Galaxy Horizon Vanity Sink Base Cabinets

A sink base is the vanity box built around a bowl: 34 inches tall and 21 deep like the rest of the family, with doors below and a false front across the top where a drawer would otherwise be, so the basin and its trap have room. The box is ½-inch veneered plywood with a natural finished wood-veneer interior, and the face frame and doors carry the stain.

Plywood is the right material for this cabinet. It holds screws and shrugs off the occasional splash better than particleboard, and the plywood against furniture board comparison explains why in detail. But better is not waterproof. A sealed veneer surface sheds a drip that is wiped up; water that sits on it for days works its way into the edges and the layers, and the floor of the box is where water sits.

Most leaks under a bathroom basin are not dramatic. They are slow, and the slow ones do the damage, because nobody opens the cupboard to look. In our experience they come in three kinds.

1. The weep at a supply connection. A compression fitting or a flexible hose connector that is a quarter-turn loose can release a drop every few minutes, only when the tap is running, and only onto whatever sits directly below it. It is the quietest leak there is and it can run for months.
2. The drip at the trap. Slip-joint nuts on a plastic trap loosen with time and with things being pushed against them. The drip comes only when the basin drains, so it is heaviest after a bath is run through the basin tap or a sink full of water is let go.
3. Water from above. A failed seal between the top and the wall, or around an undermount bowl, lets water that lands on the counter find its way down the back of the cabinet. It runs behind the box rather than into it, and the first sign is often a stain on the floor of the box along the back edge.

A burst hose is the fourth kind, and it is not quiet. That is the case for knowing where the shut-off valves are and keeping the space in front of them clear, which the next section deals with.

The cheapest insurance a vanity can have is a moulded drip tray, cut or bought to the inside width of the box, lying on the floor of the cabinet under the trap. It holds a slow leak in plain view instead of letting it soak into the plywood, and it lifts out to be emptied and dried. Measure the inside of the delivered box before buying one, not the nominal width.

Add a battery leak sensor on the tray, and the quiet leaks announce themselves. Then keep three rules about storage. Nothing pressed against the trap, because a pushed trap is a loosened trap. Nothing stacked in front of the valves, because in an emergency you want to reach them in two seconds, not after unpacking the cupboard. And nothing stored directly on the floor of the box that would hide a puddle; stand bottles in a caddy instead.

For the holes the plumber cuts in the back of the box, fit escutcheon plates or a bead of sealant around the pipes. It keeps water from above out of the wall cavity and gives a neat finish. If the plumbing is being moved anyway, tell your designer the supply and waste heights so the cut-outs can be planned on the drawing rather than improvised.

Shut off the water at the valves, empty the cabinet, and leave the doors open with a fan pointed in. The aim is to dry the plywood from the surface before water migrates into its layers. Do not seal the cabinet up again until the floor of the box feels dry to the touch and has done so for a day or two; closing a damp box traps moisture where it does the most harm.

On the outside, Fabuwood's care advice applies: blot water off the stained face, do not wipe it across, and use only mild cleaners. The doors and face frame are where drips from the counter edge land, particularly along the bottom rail of each door. A small mark on those can be dealt with using the touch-up kit sold in this finish, a stick, a marker and a scraper at $62.40; there is no spray-can touch-up for stained finishes.

Now the gap in the catalogue. Most cabinets in the bath range have a carcass-only listing, a box sold without its doors so that a damaged carcass can be replaced and the original fronts kept. The sink base has none in this finish at the time of writing. A sink base damaged beyond drying means a whole new cabinet, new doors included, and Fabuwood's warranty says plainly that replacement cabinets "may not match" existing ones. On a stain, where every door carries its own grain and colour can vary between runs, that is the strongest argument on this page for the tray and the sensor. If you find yourself in that position, call us before ordering; we will ask what can be supplied for your specific cabinet.

The trap takes the middle of the box, which leaves two awkward side pockets and a strip at the front. Most people fill them with loose bottles that end up knocked against the pipes. A few options do better.

For the 30-inch width there is a purpose-made answer: the U-shaped vanity pull-out, GH UVTCPO-30 BLUM at $646.75, a drawer shaped to pass around the plumbing. It is a significant addition to a $461.50 cabinet, and whether it suits your trap and supply positions is a question for your designer. The other widths rely on caddies and small bins, which have the advantage of lifting out entirely when a plumber needs the space. The pull-out guide and the vanity accessories page cover the options.

If the storage the sink base cannot give matters to you, put it next door instead. A full-height vanity base beside the bowl takes the tall things; a drawer base takes the small ones; and a sink-and-drawer combo does both in one carcass.

Choose the bowl and top before the box, and make sure the bowl clears the face frame and doors of the width you pick; the vanity guide covers the family and the specs page the dimensions. Everything ships assembled, with Galaxy's typical lead time of about two weeks.

If you want the whole room drawn, with the plumbing positions marked, send the wall to our design service. It is free; a designer replies within one business day and the full design and quote follow in 24 to 48 hours. Trade buyers can use the Captivating Pro program, and the rest of the Horizon collection shares the same box, so the same care applies to the kitchen sink base too.