The vanity is the main focus of many bathrooms and sets the style for the room. Shopping for one in a home center or bathroom showroom, you’ll find a staggering variety of vanity styles, often sold as a vanity cabinet set, which usually include the cabinet, sink, and countertop, and is ready to install. The cost of the faucet is additional. A popular style today is a free-standing cabinet with drawers, a backsplash, and an open shelf below, a nice feature for storing towels.
The project involves fastening the cabinet unit to the wall, and then hooking up the faucet. A contractor charges $1,116, which includes labor and material, to remove an old vanity and replace it with a 42-inch wide, 38-inch high cabinet, sink, and countertop with backsplash. A handy homeowner can buy one for $550, install it and save 51 percent. That’s assuming he or she has the carpentry and plumbing skills and tools to do the job.
For being the smallest room in a house, a bathroom can often take a lot of planning to make the most use of the space.
Tip: If the vanity cabinet is the only switch and you aren’t going to replace the walls, lighting, and flooring, choose one that is the same size or larger than the old one. But if it’s smaller, count on redecorating because the wall and floor will be exposed.
To find more DIY project costs and to post comments and questions, visit www.diyornot.com and m.diyornot.com on smartphones.
Pro Cost—DIY Cost—Pro time—DIY Time—DIY Savings—Percent Saved
$1,116—$550—5.6—11.5—$566—51 percent
