Nolamom, Thank you for the response! I was almost starting to give up on this forum! I have also been having a hard time finding an online vendor. irawoods definitely seems to have the largest selection. How are you making sure your console and washbasin are stable, since it will be "floating"? Most contractors that I have talked to about this are apprehensive about installing floating vanities in the center of the wall, with no support on the sides.

tell me about it! the floating duravit console/washbasin i have are the largest offered by duravit and they are very heavy!!! my contractor added extra supports to the studs before closing the wall, but i wonder what he'll say once he sees the actual product (he's put off coming in while i figure out a tile issue). my brother, a licensed architect, thinks that it'll be fine, as long as i don't put a lot of extra weight on it. one option i'm considering is installing support legs under the two front corners. but i can't find the right style in the right size. (that's an upcoming post, depending on what the contractor says)

i looked for so long before choosing duravit. i love their clean, european aesthetic and their price is very competitive. surely, their weight is taken into consideration when they're engineered (let's hope!). architects use cantilevering all the time in architecture, and for much heavier things.

anyway, i'm expecting my contractor to come by next week and will let you know what his thoughts are.

My contractor also mentioned adding extra supports to the wall, as well as a cleat to support the bottom of the vanity..even with that, he still didn't like the idea! With so many pictures and advertisements of floating vanities, I have to believe that there is a secure way to do this!
I love the look of Duravit also! I certainly hope that this works out for you! Definitely keep us posted on what your contractor says.
Thanks again!
d.

I purchased Duravit "Happy-D" sinks, supported by the Duravit chrome consoles. I purchased locally. The quality of the sinks is very high. No chips of scratches. The finish is very smooth. No problem installing Hans Grohe and Santec faucets. The quality of the packaging was very poor. A flimsy cardboard box with no support to keep the sink from moving around. This is how the local retailer received the sinks from the distributor. We did not need to add any extra supports to the walls for the sinks, but we do not have them solely hanging off the walls.

Hi Modernhouse- Thanks for the info. It's good to know that you didn't need the extra support. I'm curious though...if it's not hanging solely off the alls, how is it supported?
Nolamom-any news from your contractor?
d.

Hi sweetd313,

The sink is supported on the wall, and additionally by the 4 metal legs of the console. The sink and console I used are shown on the Duravit web sit. Look at picture #5 on the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Duravit Happy-D

modernhouse- I get it! I love that design! How long did it take to arrive from the distributor. From what I've been reading, the lead time on getting the Duravit products can be 8-12 weeks!

Two things -- (a) I have a Duravit Caro toilet (wall hung) and the quality is first rate. I bought it off an ebay reseller and got a great deal. First one arrived smashed, and they sent a second one out pronto without questions. I also ordered some other Duravit stuff from Ira Woods (sound barrier, flush cover) and found them excellent -- some people in the past had problems with them selling stuff they did not have on hand, without telling them, so definitely on a big-ticket item I agree with nolamom -- call! (b) I have a wall-hung Tsunami by Nameeks sink, the big one, and it weighs 50lbs if it weighs an ounce! My contractor put a mounting block between the studs and then sistered the studs to help prevent torsional twisting. No problems! I have pics over in the gallery (spa bath) if you want to see.

Good luck!

The lead time for one of my Duravit sinks was 4 months. At the time of order, I was given an estimate of 3 weeks. I don't view this as a problem with my particular local retailer, but their communications on the status of my order was less than to be desired. The only way to really estimate the lead time for your orders are to have your retailer verify the item is in stock at the local, regional, or national distributor. If it has to be ordered from overseas, the lead times can be long and variable.

thanks again everyone for the feedback!
bradleyj- thanks for the tips on supporting the vanity! That sounds like it could work! BTW- LOVE LOVE LOVE the clean modern look of your bathroom. That's exactly the type of look that I'm going for! Great job!
Modernhouse- 4months??!! Oh no! I have been reading horror stories about the length of time it takes to get the products from Duravit. I would hate to wait that long! I will probably try to find a retailer with some items in stock- if one exists! I am so ready to get my bathrooms finished, I can't imagine waiting another 4 months....

I just received my duravit (FOGO model) sink and vanity last Friday. The sink is 41 inches wide (all ceramic and very heagy) and cabinet about 39-1/2 inches. The untit is very pretty. Fit and finish fantastic.

However, some very disturbing things:

(a) Instructions are awful,
(b) The mounting hardware looks very flimsy. The sink is very heavy and they supply only two lag bolts. The screw portion of the bolts are 2-inches long and you screw them into the wooden bracing or studs in the wall. These stick out of the wall horrizontally and fit into holes in the back of the sink. You then have someone hold up the sink and go under the sink to attach a nut to this bolt, which pulls the back of the sink to the wall. (The sink does not sit on top of the cabinet. The cabinet is mounted separately under the sink, so you have to measure very carefully). The cabinet mounting hardware is equallyl questionable.

