Bathroom Basin and Vanity Decision Checklist

Write down how many people use this basin and whether any of them need it at the same moment on an ordinary morning.

Simultaneous use changes the sensible width far more than the size of the household does, and the two are constantly confused.

Note what happens at this basin beyond washing hands, such as shaving, rinsing hair, brushing teeth over it or soaking something.

Rinsing hair demands depth and spout height that a shallow decorative bowl will not give, and it seldom comes up in a showroom.

Record whether anything is regularly filled or cleaned in the basin, such as a bucket, a vase or a pet bowl.

Filling something tall under a low spout is a daily irritation, and the requirement almost never surfaces unless it is written down.

Note who the shortest and the tallest regular users are, and watch how each of them stands at the basin you have now.

A rim height that suits one person can be uncomfortable for another, and the compromise is better made deliberately than by default.

Write down where water currently ends up outside the bowl, including the floor, the wall behind and the top of any unit.

Splash patterns belong to a particular bowl and tap together, so knowing where yours throws water helps you avoid repeating the same fault.

Note what is habitually left standing on or beside the basin, and roughly how much surface those things take up.

Bathrooms fail on ledge space more often than on storage volume, and what people put down is the truest guide to what is needed.

Decide how deep you want the bowl to be, having first watched how far water rises and spreads in the one you use now.

Shallow bowls look elegant and throw water, and that trade-off is easier to weigh after a few ordinary mornings of observation.

Consider whether a flat internal base or a steeper sloping one suits you, given what usually gets left standing inside the bowl.

A flat base holds items and also holds water, while a steeper one drains cleanly but sends splash higher, which is a real daily difference.

Note whether you want a bowl with an overflow, and ask what waste arrangement the bowl you are considering actually requires.

Overflow and waste have to suit one another, and a mismatch found at fitting stage is a frustrating way to delay a whole installation.

Ask the installer and the manufacturer what waste and overflow arrangement the chosen bowl needs before either part is ordered.

Decide whether the tap will stand on the bowl, on the surface behind it or on the wall, and write down what led you there.

Tap position changes which bowls can be used, how far you reach across the surface and how much of the area behind can be cleaned.

Write down whether the rim should be square-edged or rounded, thinking about anyone likely to catch against it in a narrow room.

Square edges look crisp and are unforgiving at hip height, which matters when the basin sits near a doorway or beside the toilet.

Consider how the bowl surface is likely to look given the water you have, using the marks on your current basin as evidence.

Water leaves different traces in different places, and the existing basin is an honest indication of what a new surface will show.

Decide whether the pipework should be hidden entirely, partly concealed or left openly visible, and record which you can live with.

This drives the choice of support far more than style does, and stating it early prevents a circular conversation in the showroom.

Consider whether a wall-hung unit is worth raising at all, given what you observed when you tapped and looked at that wall.

Hung arrangements free the floor and simplify cleaning, but they place real load on a wall, which is not something to assume.

Whether the wall can carry a hung basin or unit must be established by a qualified professional before either is chosen.

Note whether keeping the floor clear beneath the basin matters to you, and write down what that clear floor would actually be used for.

Clear floor is usually chosen for appearance and then valued for cleaning, so the real reason is worth recording while you still know it.

Write down whether the unit has to sit tight against a wall on one or both sides, and whether those walls proved to be square.

A unit meeting a leaning wall needs scribing or a filler, which changes the width that will genuinely fit into the space.

Consider whether a bowl standing on a surface suits how the basin is used, given the extra rim height that arrangement adds.

A bowl sitting on a worktop raises the working height noticeably, which suits some households and is awkward for shorter users.

Decide whether the unit stands directly on the finished floor or sits on a recessed plinth, and note the reasoning behind it.

How the base meets the floor affects cleaning, water at the toe and what happens if the floor finish is ever replaced.

List what you currently keep in the bathroom and mark which of it must be within arm reach of the basin itself.

Only a fraction of bathroom storage needs to be at the basin, and separating the two lets a smaller unit do the same job.

Note the tallest bottle you keep and consider whether it could stand upright in the cupboard with the trap in place.

The trap eats the middle of a basin cupboard and tall items are the first casualty, which is a very common complaint afterwards.

Decide between drawers and a cupboard, having thought about what you would have to move to reach something at the back.

Cupboards force kneeling and reaching around pipework while drawers give up internal depth, so the answer depends on what goes inside.

