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nancyinmich

Two faucets to one sink?

Nancy in Mich
10 years ago

Hi everyone at Baths! I am getting ready to do a full bathroom gut in a year or so, and this time, I want to shop for supplies at a discount ahead of time and be ready with everything paid for before we start.

We have a basic 1675 sq ft ranch with a bath and a half. The full bath has a double vanity now, but I want to widen the door in case of wheelchair use in the future, so I want to downsize the vanity. One thing seems obvious to me. If two people are getting ready in the morning in the bathroom, they each need their own faucet to keep from interfering with each other. DH turns his on and off while shaving, and hates waiting when I need to use it to get warm water to rinse my mouth after brushing, for instance. (We had one bathroom with one sink in the past.) Why can't I just get one big oblong rectangle for a sink, and have a faucet on each end? It has the advantage of only having one sink to wash, too.

This seems like such an obvious space saver that I cannot imagine why others have not done it. That leads me to consider why it may not be a good idea. Is there any plumbing rule that keeps one from having a single drain servicing two bathroom faucets? Are there any other reasons that any of you can think of that would make this a bad idea?

Comments (24)

  • Olychick
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I can't answer your specific plumbing question but check out these at Houzz. Apparently it's not an insurmountable problem (if even a problem at all). It seems like a brilliant solution!

    Here is a link that might be useful: [double faucet sinks[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/double-faucet-sink-phbr0lbl-bl~l_37395)

  • palimpsest
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I am considering doing this in my kitchen. There are bathroom sinks that are made to take two faucets (or three) such as Kohler's Brockway (very large).

    You may have to use a sink with a larger drain than the typical bathroom sink.

  • MongoCT
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I've done that several times. As others have mentioned, it's a practical solution.

  • Nancy in Mich
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Olychick, thank you for that link. I have not used Houzz, though I have read others talking about it, and your link was the nudge I needed to get over there and get an account. They show some very nice bathrooms done this way, from ultra modern to the throwback Kohler Brockway. I love that Brockway, but I am not sure how DH will feel about it. It seems great for an ADA installation, since it can be installed farmhouse-style with the belly exposed and nothing between the user and the sink basin. I can only imagine how easy washing up that bathroom would be, with faucets out of the splash zone and no behind-the-sink area for soap to drip and mix with hair and general linty dust.

    Pal, it does solve the issue of two cooks and one prep sink, too. Are you considering a modern look or going with an older style with backsplash and wall-mount faucets?

    Mongoct, It is good to hear that it is being done. DH is concerned that it will hurt resale, just because it "looks different." If it gives more room for other things, I am with Olychick and say it is"brilliant!"

    Would anyone say that this sink in the only full bathroom is just too strange? This is the Brockway, installed in a cabinet. I would maybe put in the pull-out steps for resale. We do not have children.

    [

    [(https://www.houzz.com/photos/napa-wine-country-traditional-bathroom-san-francisco-phvw-vp~2016132)

    [Traditional Bathroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-bathroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_712~s_2107) by San Francisco Architect John K. Anderson Design

  • williamsem
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I wouldn't mind as long as there is adequate counter space on each side and adequate storage. If there is no space for essentials or to set hair gel, etc on then I would for sure be remodeling and factor that into my decision.

  • busybee3
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    a large sink with 2 faucets wouldn't bother me either as a buyer...
    i probably wouldn't have built in stepstools installed if i didn't need them...(unless they made me tall enough to be able to clean the entire mirror without having to pull out the stepladder!!) i think a drawer there instead would be most useful... children are 'too short' for such a limited period of time!!

  • Olychick
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I am having a drawer step built into my vanity for a remodel right now- for my grandson. The cabinet maker is going to design it so that it can be flipped over and used as a storage drawer when outgrown. (He may need to reposition the hardware). I am not putting a handle on it but a tap open feature.

  • lisaj1354
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I love it.

