Adapting furniture to become washstand

[MortarThePoint]

The boss has asked for the arrangement below in our en-suite. Once installed the detritus on the top will be replaced with hers, but hopefully less. It's an 1150 x 450 console table with two drawers and an Ikea Tornviken basin on top. I have already cut the required hole in the top and adapted the drawers to accommodate the trap and tap tails. Given the arrangement, I am concerned about water splashes going on the table top and ruining it. We've thought of various options to address this:

1. Sticky furniture vinyl [d-c-fix], but I worry it would peel in time and look bad
2. Liberal coats of yacht varnish, the wood may still move in the humidity and crack the varnish
3. A glass table top with hole cut in. If see through (~£50), I wouldn't be able to seal between the glass and the wooden painted top. If the glass itself is painted on the back (kitchen splashback, ~£125) it could be sealed.

 

My preference is [3] and I am thinking 8mm or 10mm thick toughened clear glass with a 10mm overhang to try to stop water tracking back and between the glass and the table top.

 

Does anyone else have a good suggestion or experience with a glass top in a bathroom?

 

 

 

[-rick-]

14 minutes ago, MortarThePoint said:

Once installed the detritus on the top will be replaced with hers, but hopefully less.

 

🤣

 

14 minutes ago, MortarThePoint said:

1. Sticky furniture vinyl [d-c-fix], but I worry it would peel in time and look bad
2. Liberal coats of yacht varnish, the wood may still move in the humidity and crack the varnish
3. A glass table top with hole cut in. If see through (~£50), I wouldn't be able to seal between the glass and the wooden painted top. If the glass itself is painted on the back (kitchen splashback, ~£125) it could be sealed.

My preference is [3] and I am thinking 8mm or 10mm thick toughened clear glass with a 10mm overhang to try to stop water tracking back and between the glass and the table top.

 

Definitely not 1. Glass is a good protection surface, not sure I've heard it done in a bathroom and fear water getting underneath (which would likely be a worse problem than not having the glass if you didn't notice it - and it's a pain to get at once everything is finished).

 

My initial thought was a good application of latex type paint. Not waterproof but kinda close if you are good at keeping things relatively clean and hopefully moves with the wood. However, given your first statement, if you expect a collection of objects to accumulate and therefore maybe spills to get missed in the clutter I doubt it's a good idea.

 

I've no practical experience doing something like this so just thinking aloud.

[garrymartin]

It's not just water getting underneath; it's the temperature differential too. Just think about what happens to a mirror without a demister. Do you want that for your flat surface?

[-rick-]

An idea:

 

How about removing the top wooden surface and putting something like quartz or corian on it? Keep the rest of the unit as is. That's about as bomb proof as you are going to get. Pricier than glass but you might find a keenly priced offcut the right size. Something like Corian can be cut easily.

 

Does change the look though so maybe not what you are going for.

[MortarThePoint]

1 hour ago, garrymartin said:

It's not just water getting underneath; it's the temperature differential too. Just think about what happens to a mirror without a demister. Do you want that for your flat surface?

 

That's a though for water condensing on the basin and running down onto the top as well.

[Russdl]

I did that in our previous house. I got a piece of glass cut to the exact size of the top with a central hole cut, sealed the edges with silicone (handn’t heard of CT-1 at that stage). Never had any problems with condensation or water tracking underneath in the 10+ years we lived with it. 

[MortarThePoint]

5 minutes ago, Russdl said:

I did that in our previous house. I got a piece of glass cut to the exact size of the top with a central hole cut, sealed the edges with silicone (handn’t heard of CT-1 at that stage). Never had any problems with condensation or water tracking underneath in the 10+ years we lived with it. 

 

Was that coloured glass then or did you manage a neat job with the sealant?

[Russdl]

It was a dark wood unit and clear glass on top. It was just a smear of silicone round all the wood/glass joins. Most of the water stayed in the bowl, only the odd splash outside, it was never an issue. 

[MortarThePoint]

I'll see what the boss thinks but if I use 10mm thick glass with a 10mm dubbed overhang hopefully water won't track back. I could try to treat the underside with something hydrophobic to help. At the corners, the glass could go of the silicone bumpers below [link]and under the sink itself I can happily use some sealant. The glass (1150mm x 450mm) needs a big hole (190mm) cut it in to allow the waste and tap tails, but that will hopefully be alright given the 10mm thickness.

 

The bumpers are 2mm thick, so that would leave a gap between the glass and top which is probably good for water but could allow insects to crawl in there and die which would be a major nuisance. Maybe a routed trench and silicone tubing would be a better option.

 

[tetris]

Replacing current top entirely with corian-type would be by far the best choice here, imho.

Aesthetically too, by a mile.

 

If you want cheap & cheerful, then good quality bathroom paint on all surfaces (inside & outside). Wonderful stuff.

 

Why glass? If you had natural wood grain under it, that would be understandable, but your top is already covered with a thick layer of paint - might as well be upvc underneath it, nobody will ever tell the difference.

Same comment holds for yacht varnish - you want to put it over the paint? 🫣

 

If this a toilet or a bath/shower room? The latter will have high humidity - a piece of splash glass won't be much help.

Edited 9 hours ago by tetris

[MortarThePoint]

4 hours ago, tetris said:

If you want cheap & cheerful, then good quality bathroom paint on all surfaces (inside & outside). Wonderful stuff.

 

Thanks, can you suggest some and I'll take a look. I don't mind paying quite a lot for good quality paint as I know you often get what you pay for

 

It is for a bathroom with bath and shower, but hopefully humidity will be under control due to extractor fan

Edited 5 hours ago by MortarThePoint

[tetris]

I can't find any record of what I used in my bathroom 13 years ago, but it lasted about 11 without any need for maintenance and was getting splashed daily. I had it on the, ceiling, walls, plywood shelves.

I suspect if you avoid the cheapest noname ones you'll be fine as I doubt that there's a lot of variance in what's being offered.

 

The reason I'd put at least 1 coat everywhere on the inside of the unit too is because otherwise you end up with a sealed outside and breathing, highly absorbent inside of the cupboard. This is a recipe for wood warping.

Having the wood fully sealed might not be ideal, but it's a lot better than having half of it sealed and half open to moist air (even with a fan you'll likely get high RH shocks.

The only problem I see with sealing the whole thing is if you get a major leak that finds its way into the wood and the wood then can't really dry out because the surfaces are no longer breathable.

 

FWIW, my parents went for an IKEA-style unit with a glass top under the sink in their bathroom years ago (against my advice) and it only lasted about 4yrs before the moisture and splashing had it delaminating and rotting.

 

I've used yacht varnish (Le Tonkinois) on sapele sills in the past and while it does a stunning job highlighting the wood grain, it did not last half the life of the bathroom paint.

Edited 4 hours ago by tetris