Consider whether anything you would store there is heavy, such as bulk refills or a stack of spare bottles.

Weight influences whether a hung unit is sensible at all, and it is usually left out of the conversation until the unit is already chosen.

If storage is likely to be heavy, ask a qualified professional what the wall and the unit are each intended to take.

Note whether a bin or laundry basket needs to sit within the same stretch of wall, and how each of them opens.

Bins and baskets are the items most often forgotten in a basin plan and then end up in front of the unit blocking the drawers.

Write down whether anything you would store under the basin would be spoiled by a slow leak going unnoticed for a while.

The underside of a basin is exactly where a slow drip goes unseen, so it is worth deciding what you are willing to keep there.

Ask the installer how a leak beneath the unit would become apparent and what access is left for checking the connections.

Note where the existing basin waste leaves the wall or the floor, and how high above the floor that connection sits.

Waste height determines whether a slim or hung unit is workable in that position without the pipe being moved at all.

Ask what depth of unit the existing waste and supply arrangement would leave room for behind the bowl.

Slim units get chosen for narrow rooms and then will not close because of the pipework, which is entirely foreseeable beforehand.

Ask a qualified installer what altering the waste position would involve before assuming a unit will sit flat against the wall.

Decide whether isolation valves should be reachable without emptying the cupboard, and say so before anything is fitted.

Being able to isolate the basin quickly matters on the day something drips, and access is easy to arrange while the unit is still on paper.

Note whether the back of the unit will need cutting to clear the pipes and who is expected to carry that out.

Cutting the back panel is ordinary work but should be agreed rather than discovered, especially where the side of the unit is on show.

Consider whether you want a trap on show or the pipework concealed, and think about how each of those would be kept clean.

An exposed trap has to look presentable and a concealed one has to stay reachable, so the choice carries an upkeep consequence either way.

Write down whether the same wall carries anything else, such as a cistern, a rail or an extract duct, competing for the same depth.

Congestion behind the basin wall is common in small bathrooms and is the reason a straightforward layout suddenly stops working.

Decide what the surface beside the basin is actually for, and whether anything will realistically be set down on it.

Surfaces get specified for looks and then judged on whether a bottle can stand somewhere sensible, which is a different question entirely.

Note how the bowl is meant to meet the surface, and ask what kind of join that particular arrangement leaves behind.

Under-mounted, inset and sitting-on-top arrangements each leave a different join, and the join is where marks and staining collect.

Consider whether the surface material will show water marks with the water you have, and ask to see a sample wetted.

Some surfaces show every drop and others hide them, and the difference only becomes obvious once the room is in daily use.

Decide whether you want an upstand behind the surface or tiling taken down to it, and note who is expected to form that junction.

The junction between surface and wall is a recurring point of failure, and agreeing who makes it stops each trade assuming the other will.

Ask the installer and the tiler how the junction behind the basin will be formed and sealed, and get the answer in writing.

Write down whether the surface will be cut on site or made to order, and what that means for whose measurements are relied on.

Made-to-order surfaces need dimensions somebody will stand behind, which is not the same as the ones you took yourself.

Consider how the ends of the surface are finished where they meet a wall or simply stop part way along the room.

Exposed ends are where a surface looks either unresolved or considered, and they get decided quietly by whoever fits it unless you have a view.

Decide what rim height suits the household and record how you arrived at it, including who stood where and tried what.

A height chosen by testing is defensible later, whereas one taken off a drawing tends to be argued about once the room is finished.

Note how much clear space someone bending over the basin needs, and what would be immediately behind them while they do it.

The space behind a person at a basin is usually where the door or the toilet is, and that conflict is invisible on a plan.

Consider whether a child or an older user needs to reach this basin, and write down what that requirement would change.

A basin a child or an older user cannot reach comfortably shapes rim height, tap choice and what stands beside it, so the need belongs on the record.

Reach and height at a basin for anyone who needs assistance is a subject for a suitably qualified professional who has met the person.

Write down whether a mirror or cabinet above the basin has already been assumed, and how it would relate to the tap and the spout.

The basin and whatever sits above it are usually chosen at different moments by different people, which is why they so often clash.

Ask what the installer needs decided about the basin before the wall behind it is closed up and finished.

Some decisions have to be made before surfaces go back on, and knowing which they are prevents a painful change of mind afterwards.

Ask a qualified installer which basin decisions must be settled before first fix, and record the answer against a date.