If you remember, we recently had a vanity catastrophe at our house. In case you missed it, you can read about it here.
Before I take you on the next leg of our little journey to diy bathroom vanity hell (and back again, because it really is a beautiful ending), I think it's important you get to know my dad.
My dad, Howard, is a bit of a Renaissance man. Among his many other skills (grilling, golfing, gardening, sailing, home repair, being a Grumpa to our Buggy Boy, and apparently bowling), he has also become quite the master woodworker.
Here he is in his natural habitat: our barn turned workshop.
Most recently, he has combined his love of sailing with his passion for woodworking and is building a 26 ft. sailboat from scratch in our barn (Ya know, like you do.)
It is still in the beginning stages, but it's actually starting to look like a boat.
Incredible, no?
This tidbit of information is where our story picks back up. You see, this boat just happens to be built from plywood. Marine grade plywood. As in, waterproof, won't ever rot or mold, capable of withstanding an entire ocean without so much as a water spot kind of plywood. Perfect for a bathroom vanity where little hands will soon be learning to wash themselves/splash everything within a three mile radius.
And we just happen to have several extra sheets of it sitting in our barn. Go figure.
Ordinarily this particular plywood costs $100/sheet. Fortunately, donating your barn to a very sympathetic, generous, handsome woodworker/boat builder (Am I selling this enough?) comes with some perks. We scored it for free. It doesn't get more budget friendly than that!
Before it's finished, the plywood looks like, well, plywood. However, once it's coated with epoxy and varnish (an important step in making it completely waterproof), it turns a deep, rich color. It's really kind of bizarre how different it looks.
Once it was decided that the original vanity top was officially dead, Justin and my dad got to work on the new plywood top. They cut the sheet down to fit perfectly on the iron base, and then drilled the holes for the drain and faucet. They also cut a piece to go against the wall on top of the vanity and act as a backsplash.
The plywood has a beautiful natural grain to it, but the edges still look like plywood. So my dad picked up a couple extra walnut planks from my grandparents' farm. That's the walnut on the far right. Once the plywood is treated, the colors are almost identically. Crazy, right?
He ripped the boards down to create trim pieces to cover up the edges of the plywood.
The vanity butts up against the wall, so we only needed trim pieces for the front and one side.
Now comes the tricky part. In order to seal the plywood so it will be completely waterproof, it needs two coats of clear epoxy. It goes on like syrup and has to be carefully smoothed out. As it dries, little air bubbles pop up along the surface, but they get sanded out anyway.
This is what it looks like when the epoxy dries. The plywood is really shiny, almost like glass, which is fine if that's what you're into. It's not exactly the look I'm going for, though. Not to worry. Once it is sanded and varnished, it will look a lot different.
My parents are currently in Arizona while my dad is accepting an Appraiser of the Year Award, because of course he is. Unfortunately for us, that means our vanity is temporarily on the back burner, and we're stuck washing our hands at the kitchen sink for a few more days. First world problems.
Check back soon for the final installment of The DIY Budget Bathroom Vanity From Hell!
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