Replies

1. 
   RW | Mar 21, 2006 03:26am | #1

   You know, as a remodeler, I've seen it done in all variants of what you describe. I think if I had to vote on the one that looked and worked best, the counter was typical height, and the "vessel" was shallow. Here's where I hope I'm making correct assumptions about what you call a vessel. I'll call it an above counter sink. A bowl with a hole in it.

   At any rate. I've also seen traditional height bases and tall sinks. Still works, if you're an adult. Better if its a wall mounted faucet. And I've seen one where they really just guessed and cobbled this thing together - a big white flowery bowl, an expensive faux finished mostly black base, and the plumber used . . . a sawzall *groan* to cut the hole for the sink to drop in. The net result there was a bowl about half in, half out of the top, and a good deal of caulk at the joint. Well. I'm sure thats not the direction you want to pursue.

   Opinion wise, trust your gut. We tend to look for book answers when our eye already knows what it thinks, and is telling us so. You've seen it, if you think the base looks too low, play around with it, mock it up with scraps and clamps. Draw it, whatever. The best reference thing you can do is to make something to scale which will hold the parts where you think they want to be, and just live with it for a couple of days and see if it seems quirky or not. Look at the bright side. No matter what, you're going to have it looking better than the plumber did.

   "Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things, I am tempted to think -- there are no little things" - Bruce Barton

2. 
   dawnepstein | Mar 21, 2006 04:59am | #2

   I think your instinct to raise the piece some is a good one.

   Think of the vanity as a piece of furniture with a bowl on top. Regardless of the style of your sink, the proportions should reference something like a Victorian washstand/commode, which was designed to hold a porcelain bowl & pitcher. These are typically around 28 inches tall, (the height I favor as a starting point, by the way).

   Take your clients, your application and the desired effect into consideration, and adjust the height accordingly. You will see shaving stands which are over 40" tall, and bureau-like stands which are in the 29-34 inch range. These suggestions will all drive the overall height of the installation taller than a standard bathroom sink, but a wide range will work very well for most people, excepting wheelchair-bound and very short people.

   As long as your vanity cabinet has good, furniture-like proportions and relates well to the sink, you will have a good overall result.

   Hope this helps.
   -Dawn.

   
   

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   Edited 3/20/2006 10:00 pm ET by dawnepstein

3. 
   Dave45 | Mar 21, 2006 05:25am | #3

   I'm not sure what you mean by "Vessel Sink" but, for the last few years, I've been making bathroom vanities 36" tall instead of the "standard" 30" - 32".  Everyone who sees them likes them because they don't have to bend over so much to brush their teeth - a great feature if you have back trouble - lol.

   I did this one a couple of years ago.  Notice the bottom drawers - I make them to utilize the dead space that's usually lost to the toe kick.

    

   
1. 
   GaryW | Mar 21, 2006 05:39am | #4

   A "vessel sink" is a bowl that sits on top of and is fully above the countertop. The rim of a 7-in-deep bowl might be 7 or 8-inches above the countertop.

   I posted this on HouseChat, where I think  the thread first appeared:

   I think the height of the bowl's rim is a matter of personal taste. Personally, I think higher is better. So it's up to you and your desisgner. I've installed a few, and am working on another similar, although more custom project now. This one has two bathrooms with "vessel sinks."

   The guest bath glass vessel (polished Solex) will be a typical installation, resting on a 34-in-high countertop, with only a drain hole through the tile surface. This one's rim will be about 41-inches above the floor. Since the surface is tile, we have the option of setting the vessel on the roughtop (below the tile) and then tiling around the bowl - thus lowering the rim an inch. I think these higher vessels look good and work well, especially when I picture "olde tyme" sink bowls on hotel room dressers or tables:  you drip less on the table while washing your face. Try it with a mockup on one of your countertops.

   The master bath vessels (16-inch, round Durangos - they look like stone) will be installed atypically:  although likewise intended to rest on the countertop, we're going to drop the 8-in-high bowls through it so their rims are 2-inches above the surface. The bowl bottoms will rest on shelves inside the cabinets, 6-inches below the countertop surface. The surface will be 32-inches from the finish floor, so the vessels' rims will be 34-inches high - that's what we're used to. To insure the grout stays in the seam between the granite and the vessel, the granite guy will cut an angled hole in the slab to accept the uneven bowl surface (that won't be easy). Unfortunately, these vessels aren't intended to be supported by the granite. All this because the masters of the home are not that tall. Oh, don't we all just love these designers? Ha, ha..... Gary W

   gwwoodworking.com

1. 
   Dave45 | Mar 21, 2006 03:23pm | #5

   Ahhhh, those sinks.  I've never actually seen one anywhere except in a bathroom display.  I've always thought of them as a designers wet dream but pretty impractical for the real world. - lol