Bathroom furniture in a Wrocław apartment
Situation
A windowless bathroom in a Wrocław apartment, with a walk-in shower and a countertop basin. A couple who had just renovated the whole flat wanted to replace a flat-pack vanity unit from a chain store. After two years its edges had started to swell, so the new furniture had to fit the room exactly and stand up to damp.
The tiles and sanitary ware were already in. The new units had to fit the existing space to the millimetre, with no changes to the walls.
Challenge
In a windowless bathroom with a walk-in shower, humidity stays high for a long time, even with working mechanical ventilation. The old unit had shown how quickly standard laminate board reacts when water gets into edges cut on site.
Space was also tight. The vanity unit and a tall towel cabinet had to fit into less than two metres of wall without narrowing the way into the shower.
Solution
We made the carcasses from HPL board, which is solid all the way through and far more water-resistant than standard laminate board. Every edge cut on site, including the openings for the trap and the water supply, is sealed with the Hettich AquaStop system. It keeps water out of the board core even in constant damp. We hung the vanity unit eight centimetres above the floor. That makes the floor easier to mop and keeps the plinth away from water running off the shower.
The hinges and handles are stainless steel, and the fronts have a lacquer made for humid rooms. The tall cabinet for towels and toiletries fits a narrow stretch of wall next to the door. Its shelves are a little over ten centimetres apart, sized for a bath towel folded in half.
We measured with a laser after the tiling was done, to the millimetre at every corner. That let us fit the vanity plinth flush to the wall without trimming a filler strip during fitting.
Result
Five weeks passed from contract to fitting, quicker than projects with veneer, because the HPL board and the lacquer for humid rooms arrived without a long wait. Six months on, the edges around the basin, which get splashed the most, show no sign of swelling.
The raised unit also helps with day-to-day cleaning. A mop goes under the plinth without moving anything, which was impossible with the old unit standing on the floor.