I need help finding or fitting a vanity unit to fill a 1640mm wall – any tips?

JadeHighland

Hi all,

I'm doing a full bathroom renovation in just over a month and starting to buy the final bits. I’ve pretty much got everything sorted, but I’m stuck on the vanity unit.

Ideally, I want something that spans wall-to-wall — mainly to make cleaning easier and give it a seamless look. Below is our current plan, but the main difference is that the wall with the sink and toilet will have one continuous unit — and that’s where I’m running into trouble.

The space is 1640mm wide, and I can’t seem to find a unit long enough to fill it. My fitter suggested getting one that’s slightly bigger and scribing it to fit, but I haven’t been able to find anything larger than that size.

A couple of other things I’m unsure about:

• Do I need a specific type of unit for the toilet?

• If I want a different sink than the one that comes with a unit, is it easy to swap?

Any advice would be really appreciated — especially if you’ve got links to recommended units or websites to check out. Thanks in advance!

Cairnpapple

Have you looked at fitted bathroom furniture rather than a standalone unit? They are modular and you'd get a choice of basins, loos, taps,  handles. We've previously used Trend Bathrooms and Montrose but both of those seem to be very trade focused and don't really have working websites.  Tavistock bathrooms is another brand that we looked at and they do seem to have a website though it looks like the real information is in the catalogue. 

In our current bathroom which is a similar size to yours we have a 600mm WC unit, 600 mm basin unit and additional 300mm unit with an infill panel to fill in a small gap. 

Emmia

JadeHighland said:

Hi all,

I'm doing a full bathroom renovation in just over a month and starting to buy the final bits. I’ve pretty much got everything sorted, but I’m stuck on the vanity unit.

Ideally, I want something that spans wall-to-wall — mainly to make cleaning easier and give it a seamless look. Below is our current plan, but the main difference is that the wall with the sink and toilet will have one continuous unit — and that’s where I’m running into trouble.

The space is 1640mm wide, and I can’t seem to find a unit long enough to fill it. My fitter suggested getting one that’s slightly bigger and scribing it to fit, but I haven’t been able to find anything larger than that size.

A couple of other things I’m unsure about:

• Do I need a specific type of unit for the toilet?

• If I want a different sink than the one that comes with a unit, is it easy to swap?

Any advice would be really appreciated — especially if you’ve got links to recommended units or websites to check out. Thanks in advance!

Could you not have them boxed in,  rather than trying to buy furniture of the right size? 

Alternatively Victorian Plumbing has the Cove 1700mm suite unit with a basin and tap
https://www.victorianplumbing.co.uk/cove-1700mm-vanity-unit-suite-tap-high-gloss-white-depth-330mm

in fact there seem to be a few Cove branded options - but you might be stuck with the basin they supply
https://www.victorianplumbing.co.uk/cove-6-piece-vanity-unit-bathroom-suite-high-gloss-white-depth-330mm

JadeHighland

Cairnpapple said:

Have you looked at fitted bathroom furniture rather than a standalone unit? They are modular and you'd get a choice of basins, loos, taps,  handles. We've previously used Trend Bathrooms and Montrose but both of those seem to be very trade focused and don't really have working websites.  Tavistock bathrooms is another brand that we looked at and they do seem to have a website though it looks like the real information is in the catalogue. 

In our current bathroom which is a similar size to yours we have a 600mm WC unit, 600 mm basin unit and additional 300mm unit with an infill panel to fill in a small gap. 

Thanks for this. That's what I'm struggling with, identifying the separate units. A lot of sites seem to be trade type sites which just direct you to a showroom. 

jennifernil

We have done 2 bathrooms in the past 5 years, and so has our daughter.   We both bought Ideal Standard back to the wall type toilets, which use a cistern  enclosed in a 600 mm wide floor standing unit.  

Daughter’s first  purchased toilet unit was in gloss white, and came from Ideal Standard,  it stands on its own rather than near the wash basin , and was quite expensive for what it is.    She has teamed it with a white gloss 2 drawer base unit topped with a large basin , both from Ikea.  The toilet unit did not come with a top, so she has used a bamboo one , also from Ikea.  The flush button is on the front of the unit rather than on the top.

Due to the high cost of the unit, she started looking at how it is  constructed, and found that it is very simple to copy yourself and save  a lot. She asked her Dad if he could make the next one she needed, and he confirmed that, with the right materials,  it would be very easy.  He has now made one for her and  2 for us.  They are all stand alone units, with a space between them and the adjacent basin units, so the basins can be  whatever you prefer.

The fixings and clips  required are easily available on Amazon, the internal framework,  which is not seen, is made from ordinary timber and offcuts of chipboard, the outside is made from 3 drawer fronts and one door from Ikea’s kitchen range.  Tops are either  from Ikea, or in our case , from offcuts from a solid Iroko worktop we bought to go over all the base units in one of our bathrooms.     There  are 4 in there in total, originally made to measure by OH and still too good to dispose of, we just smartened them up a bit with new end cover panels.  We  have a large inset Ideal  Standard basin in the worktop.

in our other bathroom we have used 2 x 2 drawer bathroom base units from Ikea, with the basin on the big unit and an Iroko  top over the smaller unit and filler panel  that fills the small gap up to the adjacent wall.    We also have a wide wall cabinet with frosted glass doors, which is really a reduced depth kitchen wall unit from Ikea, and another smaller, unaltered, wall unit, fitted with legs to make a shallow base unit for towels and bath mats.

Not having the toilet and basin units joined together means they can be positioned to fit the space but still allow plenty of space between toilet and basin.

We are of course fortunate that OH is very good at woodwork! However you could pair white gloss or mattt Ikea  bathroom  units with a matching colour, or contrasting colour, toilet unit from any supplier.

JadeHighland

Cairnpapple said:

Have you looked at fitted bathroom furniture rather than a standalone unit? They are modular and you'd get a choice of basins, loos, taps,  handles. We've previously used Trend Bathrooms and Montrose but both of those seem to be very trade focused and don't really have working websites.  Tavistock bathrooms is another brand that we looked at and they do seem to have a website though it looks like the real information is in the catalogue. 

In our current bathroom which is a similar size to yours we have a 600mm WC unit, 600 mm basin unit and additional 300mm unit with an infill panel to fill in a small gap. 

With the infill panel, is that something that typically comes with the units?

Also, how much did it cost? I'm noticing the "furniture" is a lot more expensive than the fitted units, despite seemingly being the same thing without the extra stuff link sink and the toilet. 

rob7475

Have you considered a half height pre-wall. You can then fit a toilet frame with the cistern and everything hidden in the wall. Wall mount or semi recess a basin with a storage unit. All pipework etc is then behind the wall and the wall is tiled to match the bathroom