James Martin Floating Vanities

Floating Bathroom Vanities

A floating vanity does two things a legged cabinet cannot. It makes a small bathroom look bigger, because the eye reads the floor as continuous under the cabinet, and it makes the floor easy to clean, because there is nothing standing on it. That is why wall hung cabinets have taken over in apartments and in bathrooms where the tile is the feature.

What the wall has to do

The wall carries the whole load: cabinet, stone top, sink and water. That means blocking. A timber stud wall needs a horizontal brace between the studs at the mounting height, fitted before the plasterboard goes on, or a proper wall bracket fixed into the studs. Masonry walls take heavy duty anchors. This is not a job to improvise on the day, and it is the one part of a floating vanity install that has to be planned before the room is closed up.

The drain also has to move. On a floor standing cabinet the trap hides inside the box; on a floating one the plumbing is visible under the cabinet unless the waste is brought through the wall. Any plumber will do it, but it is wall work, not a swap.

Heights

Hanging a cabinet lets you choose the counter height rather than inherit it. Standard vanity height is 32 to 34 inches to the top of the counter, and comfort height is 36. If the household is tall, hang it high; if a child uses the room, hang it lower. Decide before the blocking goes in, because the bracket sets the height for good.

Pieces that go with it

• Wall brackets for the console style frames that carry a top on their own
• Metal bases if you want the open look with legs on the floor instead
• Storage cabinets that hang on the same wall to replace the storage a floating cabinet gives up
• Mirrors in the same finish for the wall above

If you want the option of deciding on site, the dual mount vanities are built to install either way, freestanding or hung, from the same box.