How to replace bathroom vanity?

Question

Hello,

I’m undertaking a simple bathroom renovation which entails removing and installing a new bathroom vanity. The process seems simple enough but I had a question that may cause a problem. As shown in the pictures my taps are away from my drain pipe and as a result has some extra connections. These don’t seem to have a screw off point that I can see close to the wall of the cabinet. If i disconnect everything that I can see (with the water main turned off and pipes drained prior) will these just pop off or will there be something i can screw off behind the cabinet? I don’t want to potentially damage any pipes and if anyone had any advice it would be greatly appreciated before I start? I know that once I have everything down to simple wall connections that Ill be attaching a cap and thread before turning on the main water again. Thanks

slennon · Answer

Hello Jacob,

thanks for taking the time to get back to me. Yes I thought this may have been the case on closer inspection. I was really hoping to get the majority of that vanity out to see how far the tiling goes behind it so we can measure out a new vanity for installation. But certainly these pipes make this difficult. I might have to get a plumber in for removal and fit proper connections so that I can install the new vanity myself. Thanks

JacobZ · Answer

Hi @slennon,

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community, it is fantastic to have you with us.

You can see that these copper water lines are soldered roughly 50mm out from the back of the vanity.

This tells me that there is no threaded connection behind those cover plates that you could use to easily remove the vanity. The copper pipes would have stopped at this solder point before the vanity was installed, with the bend going over to the threaded connection being installed after the vanity was in place. You could cut out the back of the old vanity to remove it, but installing the new one would be a different matter as there would be no way to cut the holes and slip them over the water lines.

Unfortunately, this means there is no reasonable way to avoid contacting a plumber. They will need to cut off the bend at the soldered point so you can install the new vanity, then reattach a new length of pipe with a threaded connection.

Unfortunately, there is no way around this.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Jacob