or side treatment at all. Each side of my kitchen has cabinets ending in a wall or tall cabinet. We took the splash up to the upper cabinets and ended it at the side -- nothing turning the corner. That would be my first preference. There are some photos of terraced tile sides here. I can't think of names of who has them though. I think that looks better with more contemporary looks, possibly arts & crafts and more modern, and with tiles that have some accents, color variation or other feature that helps with the visual movement. In a more traditional setting, if you have to carry the tile around on the sides, I would probably bring it around more evenly. You could consider taking it to the ceiling -- as if the entire alcove were tiled and you plopped these pieces inside. Take a photo or drawing of the elevation of that wall and make several copies. Draw it out several different ways and try coloring with pencils if you want to play with colors too. Look at them several different times and see what you think overall. Even inexact little pencil lines on a drawing will help you get the feel and will probably tell you which way you like it best in your setting.
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I had a 60” with two sinks. Not worth it-very little counter space between...that last pic has to bigger than 60”. We hardly ever washed our faces/brushed at the exact same time. And the drawers were ridiculously small in between. If the vanity sits between two walls, then a medicine cabinet on each side and one larger sink in the middle with a mirror across the whole back wall. The nice thing about a sink in the middle is you can still have larger drawers to store things. Here’s a good article explaining why you need a minimum of 30” and even that is still uncomfortable to use. https://www.jlconline.com/products-tools/kitchen/kitchen-bath-when-a-double-vanity-just-wont-fit_o
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I did a bathroom for a client that wanted to use this floating white vanity and a remnant piece of quartz from his kitchen I never got a fully completed pic, . the walls weren't yet painted, and the wood in the niche wasn't completed. but you get the idea His was exactly 36" don't know what your style is, but you could do just about anything Lowes has this in a 36" floating style. you could install something below, or even a toe kick if you like. See other pictures. I don't really care for this vanity though. it's cheaply made (notice the rails and stiles) You could modify that style to look like this in the alcove: doesn't have to be floating
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WestCoast Hopeful
3 years ago
Our girls vanity is similar in how close it is. Yes it’s a bit annoying to clean but I’ll happily do it and remember how much I saved not going custom on the vanity.
Helen
3 years ago
I would never deliberately have a gap in the vanity or any counter.

What for.

Having fillers would be a relatively easy fix or do custom and then they would be exactly what you want.

When I remodeled I did custom cabinets for baths and kitchen from a local cabinet maker and the cost was about what I would have paid for semi-custom or even less considering I did significant upgrades - designed my doors; had special interior features to add functionality etc; used relatively expensive quarter sawn white oak
Lyndee Lee
3 years ago
You need to either go wall to wall or leave at least 4 inch gap on each end, according to building code. I think you could do a 48 inch vanity and still be ok but otherwise go wall to wall with filler strips
WestCoast Hopeful
3 years ago
This is our girls bath. Gaps on either side. Works great.
catbuilder
3 years ago
I wouldn't say that vanity works great, but at least it looks like it has the required 4" on each side. The OP is advocating a 3/4" gap on each side, which would be an absolute no go.
PB
Original Author
3 years ago
Thanks everyone! I will choose one that is flush to the walls. Appreciate all the comments!
emilymch
3 years ago
Sounds like you've already decided, but I'll add my experience here for any others reading along - we had a vanity with a 3/4"(ish) gap between it and the tiled tub deck and it was awful! Impossible to clean, and I was always knocking things off down there and having to fish them out. We removed that vanity recently and it was grooooss back there!
chispa
3 years ago
OP has the option of doing standard basic cabinets with fillers and no side gaps, so people aren't suggesting she go with a budget busting custom option.

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