Tiling and Building a Vanity

I think by now you all know that we decided to make our own vanity.

I liked this one, and Blake liked that it had legs, so we worked off of that.

I managed to find this one on KSL and I discovered later that it was shockingly close to the one in the picture.

It was not in the best shape but I managed to get it for a lot cheaper than any other ones that I had liked.

The first thing I did was wash it. I normally use vinegar (it gets rid of any smells) and a magic eraser.

The top of the dresser had a veneer top that was missing in some spots and rippled and bumpy in others.

I tried removing the veneer, since I knew I was going to be painting it, and that proved to be harder then I read it was supposed to be. So, I removed what I could and then filled in the dips and bumps using a combination of wood filler and wall filler. Then I sanded, then filled, then sanded again.

Once the top was smooth, I primed the whole dresser using KILZ oil based primer, since I was going to be using an oil based paint.

I had never painted anything with an oil based paint before. I have used spray paint a lot but never used a brush to apply it. I read a few articles about the pros and cons of oil based paints. The reason that I decided to use it on the vanity, is because we knew that we wanted it to have a nice hard finish. I also wanted to make sure that it was sealed because it was going to have a lot of exposure to water.

Most of the articles that I read said that when you paint with oil based paint you want to put the paint on like you are painting your fingernails. When it is down you move it around quickly, but then don't go back to fix something...because it would ruin it. Because of the slow drying time with oil based paint it makes lines that show up, disappear over time because it levels out.

(These may be the worst example pictures ever. I am sorry for that. Hopefully you get the drift.)

This is what the paint looked like right after I finished coating the top.

Lumpy bumpy and not at all encouraging.

After about 8 hours it looked like this. Such an improvement.

When the first coat was dry, I sanded the paint and then I applied another coat.

It ended up being shiny and just like I wanted it to be.

After the coats were done I brought it inside for a few days to finish drying since it was so cold outside.

We even gave it a trial run in the bathroom just to make sure that it would fit.

Thank goodness it did!

Blake and I measured the top of the soon to be vanity and decided on a sink size. We then went, and bought a sink from Home Depot. The next job was to cut the top of the vanity to put the sink in.

I won't lie. It was a little nerve wracking.

In the sink box there was a template for the sink. We decided that we were going to have the sink be off center and so we traced the sink where we wanted it to go, using the template.

Then, Blake drilled a whole in the vanity as a starting point for cutting out the template.

There was no going back.

Blake used the saw while I took pictures, and had the shop vac going, to pick up any amount of saw dust that I could.

We wiped the vanity down and then put a bead of caulking around the bottom rim of the sink to hold the sink in place.

The tile:

This is how we did our tile. This does not mean it is right. It is just what worked for us.

We were originally going to cut two rows of tiles to fit and then put down thinset, then repeat.

About two rows in we made the decision to cut all of the tiles at once, space them out, then go back and do the thinset and grouting. We worked backwards. We started at the door and worked our way back into the bathroom. Normally, this is the opposite of what you are supposed to do. The reason that we did it this way is because we wanted to make sure that the tiles that were the most visible, the ones closest to the door, were straight. Instead of just having our tiles go in straight lines we opted for a bricklayer pattern.

Working off of our center chalk line and our other chalk line we measured and cut the tiles.

When all of the tiles were cut, we started with the thinset.

We did one row at a time so that we could work off our center chalk line, and also so that we could course correct if we got off in spacing.

Turns out...we spaced it just right.

After tiling the floor we had to let it dry for 12 hours before we could do the grout. We decided to use that time to put in the white shower insert that we had. Only...there was a problem...

we had been told that with the shower insert that you are supposed to sheetrock, and then put in the insert. Nope. Putting up the drywall had made the space too small for the insert to fit in. So, we were faced with two options. Either we could A: remove the drywall and put in the insert (putting us back a day)

B: tile. More expensive....

In the end we decided to tile. We knew that we would be more happy with that option to begin with, but we had chosen the cheaper option of an insert. Now fate had forced our hand, so we got to tiling.

Because it was sheetrock in the shower, we put up hardi backer on the sheetrock so that we could tile over the top. We also left the insert pan as our floor in the shower because it was already sheetrocked in.

After all of the thinset was dry we started to grout the floor. Blake was in charge of grouting and I was in charge of wiping down the tiles.

We made pretty quick work of it together.

After you grout you wait 12 hours before you can walk on it.

Let me tell you...walking on a newly tiled floor? Glorious.

Looking at the floor almost made me want to bust out in song. Something along the lines of this maybe.

I painted the walls, then it was time to move in the furniture, that is...if a toilet is considered furniture.

We placed the vanity where it was supposed to go and then cut a space out of the back to make room for the pipes.

The sink fits perfectly in the right drawer, so that we are still able to use the left drawer.

Because of the pea trap, we will have to cut a notch out of the bottom two drawers, but they will still be able to be used to store stuff.

Even with the bathroom being bare bones, we were feeling quite accomplished. I mean, how could we not be?