Wood Bathroom Vanity Top?

[Mike Goetzke]

My wife wants a wood vanity top. Don't know if this is a good choice in the long run. If anyone has done this I would like to hear your experience and wood choice.

Thanks,
Mike

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Mike, we had one, past tense. It looked good for a short while. But in a short time, it need some dramatic upkeep maintenance and/or repair. I ended up repairing the damage and then covering it with tile. My wife and I won't have another one. One of my future projects is to build a new vanity and put a solid stone top on it.

[Erik Loza]

We have solid walnut tops in both master and guest baths. It was against my advice at the time (wife wanted them when we remodeled the house in 2012) but it's what she wanted, so... They needed to be completely refinished a few years ago but I just haven't had time. Proceed at your own risk, I would say.

Erik

[Frank Pratt]

If she's gotta have it, she's gotta have it. But first make her sign a waiver that you won't be doing any refinishing on it :)

[Mike Goetzke]

Oh boy - I relayed the info I've been gathering and now she wants me to make a concrete top :eek:.

[Brian Tymchak]

Oh boy - I relayed the info I've been gathering and now she wants me to make a concrete top :eek:.

Well,,, at least you don't have to worry about refinishing the top now.. ;)

[Lisa Starr]

Concrete tops stain...will that be any better than the wood?

[John TenEyck]

I stayed in a hotel a couple of years ago where the bath vanity was clear coated wood. I was shocked how perfect the finish looked. When I asked the manager about it he said they were at least 5 years old. He seemed to know all about them, too, and said the finish was 2K Poly. That's pretty durable stuff, think auto clear coat, but I'm not sure how well it would stand up to nail polish, et al. Still, they looked great.

Granite in my master bath.

John

[Mike Cutler]

You're better off with the concrete.
Like others, we once had a wooden vanity. Now they're all granite. The kitchen was Formica, and it is now granite also. Formica gets pretty "used looking" after 30 years.;)

[Frank Pratt]

Concrete tops stain...will that be any better than the wood?

They're good if an appropriate sealer is used. Much more durable than wood.

[Mel Fulks]

It's how careful you want to be ,and if you can teach children to turn the water on non-full blast. Grandparents used to
use wash bowls and many of those pieces look good and seem to have old finish. But there are some adults who always
give the handle a big turn regardless of who's house they are in.

[John Welty]

About 5 years ago I installed an 1 1/2 inch solid walnut counter top in our guest bathroom. Filled the grain and sprayed on 3 coats of a 2 part clear satin epoxy from Chemcraft. Was told the stuff was used for bar tops. The counter is not in daily use but got to say its still in very very good condition. Used the same epoxy for my outside table on the porch. After 10 years I do not plan on refinishing it for the next couple years

[Allen Everett]

I had a house with 4 bathrooms with wooden counter tops. I stripped the oak top in the mbr and then finished it with a waterbased urethane. The house was built in 1975, when I left in 2018 they were all ok The only reason I refinished the mbr was a total gut but the wife wanted to keep the wood counters

[Dave Zellers]

As long as you are willing to keep it dry, I wouldn't worry at all about a wooden vanity counter. This is our vanity sink that I did about 7 years ago. Wood that was sold to me by a large supplier as Brazilian Walnut and some have told me there is no such thing, but regardless, it's gorgeous. It still looks like new. Probably has 15 thin coats of oil based Arm-R-Seal semi gloss- top AND bottom AND edges. That's important. I never even bothered to caulk the under mount connection between sink and counter and that hasn't been a problem at all. It's also only a smidgen over an inch thick which IMO is a much better look. After the grandkids (two small boys) visit and leave, We like to compare notes- "So how many times did you wipe down the counter?" :p It will be covered in water but we never say anything- we just follow them in later (and adults too!) and wipe the counter dry. It is true that people are conditioned to believe that sink counters can be left with standing water. If you're willing to not let water stand for hours, then you will be fine. The thing I find most interesting is that after 7 years of wiping it down with a terrycloth towel, it is absolutely smoother than when I installed it. :D

We are getting close to redoing our kitchen and gave serious thought to a wood counter, but decided against it because there is no way we want to control the standing water there and I don't want to do epoxy.

432577

[Mikail Khan]

Did one about 6 years ago and used marine varnish. Worked great.

Did another two and used catalyzed NC lacquer because I wanted a satin finish. Lasted a year. Suggest you use a waterproof glue as well.

MK

[Will Blick]

Damn Dave, that top is gorgeous!!!
hmmmm... I am surprised these pour epoxies are not suitable for this...
its all the rage these days...

[Dave Zellers]

Thank you muchly Will.

I started out thinking all anal about the process and then gave that up right away. I thought I needed to make an oval cutting jig for my router and then thankfully didn't pursue that and just traced the sink on the counter and cut to that line. The sink was far from a perfect oval but it didn't matter. After choosing the offset that I wanted from the outside tracing, and cutting to the line as carefully as I could, I cleaned up the high spots with my cheapo (but sharp) Stanley spokeshave, sanded it down through the grits starting with 80 to get a cutout that looked clean to the eye and then gently rounded the edge over with a large roundover router bit. Sand, sand, sand out all the machine marks and then finish. So many coats that I lost count but it's close to 15 thin ones. Using a high quality urethane like Arm-R-Seal is essential.

It is 3- 8" boards edge glued with TB3 and "I" can see a small amount of glue creep but I doubt if anyone else can.

The real beauty of this project IMO is that I started out being cautious, wanting to move very slowly and carefully, and quickly abandoned that and just dove right in. This should be the mantra of all woodworkers who are wanting to learn- You will learn faster doing than you will planning.

I do get a lot of compliments on it but honestly, I think part of it is the proportions of the slim 1 inch thickness for such a small counter. It absolutely makes a difference.

Apologies for my rambling but it did come out great and it's fun getting to live with it everyday.

No one should shy away from a wood counter as long as you're willing to keep it dry.