  • palimpsest
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    In my application it will be an undermount sink with holes through the counter. One faucet at the DW end and one at the range end of things. It will be a 36-39" sink in a counter run of slightly over 7 feet, which is the entire width of the kitchen.

  • xand83
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    It's not uncommon at all. Ikea sells one, the Braviken. We almost picked it for our recent remodel (last month) as I thought it would be easier to install with only one drain. We ended up picking the double-drain Odensvik instead, and the install was still pretty easy. I say go for it!

    Here is a link that might be useful: Ikea Braviken

  • MarinaGal
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    We just installed a two faucet sink for our girls' shared bath. We also considered one for our master bath, but decided against it because my husband shaves using the sink and likes to fill the bowl with water - if you have a large sink it's a lot more water and time to fill the sink, so that's something to consider. For our girls' sink, we considered a Kohler Brockway, but the wall mount faucets were problematic for us given we are in an older house with concrete outer walls. We chose a sink (Duravit Vero) and ran the water lines under the sink. With two faucets and one sink, you can either activate the drain with one faucet, or use a pop-up drain (we used a Jaclo drain). Other than that it was pretty straightforward and our girls love it!

  • Nancy in Mich
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Well, I continue to think about sinks for my bath remodel a year or two in the future. I checked out my favorite online source for remodeling cabinetry, Green Demolitions (we got our kitchen from them), and saw some ultra modern Australian sinks and vanities that came with LEDs in the drawers and "Integrated Blutooth Sound." Today, DH was in a relaxed, good mood. That is probably because he did not work the 73 hours he worked last week! So I talked with him about some finds on Craigslist. I told him that I am trying to get ideas on what styles and products he likes, so that when things become available, he is familiar enough with bath products that I can jump on finds that fit our plans. We looked at styles of bath furniture at the Home Depot site, looked at the ultra-modern Aussie stuff at GD, and then I got the courage up to show him the photo of the Kohler Brockway as used in the above photo by John K. Anderson Design. He liked it!

    I actually have agreement to base my design on the Brockway. That is a fun place to start.

  • noopd
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Villeroy & Boch has a nice sink too with two faucets.. Momento it can be either wall or surface mounted.

  • Nancy in Mich
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks for the tip, Noopd. I am not sure I could cope with a vessel-sink set-up. Plus, this bathroom may need to be wheelchair friendly.

    Ever-vigilant for a good deal, I see that someone on my local Craigslist has a 36" wide by 20" front-to-back and 11" deep Porcher kitchen farm sink for sale for $200 because it has a smashed edge and will have to be under mounted with the drain in the right back corner to hide the injury. This sink can be mounted proud in a cabinet, making it very wheelchair-friendly. It is 16 gauge brushed stainless.

    Now I know this is a kitchen sink. If it were porcelain, I would not hesitate. Would any of you even consider this sink if you were a cheapskate and were looking for a way to do a one big sink, two faucet installation in a bathroom?

    Luckily, I have the ability to fall in love and out of love very easily when it comes to saving a grand on a sink!

    Here is a link that might be useful: Porcher farm sink

  • enduring
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    What would the clearance need to be for a wheelchaired individual to scoot up underneath the sink? Do you have room to mount the faucets behind even with it sitting proud of the vanity? By undermounting the sink, will sit lower. I think it could be a fine sink, if you can get it to function for wheelchair dimensions. Do you like the look? I am doing a farmhouse sink in my new remodel project, but I will be making mine out of soapstone and the size is planned to be outer dimensions 24x14 or 15" front to back. The depth will be around 8" (outer dimension) high.

    Mock it up and see what you think. You can do a drawing too, to see if it looks good and fits.

  • noopd
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    the one i showed can be just wall mounted.. with or without a towel bar.

    Here is a link that might be useful: product page

  • benlinus
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Those tend to be found in workplaces so that more than one person can use the sink without having to have another drain and to have a larger sink for items at the same time.

  • Nancy in Mich
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I would like to thank those of you who keep checking back to this thread. I hate to start new ones when I have new info on the subject and I just add it to the existing thread.

