Water damage is a nightmare. If it happens, you might ask how to replace water damaged bath vanity side panel if it happens in your bathroom.
It’s going to take some handiwork and a few trips to the nearest home improvement store, no doubt. Better get your tools ready if you want your bath vanity looking good as new.
How to assess the damage to your vanity?
Before getting down to it for replacement, you have to check if your bath vanity is still structurally sound. Does it only have water stains? Can it still stand the way it looks now?
You have to check if the foundation still has strong integrity. The core foundation could be badly affected due to flooding due to damaged pipes, set-in water damage from humidity, or simply if it starts leaning a little.
You also have to figure out the causes of water damage. A leaking or broken pipe would perhaps be the first thing that crosses your mind, but you might want to inspect carefully for other causes. You could fix these yourself if you know how to or contact a plumber before making any replacements.
Unresolved issues causing water damage may result in another water-damaged bath vanity wasting all your hard work and effort. Solving these issues highlights the importance of checking everything in your bathroom, including the pipes on your sink cabinet. Doing so will ensure your newly replaced bath vanity side panel won’t suffer from any water-related incidents.
How do you replace a side of a bathroom vanity?
As with every repairing or replacing project, you’re going to have to figure out what you’ll need for side panel replacement. In this case, you should try checking out some veneers, otherwise known as “skins.”
These skins are about an eighth of an inch thick, which makes them easy to handle. If you’re unsure what kind of veneer you should be getting, particleboard, medium-density fiberboard or MDF, plywood, or even solid wood are among the best materials. While the thickness is 1/8th inch, make sure to get the exact measurements so that you know how big your newly bought veneer can fit on your vanity.
Since we’re talking about side panels, you may not need to overhaul the entire bath vanity. You can easily cover your existing sides with a new veneer.
For this part, you’ll want to have contractor-grade solid wood glue. Apply the glue and carefully place the new veneer on the side panel.
Place some wax paper over the veneer and clamp down the sides. Give it about 24 hours to dry.
There you have it! It seems simple, right? This quick-fix comes in handy if your side panel is the only part that is water damaged.
Of course, it’s essential to make sure that your vanity can still stand upright and is overall structurally sound. If you put on a new veneer when the vanity’s structural integrity seems a little off and starts leaning, it may not hold. You may need to replace the bath vanity altogether in this case.
Don’t worry, though. We’ll go over what it costs to replace and how you can go about insurance coverage.
How much does bathroom vanity replacement cost?
For replacing a bath vanity, the work required to take down the old one, dispose of it, redo the pipes, and install the new bath vanity will cost anywhere from $665 to $3,300. Remember, it all depends on whether you’ll get a plumber or installer or DIY and even the kind of bath vanity you’ll get.
You may be checking if your insurance will cover this amount range, so let’s break it down. It’ll all depend on the source of water damage. Once you identify that, you can check your home insurance policy will cover the water damage based on the source.
In some cases, though, water damage may not cover flooding. Check for any flood insurance if a flood has water damaged your bath vanity.
In addition, the water damage that may have affected your bath vanity could have also affected your bathroom floors. Luckily, we can also tell you how to approach insurance providers for your water-damaged floors. The water damage may even extend to your bathroom vanity, so best to prepare for anything!
Conclusion
It turns out it doesn’t take much to fix a water damaged side panel. Provided, of course, that your bath vanity is still in good condition in terms of structural integrity, then a quick trip to the nearest home improvement store will do some good.
Still, it always helps to be prepared with either a wide range of DIY repair skills or the number of a good plumber. Knowing how to replace water damaged bath vanity side panels is one of the first steps in handling anything in your bathroom that could be water damaged. Best to be ready for anything life throws at you and your house to fend off water damage.