Stone Colours

Here are a few of our most popular stone options, these include quartz, granite and marble.

Stone Edge Detailing

There are many options for the edges of your stone countertop.

Firstly, would you like the stone to overhang the furniture or be set back from the edge? This is usually dependent on the style of furniture, whether a back piece needs to be added (so an overhang would disguise this) and the space available (an overhang generally adds a few centimetres).

Secondly, what kind of edge detailing would you like?

We usually base all our estimates on having a standard edge, unless already discussed. Premium edge detailing such as Ogee (a favourite for the more traditional pieces) will usually cost around £150 more per linear metre due to the extra work involved.

Our Guide to Basins

Basins come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, styles and materials so it really can be a hard task to decide what to go for.

When it comes to having a bespoke bathroom vanity unit made by Vanity Flair, some clients already have a very specific type of basin in mind, while others will let the piece of furniture determine the type of basin that will work best. It really is down to personal taste and priorities.

For this post, I’m going to concentrate on basin style as this is the main factor that influences our search for suitable piece of furniture.

In terms of material; classic white porcelain, hammered copper, brass, stone, glass, concrete or hand-painted ceramic, where do you start? The more certain you are of an overall design style for your bathroom renovation, the easier it will be to choose a material. We can help you with pull this all together, should you wish.

Here is a brief overview of the most typical basin styles we work with:

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Countertop basins

Also known as ‘Vessel’ basins, countertop basins sit on top of a piece of furniture and require only a small hole in the furniture for the waste water pipe. Usually countertop basins are around 10cm - 20cm tall.

Countertop basins come in round, oval, square and rectangular as well as an array of other quirky shapes, such as donut and seashells.

Due to the height of countertop basins, they usually require a taller than standard tap, or work well with wall-mounted taps.

HAND-PAINTED ROUND CERAMIC COUNTERTOP BASIN

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BUTLER-STYLE RECTANGULAR COUNTERTOP BASIN WITH ONE TAP HOLE

Countertop basins with built-in tap hole(s)

It is also possible to source countertop basins which already have a tap hole built in, so that a regular height tap will work. This kind of basin is also useful when the furniture piece we find isn’t quite deep enough to mount a separate tap behind the basin. That said, if you’re having a quartz, marble or granite top, we can often add additional depth to the furniture to give ourselves more choice over basin style.

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Semi-inset basins

Semi-inset basins extend both above and below the vanity unit countertop. It could be described as half way between a countertop basin and a drop-in style basin.

As with countertop basins, a semi-inset basin often requires a slightly taller than average tap, or wall-mounted taps.

HAND-PAINTED CERAMIC OVAL SEMI-INSET BASIN

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RECTANGULAR WHITE CERAMIC DROP-IN BASIN

Drop-in basins

Drop-in basins, also known as self-rimming or inset basins, are quite literally ‘dropped in’ through a hole in the top of a piece of furniture/countertop. They usually have a 2-3cm 'lip’ all around the top which allows them to take their own weight. The lip will sit just above the countertop although they are always sealed with silicone to stop any water from getting under the lip.

This kind of basin is ideal if you would like to keep a natural wood top as it will cover the edges of the hole nicely and avoids possible water ingress into cut wood.

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Under-mounted basins

Under-mounted basins are fixed to the underside of a stone top with brackets or some kind of structure to take the weight of the basin. This gives a completely flush surface with no visible ‘lip’.

This type of basin is only suitable with a quartz, granite or marble top.

RECTANGULAR UNDER-MOUNTED BASIN

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900 WIDE TROUGH BASIN

Trough-style basins

Trough-style basins are generally quite large and wide and can often serve as one double basin with two sets of taps. Similar to butler sink style basins.

The example shown here is a 900mm x 400mm trough basin that has been semi-inset and will be installed with wall mounted taps.

Marble, Granite, Quartz or 'Solid Surface'? What's The Difference?

Granite and marble are both natural stones, quarried from the ground in large blocks which are then sliced into large slabs. No two slabs are exactly the same and even classics such as Carrara marble can vary from slab to slab.

Carrara quartz with under-mounted basin. Standard edge detailing.

Quartz is man-made from 93% crushed quartz mixed with 7% resin. quartz is available in many colour ways and patterns that cannot be found with natural stones. Due to popular demand, many quartz manufacturers now also produce products which very closely mimic the beauty of natural stones such as Carrara and Calacatta marble.

Durability & Maintenance

Of these materials, quartz is the strongest, due to its resin content, then Solid Surface, granite, and finally marble.

Britannica style quartz with standard edge detailing

As granite and marble are both naturally porous stones, they must be sealed to prevent staining. If you opt for a granite or marble vanity top from us, it will already be sealed, however, we recommend that the sealing process is repeated once a year.

As quartz is non-porous, it does not require sealing or any regular maintenance. Most of our clients opt for quartz for this reason.

Unlike all of the other options, solid surface counters are easily repairable by a qualified tradesperson should they scratch or get damaged.

Availability

Due to the nature of our unique bathroom vanity units, the most cost-effective way to produce countertops is to fabricate from our suppliers’ off-cuts. This means that for each and every job we do, we visit our suppliers to hand-select an appropriate piece of marble, granite or quartz that most closely matches our customer’s requirements and budget.

However, if you have a specific stone or quartz in mind for your countertop, it is also possible for us to source an entire slab just for your project, potentially allowing us to use the slab for additional elements such as shower trays or backsplashes. This will be costed per project as slab sizes and prices vary by material.

White quartz breakfront shaped top with upstand

Upstands & Splashbacks

You may wish to add a piece of stone as an upstand or splashback. This can be a simple rectangular piece or something a little more elaborate. These can either sit directly on top of the countertop or the back and top can be mitred together. The mitred option is a better option if you’d having an elaborate edge detailing like ogee.

Edge Detailing

Firstly, there are two options for your stone top. 1. have it cut with a 1-2cm overhang at the sides and front of your existing furniture piece. This option is the most popular, but sometimes the design of the furniture or space available may mean this isn’t ideal. The second option is to make the top slightly set back from the edge of the existing furniture piece. This tends to work well especially for mid century style furniture or when the existing top’s design just lends itself better to this option.

In terms of the actual edge detailing itself, there are a variety of edge details to choose from. We offer two standard, simple edge details; standard eased or bevelled, either of which is included when we price for a unit with a quartz, granite or marble countertop. Premium edge details such as bullnose, demi-bullnose, mitre and ogee vary from £150 to £300 extra per linear meter.

Cost

Factors such as the intricacy of the countertop shape (is it curved or shaped?), the number of tap holes and type of basin opening required (e.g. an under-mounted basin requires a polished edge to the hole which is exact in shape to match the basin exactly, whereas a drop-in basin does not need as much attention to detail) all affect the cost of fabrication. The chosen material and edge detailing also have an impact on costs. As a rough guide, a very small single vanity (500mm x 500mm) with one waste hole and one tap hole will start at £300.