This means there is no direct support under the sink, nor under the cabinet.

My contractor is very leary and is doing a lot of work to brace up the wall. and his plumber says he has seen a unit like this fail.

(c) You have to know exactly where you are going to mount everything, especially in an old house. You have no leeway. Duravit does not provide much help, because the instructions they sent earlier were difficult to dedicpher. We now have to move some plumbing because the spot for the one of the bolts comes out right in the middle of a waste line. I took a risk in ordering this, assuming good German engineering could be trusted.

Consdidering the risk of it collapsing and the headache to install it, we are considering returning it, but that would also cost a fortune.

Does anyone have any long-term experiences with this type of sink/vanity?

Shw001,
On the websites that I have seen, they always have an additional support mechanism. Did you purchase the additional hidden support? My neighbor just installed their Duravit products, and they look great! And they look very stable...They did mention that install was somewhat difficult, but they did not give details.
Are the instructions that you received the same ones as on the Duravit website?
Lastly, Where did you purchase your items from?

sweetd313,
Thanks for the tips. Sorry to take so long to get back to this forum. I have been busy and away, and not checking in to this forum.
Bought it through Ira Woods. No problem there, although I was not astute enough to get an extra discount as nolamom mentioned in the previous post.

Ira WOods referred me to Duravit for technical questions. In response to installation question (before I received the unit) they sent a pdf manual with very sketchy drawings of an install, and onle 2-3 sentence explanation.

I do not see any additional support mechnanism on the web site. Can you direct me to it? The instructions I received were the same as on the web site.

shwoo1,
I'm sorry that you're not having any luck with the Vanity! I checked the duravit website (duravit.com\mounting instructions, and it looks like the same one that you referred to in your post. Also, after looking at the hidden supports, I believe that they are for Consoles (Fogo)only,and not the Vero itself. Check Bradley J's response above..maybe that solution could work for you?
I am still looking for my vanity. I found a vanity that I like on Duravit.com, but it is only sold in the UK! I don't understand why all of the products aren't available throughout the world.

I have been very busy and not checking in to this forum. Thanks to all for the comments.

The contractor installed the Duravit Vero sink/counter and the FOGO vanity, and I am not happy. Having been very busy with my day job, I was not able to watch closely how thoroughly they installed the blocking between the studs, and came home one day and the wall was closed (tiled) in. So I had no choice but to trust the contractor and wait till he installed the Duravit.

Now the vanity seems to be hung solidly, but the countertop/sink (one piece ceramic, which wieghs about 80 lbs) is about 1/8th inch away from the wall at the top, but touches the wall at the bottom of the skirt (5 inch high skirt) I can move the sink up and down that 1/8 inch.
When I open the vanity drawer, the top of the drawer bumps against the bottm of the countertop skirt. The contractor says when we put things in the drawer, it will weigh down and this won't happen. I knew at the time this was bull, but was so dumbfounded at his attitude, I was not sure how to respond. I suspect that he is affraid to tighten the two lag bolts the extra 1/8 inch for one reason or another.

On possible reason is that he is affraid to crack the ceramic. Another is that (I am just guessing at this) he mounted the bolts too deep into the wall, so that there is not enough of the bolt left to turn (?Guessing)

Does anyone have any ideas on (a) what went wrong inside the wall, and (2) how to handle this contractor, who is very moody (some days very accomodating and other times, very stubborn).

Note: the instructions call for mounting this entire ceramic one-piece sink/contertop (41 inches wide x 19 inches deep x 5 inches high) with two lag bolts (about 1/2 in) through the back of the ceramic skirt into the wood framing. So I imagine the ceramic is strong enough to handle it.

I see that this is an old thread but I'd like to share my Duravit Happy D sink story. I LOVE the look of the sink! Spare, airy ,and perfect for a small bathroom. We bought from Hardware ,Bath and Spa (HBS) in Fairfield NJ, and that is one of the WORST business experiences I ever had. Ridiculous how badly almost every aspect of their service was. But...the sink.
After one year small hairline cracks appeared around the drain. No one dropped anything heavy in sink, so this seemed to be a flaw in its manufacturing. Then larger cracks appeared. Next the finish on the chrome legs that held up the Happy D sink began to RUST. A lot. This was after 18 months. We put nothing wet on the metal so this was weird. And ugly. Called HBS, and woman told us Duravit would replace legs. I called back and she told me to bring legs in for inspection. This thing, the legs, is the only support that keeps sink held up and attached to the wall! Like I would have sink just floating in air, legless! I was polite, she was so so rude. I have no idea why a sink that seems to be from such a high end company would have such sub standard performance.