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Alternatives to fabricating the ubiquitous 4" backsplash?

MizLizzie
9 years ago

I was so happy last year to get rid of my 4" granite backsplash when we remodeled the kitchen. We now have our counters butted to tile and it is visually so much cleaner and seems to give more counterspace, although I know it is just an inch or less.

Moving on now to the laundry room and guest bath reno, where we will be using granite. I don't want tile, so there is no getting around a granite backsplash behind the 60" double-sink vanity. But I would like to omit the backsplash where the vanity butts against the right wall. This sink is almost never used by guests, as they always use the open half of the vanity. The wall will be painted. Would it be crazy to have the fabricator cut that piece, and then just stick it in the linen closet? If we see a problem later with the drywall getting wet, we could install it then.

What about the laundry room? We will be (hallelujah!) adding an under-mounted sink which will be used to wash hands daily, and to soak or scrub the occasional bucket or litter box. Do you think I could get away with a glass or plexiglass panel caulked to the granite behind the sink? Any other clever ideas? I did see somewhere, but cannot now find it, a picture of a countertop which had only a piece of granite quarter-round to protect the drywall from standing water. It looked very clever, but possibly hard to fabricate?

Thanks for any ideas.

Comments (14)

  • Gracie
    9 years ago

    Why bother with a double sink vanity? The reason why guests don't use it is because they have to actually step to the side so they're not pressed up against the wall. Try it and you'll see what I mean. With a single sink, you won't have splash going to the end of the counter. With a double, I wouldn't omit the side splash.

    Somewhere I read that 66" is the smallest you should go for double sinks. We're taking out our double 60" in our MB. We'll have the expense of rerouting the plumbing to a single sink but save money by not having to buy two sinks and faucets and fabrication of an extra sink cutout. We'll gain more counterspace, important in your case for guests who usually have a travel bag that takes up counter space. We'll get a 19" sink vs. the two 15" we have now. We'll be able to use side sconces, which gives better lighting for applying make-up and shaving. We'll have two large drawer stacks (actually three since I'm using an all-drawer vanity in place of a sink base, so something like two 16"s and a 28") instead of one 12" drawer stack and the wasted space of two sink bases. Of course there are other options to the standard double sink base and center drawer stack, but I would be sure the drawers are big enough to be useful. Often drawer space is sacrificed for appearances.

  • MizLizzie
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    ITA but in a resale situation, buyers always want two sinks. I hope never to sell, but . . .

    Anyhoo, still leaning toward leaving off that piece.

  • eam44
    9 years ago

    You don't have to use tile. What about a tempered glass bs?

  • debrak2008
    9 years ago

    I disagree with buyers "always" want 2 sinks. I never would want 2 sinks in one bathroom. We have a family of 4 but have no need for 2 people to be in the bathroom at the same time. Grew up with 2 sinks in the 1 and only bathroom. One just collected dust and was never used.

  • a2gemini
    9 years ago

    As a kid, we actually had 2 sinks for the 4 kids. It was great. The master only had a single. If only used by guests probably a single is fine or maybe a double trough- although troughs remind me of GS camp

  • Bunny
    9 years ago

    I'm in the single-sink vanity camp, at least for one your size. I have a 60" vanity and the counter space on either side of the sink is wonderful. Plus two stacks of drawers that go all the way up to the counter. One of my deep drawers is still empty!!!

    I would never reject a house because of the number of sinks in the guest bath, unless it was a cookie-cutter subdivision and each one was identical except for the number of sinks in the guest bath. :)

  • MizLizzie
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    LOL, a2 -- love the trough idea. I grew up in a family of 6 with one bathroom and ONE sink. Back in the olden days, when we still thought a trough was for our horses. (Not kidding.) Nowadays, the guest bath usually sits unused -- until my family comes to visit, often en mass. Which means all 4 bedrooms packed, plus 2 sleepers in my office. And then that guest bath is slamming, so many middle-aged women and nieces are trying to brush teeth and put on makeup. Do they USE both sinks? Kinda. But I have texted them to take a poll.

  • Jeannine Fay
    9 years ago

    I think for your peace of mind having the fabricator make the piece and not install it would not be crazy. That said I have a feeling you will not want to put it on.

    I just had a 30 inch vanity top installed in a narrow half bath. The counter abuts both walls. By accident the fabricator put in the side splashes even though I asked for only the backsplash. I absolutely hated it and asked them to remove them which they did without a problem.

    I got a smaller sink just to give extra "splash space" and am having wall paper installed that is wipeable and washable in hopes that it will be an extra line of protection. Anything to avoid those dreaded side splashes in my opinion.

  • dovetonsils
    9 years ago

    We went with 3" stone back splashes instead of 4" We actually backed into it. We wanted to avoid re-locating the outlets but now that we have it, we love it. It seems so much sleeker than a 4". I just wouldn't want to be without a back splash of some type because previously we did not and what a mess on the wall. Makeup, soap, dirt, shaving, etc.

  • tina kauh
    9 years ago

    we have two separate vanities/sinks in our master bath. each vanity is relatively large (about 4 or 5 feet wide) and has a wall on one side (husband's has a wall to the left, and mine has a wall to the right). we chose not to do a side splash for either mainly b/c there was a significant amount of space between the sink at the wall - splashing didn't really seem like it would be a concern. what we didn't realize though was that the wall itself was slightly curved, so the vanity doesn't sit completely flush against the wall. the installer had to use a very wide bead of caulk to - doesn't look great but we didn't order the sidesplash so didn't have another choice. definitely order it just in case.

  • MizLizzie
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thanks, coco99. You are right. We may well have this problem. We are also doing the laundry room across the hall, and I have already learned that it is not square.

    dovetonsils, that is a novel thought. Is there anyway you would do me the kindness of providing a picture of your countertop? I would love to see what a shorter backsplash looks like. As I mentioned, I had thought about doing the granite quarter-round. But a lower backsplash might be an interesting compromise.

    That said, After polling of my family who uses the guest bath, I found most of them did in fact think one sink would be better, and more counter space. So I have asked my designer to draw up an alternative plan showing a 30" vanity centered between two 15" drawer stacks. I have no idea how hard or how expensive it will be to move the plumbing since this is an upstairs bathroom. Hopefully, it would be doable. Then we would have to tackle the mirror issue. Just one big mirror, I guess?

    Thank you all.

  • Gracie
    9 years ago

    Yes, you'll need a big mirror and a 4 or 5-light overhead fixture since more than one person will be using the mirror. You can't have side sconces in that case.

    Our GC looked at our project and didn't mention any problems with changing the plumbing in our upstairs bath. We also thought about capping the plumbing on the side near the wall to gain even more counterspace. That sounds ideal for your family.

  • Jillius
    9 years ago

    I didn't want a granite backsplash (didn't want to lose counter depth to it) or tile (didn't want to clean the grout) in our bathroom. We are having a mirror installed from the counter to the ceiling instead.

  • monicakm_gw
    9 years ago

    Just installed a 36" vanity with a 5" ogee edge backsplash. I would have liked t have done tile with a pencil rail on top but it's DH's bathroom and he wanted to use the granite backsplash. There is a side splash on the left. The sink is to the (open ended) right. I would be afraid of spills and water finding their way to the sheetrocked wall.