Installing a Vanity with No Front Supports
Pros consider ways to attach a vanity to the wall so that it needs no front legs or toe kick for support. December 27, 2008
Question
I have a vanity that I designed but now that it's going into installation we're having a problem with how it's going to be supported. All the cabinets have no toe kick and I did two legs on each side. I thought if they were attached to each other it would hold up - I was wrong! Can any of you installers out there help me out with how to install this thing?
Forum Responses
(Cabinet and Millwork Installation Forum)
From contributor D:
The horse left the barn; however you will have to install a ledger strip on the wall to support the bottom of the vanity and screw tops into wall. That should support it. You could put more chrome legs on the entire back and screw to the wall as another method, but the ledger will allow you to level the entire cabinet independent of the floor.
From contributor J:
Off the top of my head I could see easily adding two (four really, two in front, two in back) more legs to the end cabinets so that only the middle cabinet is floating. Having them well secured to each other and the wall will also help, but I think you’re going to need some extra legs underneath. The only exception would be if the boxes were all engineered specifically to hang off the wall, which it does not sound like in your description.
From contributor S:
You want your vanity to appear to have no support correct? I just did my kitchen the same way and I can stand on the counter top and there is no sag. I put a kick about 6" out from the wall and painted the same color as the walls. From the front it looks like there is no kick. It is supported at the ends and where the dishwasher is and fastened very well against the wall. All the gables sit on the bottom panel which in turn is sitting on the kick at the back.
From contributor L:
Do you know how it is built? Was it built by a local cabinet maker? Did they build it to support itself like that? I agree that it should have no problem getting hung from the wall, the only thing the legs should be doing is preventing the cabinets from causing the wall to bow out.
If you are having a problem, you should be able to add a couple legs in the center and go with the "it's furniture up against the wall" look. Or use some similar legs painted black and set midway back, or further. It should be just enough to support everything but not be immediately visible.
From contributor A:
In my opinion you must have two legs in the middle because all the fastening to the wall might hold it for a while but in time drawers and doors will not operate properly from sagging.
