I don't know if you are aware, but if you're talking about a house, nobody says "master bedroom" or "master bathroom" anymore. Or even master suite come to that. Modern alternatives to "master" in this context are "primary" or "principal." Sadly, neither of these terms are adequate for the pokey bathroom in my house, so I'm going with "en suite" as the descriptor. We partially remodeled this bathroom about three years ago, and it has done ok with one small issue:
Unless you have the eyesight of Veronica Seider, you might need to view the close up:
There was really no practical way to replace just the sink, even if we could have found an identical replacement, so we bought a pre-assembled sink/countertop that is almost the exact same size, but has a slightly larger bowl volume - and looks a bit more modern although that wasn't the primary consideration.
The weekend after the new sink was delivered, I just happened to be alone due to a combination of Spring break and work schedules, so it was a perfect time to put one of the bathrooms out of service. As I mentioned above, we replaced the countertop a few years ago, and it was installed from the top down, so there was no easy way to remove anything. After disconnecting the plumbing and removing the faucet I broke out the sink with a claw hammer. To be honest, the hammer was overkill.
Obviously, I did not accomplish this entirely alone; even breaking up a sink requires a work crew standing by to observe in order to comply with Union rules.
I was able to lever the backsplash and sidesplash off the wall without breaking them or busting up too much of the drywall.
Getting rid of the stone countertop without doing any damage to the cabinet was a tough assignment. I had to cut the countertop and the supporting plywood panel into several pieces to achieve this, which made an awful lot of dust. Bare vanity cabinet after cleanup:
Before I can mount the new sink, I need to replace the plywood panel. The whole point of the panel is to provide structural integrity to the cabinet.
The panel would normally go over the cabinet and thus raise the height of the unit by the thickness of the panel....which is 3/4 of an inch in this case. However, the replacement sink is exactly 3/4" thicker at the perimeter than the original. I want to maintain the original height because there is very limited space below the wall cabinet for the outlet:
The solution is to set the new panel inside the cabinet - i.e. flush with the existing top edge. The easiest way to achieve this is to clamp the panel where I want it to go and secure it with pocket screws:
Even with help from my willing assistant, I wasn't able to set the sink....
....until Samuel Sheep came by the next day and provided the necessary muscle:
So, here's the thing: The new sink comes with a backsplash, but not a sidesplash....so, I decided to re-use the originals since I removed them intact. The only hinderance to this plan was one of size: the original pieces were a bit too long:
If I had taken measurements in advance, I could have placed the sink a little bit further from the wall and it would have been a perfect fit. Oops! I also could have ignored the overhang....but I just didn't want to. I ended up trimming the sidesplash with the same diamond encrusted screaming wheel of death that I used to cut up the original countertop. I did this bit of cutting in the workshop since I already de-dusted the bathroom once. I also re-installed and reconnect the faucet.
The original drain fitting was too small for this sink, so I need to find a replacement before operation can be restored:
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