Your bathroom sink has been damaged or maybe its just time for an upgrade and change of color so what considerations should you take into account and how can you complete the job quickly and on budget.
The first consideration you have to take into account is what other supporting parts of your sink may need to be replaced.
Wall Mount Sinks
If you are replacing a wall mount or pedestal sink without a vanity then you will most likely need to purchase a P-Trap kit to reattach the new sink to your waste lines. Although you may be able to reuse your P-Trap the likelihood that there won’t be enough adjustment to take into account differences in heights is worth picking one up just in case you need it.
Water Supply lines will probably also need replacing unless they are braided flexible lines.
If you find that when you try to turn off the water supply to your sink at the floor or wall valves and water is still leaking past the valve then you will need to replace the valve that is leaking. Best practice is to replace both valves because they usually go bad at the same time.
Faucets can be reused and rebuilt if parts are available and if the finishes are still in good condition. The price of a faucet can range from about $30 for a very basic design to over $100 for a special order faucet. If you have an older faucet that depends on rubber washers and valve stems you probably will be better off upgrading to a cartridge design or a single handle design.
In Historic homes you may find that your feed or waste lines in your walls are lead and they should be replaced with a copper or pvc material. If you are retrofitting then a PEX supply line may also be suitable because it is easy to install without ripping up walls.
If you need to replace a lead waste line then expect to rip up part of your wall or floor and most likely the ceiling below or wall behind the sink. Lead waste lines can be pretty nasty to deal with when they get old because it is difficult to get a clean mount due to corrosion over time.
Vanity Sinks
When you replace a Vanity Sink Top it is possible to replace just the sink top since they come in standard sizes of both width and depth. The sink placement in the vanity unless custom should also match up very close to your plumbing so replacement of lines is not usually necessary unless they are near the end of their life.
If you do need to replace your P-Trap and Water Supply Lines you can use a plastic P-Trap and flexible braided supply lines for most applications.
If you would like to replace your Vanity Cabinet make sure you closely inspect the floor vinyl or ceramic tile. If the sink cabinet was installed before the tile then you will have a miss matched tile area with either a gap or overlap. If the vanity was installed after the tile floor then you should be fine with removing the old vanity and placing the new one.
A good way to check if there is tile or flooring under your vanity is to cut a hole in the back of the vanity with a jig saw or hole saw and inspect under the vanity. Do this if you can not see the edge of the tile as it surrounds the base of the cabinet.
You can replace your vanity sink top with a variety of different materials including ceramic and stone so look for deals when making your purchase you may find a marble special order vanity top that a customer never picked up for half price.
Color Matching
If you are replacing the sink top on a Pedestal Sink you should really consider replacing both the sink and the pedestal. Color matching is difficult and when ceramic pieces are glazed in the factory they are match in Job Lots with numbers to indicate when the batch was fired in the kiln.
Color matching of wall mount epoxy coated cast iron sinks can be provided through special orders at your supplier. If you are trying to match your sink to your claw foot tub you may find differences in what a manufacturer considers : Bone, Ivory, White and other similar colors. Although you may get close do not expect a perfect match.
If you are restoring Cast Iron fixtures then you can have the pieces re-coated for an exact match which will also restore finishes removing stains and scratches.
Size and Space Considerations
You may find that when your bathroom was built a contractor installed a Vanity Sink with cabinet to reduce the cost of adding additional storage or shelves in your bathroom. Unfortunately in small bathrooms a Vanity sink can take up space which makes it difficult to navigate.
Replacing a Vanity Sink with a Pedestal or Wall Mount Sink can improve the space in your bathroom and by adding shelving or a proper medicine cabinet you may find the loss of some storage is not so bad.