    Enduring, I have not checked for ADA absolute clearances and recommendations yet. I suppose I should. I was just thinking the more floorspace, the better, the easier to reach the sink, the better. I am more likely to spend time with my rollator walker - a walker with a seat. I fear the bathroom is not big enough for actual ADA recommended clearances. I recently measured the room and will be drawing it up soon. I am a graph paper and pencil gal! I may have to buy design software for this remodel, though.

    Noopd, I went back and reconsidered the V and B sink on your recommendation. I see that the only model with two faucets is the 47.5" long one. That does not leave me with room for counterspace next to the sink. I am thinking that I will keep the sink to around 30 to 36 inches in a 48" vanity. I am also really loving the integral backsplash of the Kohler Brockway. I hate the splashy mess behind the faucet that DH or I sometimes make.

    I spent a lot of time yesterday online looking at vintage sinks. I did get one idea, but it was for a two-bubbler drinking fountain. It would have required that the faucets be too far to the front, pointed backward toward the backsplash. a bit. That was going to be too awkward, even for me!

    I am back to the Brockway.

    Then I spent a lot of time looking for a dresser to mount it into. I found this one, below. It is 21" deep, which is about what we have now. I was hoping to save space. But since the piece curves in down at the floor level, it might could maybe work. It looks plenty sturdy. I could imagine modifying the bottom two drawers to allow for plumbing, and I expect to lose the top drawers entirely. The piece is 42" wide, so a Carerra marble top with 3 inch overhang on each side would give us 6 inches of space each side of the sink. I also would be mounting the sink just a bit proud (so the belly of the sink protrudes in the front a couple of inches, like a farm sink). That would give us 5 or 6 inches behind the sink for the water supply plumbing (no real wall mount for that!) and I would use the marble to make a raised "box" ledge behind the Brockway backsplash, going the whole 48" length of the counter. That is the extra counter space we need. Above the sink I would do twin medicine cabinets for toiletry storage, perhaps with inset tiled niches on the outer side of the med cabs, so DH and I each have a place for additional storage. I would also like to find 1 ft wide twin cabs, maybe about 42" tall and 8 to 10 inches deep for us to have for storage on either side of the dresser vanity.

    I am thinking of painting all of the cabinetry. Maybe white. I want to do a classic black and white tile look, black and white mosaic tile floor in either an octagon in white with black dots, or a white spiral with black dots. Wall tile in white up to the bottom of the one window, with the window itself wrapped in black tile. Black curved baseboard and chair rail molding in tile. Bathtub in white tile with black trim and niches.

    Maybe with all that white, the dresser needs to be a glossy black.

    Today, I am going to check out the old medical furniture place in Chicago. I love little drawers in dentistry and medical furniture. I also love white enameled cabinetry.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Craigslist ad for dresser with more pix

  • laura7051
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I was just watching the show "Rehab Addict" (on HGTV) a couple nights ago and on the rerun episode they featured a remodel of a very small bathroom ("Shoebox Bathroom"). It had the Ikea Bravik sink with two faucets and one drain that xand83 mentioned in her comment.

    That's exactly what I think we need in our bathroom, because it's not quite big enough to comfortably fit a double bowl vanity. Strangely enough, our bathroom does have a double-length vanity base, but with only ONE bowl in the countertop. (I know, goofy. Previous owners, thank you.)

    Though it's possible to expand our bathroom into a hallway where a rather large linen cabinet resides, it would be a sizeable project. Even if we wanted to squeeze two bowls in the existing space, I believe there's some code issues re drains and the distance from a wall, and we'd have to deal with elbow room concerns due to a bowl so close to the side wall. And there's the expense of adding plumbing for a second drain.

    As for the filling such a large sink - we rarely do that, so I'm not concerned about it.

