Vanities for Small Bathrooms

Updated sinks and faucets add a modern look to any bathroom. My prior post shared how we replaced my sister’s 1970s vanity cabinet with a new one from Allen and Roth.

Installing the faucet and sink took us less time than we thought. Primarily because new faucet technology makes faucet replacement a lot easier than it used to be, compared to even just 3 years ago.

After reading this tutorial you should be able to do this project in less 1 hour. If anything, it probably will take you longer to remove the old faucet if you’re not removing the sink.

Here’s a list of tools & supplies you’ll need for this project:

• Channel Locks
• P-Trap Assembly
• Tailpiece Extension Tube
• Caulk
• Caulking Gun
• Teflon Tape
• Hack Saw
• Miter Box (optional)
• Crescent Wrench

 

Step 1: Add the Faucet to the Sink

One big recommendation I have is to use name brand faucets. Having several rental properties has taught me to do this because if the faucet breaks you can easily get replacement parts.

American Standard faucets have been a good choice for me in the past and my sister chose one for her bathroom.

The water should be shutoff to the old faucet by turning the shutoff valves completely to the right.

Rest the new bathroom sink on the floor and insert your new faucet into it.

Place the black mounting nuts that came with the faucet onto the faucet tailpieces. Tighten the nuts until the faucet is snug against the sink.

Insert the drain that came with the faucet into the sink. Ensure the slot for the stopper faces the back of the sink. Then slide the rubber sealing gasket up the drain so that it sits against the sink.

Make sure the tabs in the stopper slot are in the correct position. Our American Standard faucet required the tabs to be at 1 o’clock and 7 o’clock. This is SUPER important and will enable your pop-up stopper to properly go up and down.

Insert the plastic washer that came with the faucet drain against the rubber sealing gasket.

Slide the plastic locknut up the drain and tighten it with channel locks. If there’s going to be a water leak it will be in between the rubber gasket and sink. The plastic locknut pressing the gasket against the sink is what stops water leaks.

Attach the pop-up stopper assembly to the stopper slot and tighten it by turning it to the right. This is one of the best parts of new sinks. The pop-up stopper assembly is now super easy and doesn’t require any fiddling around with nuts, clips, linkage, etc.

Test the pop-up stopper to make sure it goes up and down. If it doesn’t unfasten the stopper assembly from the stopper slot and make sure the tabs in the slot are in the correct position.

Honestly, this happened to me but it didn’t take much time to fix.

With the sink still on the floor I highly recommend fastening the steel braided water supply lines to the faucet. I never use any other type of supply line and if your shutoff valves are in bad shape this is a good time to replace them, too.

At this point you can pick up your sink and place it on your bathroom vanity cabinet.

Step 2: Assemble the P-Trap to the Bathroom Faucet

This is perhaps the most frustrating part of putting together vanities in small bathrooms. Primarily because there are so many places for water to leak.

The P-Trap consists of numerous slip nuts that always like to give me headaches.

Here in the states bathroom plumbing for P-Traps is usually 1 1/4 inches in diameter. The faucet and sink manufactures never provide P-Trap parts.

So if you want to replace them you’ll need to buy a kit that looks like this (this is the diagram on the back of the bag).

Here’s a tip you need to know: purchase a tailpiece extension tube. This tube fits on the drain tailpiece and extends it downward. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve needed this. Now that I think about it, I’ve needed on every sink I’ve installed.

You can find it in the same section as the P-Trap kit.

Begin the P-Trap assembly by attaching a slip nut on the tailpiece followed by the slip nut washer. Make sure the washer’s tapered end faces downward.

Put the J-Bend and wall tube together. Place the the wall tube in the wall stub-out. Make sure the wall tube goes into the stub-out as much as it can to ensure there won’t be a water leak.

Check to make sure the drain tailpiece will go down into the J-bend by at least 1 inch.

If you need to trim the drain tailpiece use a hacksaw and miter box to make a clean cut. Make sure the cut edge is smooth because any loose plastic fillings will cause the fitting to fail.

You could also buy a plastic pipe cutter. This tool is fantastic and as a result I’m never using a hacksaw again to cut P-Trap parts 🙂

With the P-Trap in place tighten all the slip nuts except for the one that connects the J-Bend to the tailpiece or extension tailpiece.

Step 3: Securing the Sink to the Vanity Cabinet

Lift the sink off the vanity cabinet and apply a bead of silicone caulk along the cabinet top perimeter.

Set the sink back onto the top of the vanity cabinet and tighten the slip nut that holds the J-bend & drain tailpiece together.

Hand tighten the water supply lines to the shutoff valves. Use a crescent wrench to turn the supply line nut 1/4 to 1/2 turn to the right.

Remove the strainer from your faucet before running the water to prevent debris from clogging it. This is especially important if you’ve been doing extensive remodeling in your bathroom.

Turn on the water to the faucet and check to make sure there are no leaks coming from

• the hot water supply line at the faucet  tailpiece and shutoff valve
• the cold water supply line at the faucet tailpiece and shutoff valve
• the rubber gasket on the underside of the sink
• the slip nuts in the P-Trap
• the stub-out at the wall

If you encounter leaks at the supply line fittings tighten them 1/4 turn with a wrench.

If you encounter leaks at the slip nuts place a bucket under the P-Trap. Then undo the slip nut and make sure the P-trap fittings are sitting flush before re-tightening them. You can also put teflon tape on the threaded ends of the P-trap pipes.

Here are the Summary Points for this tutorial

• Turn the water off at the sink faucet shutoff valves
• Insert the new faucet into the new sink
• Place the black mounting nuts on the faucet tailpieces
• Tighten the mounting nuts until the faucet is snug against the sink
• Insert the drain into the sink
• Slide the rubber bushing up the drain
• Make sure the tabs for the stopper slot are in the correct position
• Place the plastic washer against the rubber sealing gasket
• Slide the plastic locknut up the drain and tighten it with channel locks
• Attach the stopper assembly to the stopper slot and test
• Fasten the steel braided water supply lines to the faucet tailpiece with channel locks
• Assemble the P-Trap to the sink drain
• Tighten all the slip nuts on the P-trap except for the one that connects the J-Bend to the tailpiece
• Apply a bead of caulk on the vanity cabinet top perimeter then set the sink back in place
• Tighten the P-trap slip nut between the J-Bend and tailpiece
• Take the strainer off your faucet before running the water
• Turn on the water and check for leaks

 

What’s Next 

If you’re doing a bathroom remodel and need help, join one of our online courses – they’ll make your bathroom renovation much easier!

Let me know if you have any questions and I’ll do my best to help.

Cheers,

Jeff

Vanities for Small Bathrooms