The Sink

We are now entering the very recent future in terms of progress. This part of the project was finished only a couple of days ago and so it has been documented much more thoroughly because I was intending to begin the retroactive blog at the time that we started the sink install, so I knew I would need more pictures.

We originally intended to get a custom bath arrangement from Home Depot that is called Master Bath, where you pick the appropriate components to fit the space that you need. In theory, not a terrible idea, but in reality we weren't that pleased with the quality and options, so we (or, to be fair SPF) decided to look around a little bit. Every time we decide to "look around" we inevitably end up at Home Depot Expo to look at their showroom baths. It is fun just to look at the possibilities, but also it does give you a sense of how a sink, or tub, or tile will look in an actual space. We spent the better part of a day there, talking with the bathroom specialists about Master Bath, about our other options, about the extremely high end custom baths, and ultimately decided to get an off the shelf unit that would fit our space and meet our needs. We had three picked out that we wanted to price. We walked around with her and showed her each of our selections, and as we rounded a corner one of us mentioned that the one we really liked had two sinks, but we only wanted one. She suggested that we look to see if it was offered in a one sink option, since the showroom can't possibly hold every option of every style, so we agreed. Not only did it come in a one sink version, it was exactly the right size, had drawers on both sides, the fancy curved front that I wanted, and decorative columns along the sides. All of these were options that I wanted to purchase in the Master Bath custom arrangement, so, needless to say, I was pretty happy. Plus, the colors matched perfectly, with the deep red wood and the almond topper with flecks of brown, red, and white. So, we priced it and were floored to find that it was much better quality and much cheaper than our previous option. Score.

Here is just the base. Notice the fancy columns, the curved front, and the extra deep drawers. Also notice the matching mirror. Bonus!


The only problem was that the wood cut out on the showroom model was in a different place than the wood cut out on the one we received, so SPF had to do a little rearranging and sawing to make sure that the piping would fit through the back. No worries, though. The plumbing was actually another interesting problem. Our old sink was positioned right next to the wall, so that you had twenty miles of counter top on your right, and none on your left. And the outlet was on the left, so imagine the safety issues should you want to dry your hair, or curl you hair, or do anything that required electricity... It was a stupid design. Kind of like the stupid shower. Anyway, we had to move all of that piping from the far left of the wall to the middle, so that we could place our new fancy sink where we wanted it without having piping running through the ever so impressive drawers. Problem, yes. Solution, Cal!


Part of the repositioning of the plumbing put the waste water pipe near a stud, hence the odd angle. Cal wanted to avoid compromising the integrity of the studs wherever possible. Such a nice guy.


Which brings us to the topper. A nice piece of precut granite with beveled edges and specific cut outs that match the columns. So pretty. We propped the sink up on saw horses to install the new Hansgrohe faucet for ease of access.


Which helped quite a lot.



SPF figured out how to make sure that the handles were symmetrical and lined up along the sink the way that we wanted them to, and so we tightened them down in place and started to move them back and forth for fun. Even though it wasn't yet attached to anything, at that point they felt like real handles attached to a real faucet. Yay!


The finished sink, ready for install onto the base.


To ensure that the granite wouldn't move around and that there would be a good seal between the base and the top, we used an adhesive that was rated 10 on both granite and wood. Seems smart enough. SPF made a lovely, lovely bead of adhesive all the way around.


To be fair, I helped move the topper into place, but I let him smoosh it down while I grabbed the camera. For posterity, you know.


This little bit of plumbing is SPFs handiwork. The awkward angle on the waste water pipe made installing the J-trap somewhat complicated. But, I painted the bedroom walls and voile! SPF had figured it all out. Brooks is still not sure what is going on, but certainly admired the handiwork.


The established hierarchy of the cats in this image is fairly accurate. Osiris is always King of the Mountain, mostly because he is the only one that can get on top of the mountain, and Brooks lurks down below, causing trouble, and always looking for Osiris because she longs to torment him. Osiris, by the way, loves the new sink. I keep finding long, black hairs in it. I think he sleeps in it. Honestly.


And this was, of course, the true test. We ran it a couple of times to find any leaks and make sure they were corrected, but with a little bit of tightening, we were good. So, running water on a newly installed sink. That means we were able to use the full master suite bath - shower, toilet, sink - all together for the first time in three years.


So I had to go out and buy new accessories. I mean, honestly, you don't want me using old accessories, do you? That wouldn't be right at all.


So, what do you think?