    I now have to dig into specifics/logistics, but I'm now more optimistic about finally remodeling our bathroom after being in our house 13 years and wanting to do it since day 1, lol. It's a big job, but certainly not as big as it would be if we decided to expand it. :D

  • Tmnca
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I have considered doing this but I wonder about the shaving stubble from DH that may not get rinsed down the drain very well with such a large flat sink...

  • Pattianne Madeo
    7 years ago

    WOW, I do sculpture and never even thought of carving my own. Hmm, our counter is to be a Hear Pine Slab, with 3"x3" legs & only 1 shelf for baskets. I have a huge cedar tree trunk & a Smaller oak trunk in my backyard waiting for the reno to finish, wonder if I could do a sink with that (& 4 layers of boat finish)?? What do ya'll think?

    It's our master bath and it is Tiny. The hall bath is even smaller. Wanted 2 clear glass vessel sinks to minimize the crowded look, but DH is not fond of that idea.


  • Nancy in Mich
    Original Author
    7 years ago

    Pattianne, I can understand not being fond of glass vessel sinks. They do seem fragile, and I am accustomed to putting a hand on a sink as I lean down to spit toothpaste and such. Perhaps with a vessel situation we fairly automatically grab the counter top, instead? I don't know....yet. But even dropping a hairbrush, a metal razor, or a glass jar seems like it could break it.

    If you own the wood, have the tools and the time to spare, I say go for it. What is there to lose? This way you can make it as shallow or as steep as you like, sized to fit your small spaces!

  • Nancy in Mich
    Original Author
    7 years ago

    I am the original poster and I am sad to report we still do not have
    our new bathroom. The objective has changed as time passed and we
    realized that we could and should take advantage of the opportunity to
    make it as usable for me as possible, in all levels of able-ness that I
    may face. I have finally been diagnosed with a genetic connective
    tissue disorder that for the past several years I have thought was the answer to what was wrong with my joints my whole life. It is
    not unreasonable to expect to not be walking someday. Joint replacement
    is not a possibility because the ligaments and tendons around the
    joints would not recover from getting all stretched out trying to get a
    new joint in place.

    So I am designing a roll-in shower and a 36-inch wide door and a
    vanity that I could pull up to in my rollator walker if I needed to. I
    will put blocking in the wall for a wall-hung sink in case that is ever
    needed for full-time wheelchair use. For now, I am going to use an antique
    lady's vanity. It allows room for the 36" bathroom entry door and the
    knee hole allows for feet/knees to go under to get close to the sink.
    It is not perfect for a wheelchair user, but would suffice for my seated
    walker, a likely intermediate step. Here is the vanity. I am
    replacing the drawer pulls with glass and chrome knobs to make getting
    into the drawers easier.

    Here are the knobs, mine are Chrome.
    The sink is a white vessel sink made of resin and crushed limestone.

    This is the Countertop, Cambria Parys. Our new windows are in and we have this as the windowsill in the bathroom so the countertop material is "set in stone!" The color of the vanity will change to a gray-blue, I think. Maybe a gray. Maybe a blue.

    Here is our faucet, a Brizo Charlotte.

    Here is a mock-up of our wall, though our tile won't be green. The second med cab is lower, so that I may use it sitting down. The trim is no longer black, it is white. The tile on the walls is likely to be Daltile's ceramic that looks like Carrara and I may have it go to the ceiling, with a break with a pencil molding in white marble and a few rows of sparkly real Carrara marble bricks, then another pencil molding. I am not sure what the floor will be yet. The shower will be Swanstone walls. I am not sure of the shower pan yet.


    Swanstone has a shower pan that has a trench drain at the front edge that is a roll-in shower. But it is only 34" before the walls go up, and I am just not sure I like that shallow a depth. Just a couple of inches more would be better! I have to find out how much space is taken up by the walls and the glass front doors that I may get. Or I just don't want to fight with the shower curtain as I now do!

    We were waiting for our contractor to be free and our dog who has been having doggy dementia and was using a pee mat in that bathroom to pass away. Our dog is now at peace, so it is time to settle on a few last choices and see if my contractor is going to be able to do this job.