How to attach a new vanity sink when I can't find studs in the right place?

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anonyx

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Here's a photo of where I want to install the vanity sink, and a photo of the sink. I'm not handy and know nothing about plumbing or carpentry; The only reason I'm doing this myself is because the one contractor who responded to my request for quotes failed to show up. I'm paranoid about accidentally damaging a water pipe or something.

I've read that I need to attach the sink to a stud. I have a 5 in 1 stud finder, but the results are incomprehensible. I can't find any definite evidence of any vertical studs here. Using a magnet (See the magnet and the penciled circles in the photo) I found what I guess are 4 nails in a narrow horizontal stud. If that stud was an inch or two lower, it would be fine because I could screw the back of the vanity cabinet to it, but the stud is a little too high.

I'm not sure what to do. I'd prefer to use a stud rather than some complicated dry wall anchors and risk damaging a water line? I was thinking I could maybe somehow screw some wide wooden board to the stud and then screw the back of the vanity cabinet to the lower part of the wooden board, although that would create a small space between the vanity and the wall, and I don't even know what type of wooden board to get. I wouldn't be totally against putting some sort of adhesive on the bottom and back of the vanity cabinet if that's not a completely stupid idea. (I've also considered the possibility of putting something beneath the vanity cabinet to raise it up, but thought that might possibly cause a problem with the drain height. I haven't looked into the drain height yet. )

Does anyone have any ideas that would be safe and relatively easy? Thank you for any constructive advice.


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We use as small a drill bit as we can and make micro test holes. When wood is hit, you'll know it.
Though, I have even encountered head scratching bafflement when double sheetrock was used on a wall in a senior living unit.
 
Since the vanity will cover up that wall, you can do all kinds of invasive testing, if you don’t want to invest in a modern stud finder. Use a hammer and nail to try to find a stud.

That being said, the vanity size and style looks very much like the one I worked on at my father’s house. It has been installed for over 25 years, but the plumbing needed to be entirely replaced from the sink to the drain in the wall.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the vanity had never been attached to the wall… yet was fine for 25 years‼️
 
Studs are set at 16" centers. Original electrical outlet and switch boxes are nailed to studs. If there are switches or electrical outlets anywhere on that wall, you can remove the cover plates and likely see which side of the stud the boxes are located. Locate the center of that stud, the width of which is 1 1/2". Then every 16" from there should be a stud. All walls are not built in 16" increments, so there could be issues measuring from a door or a corner, but the electrical box is pretty good to get you in the right neighborhood.

And as other have said, this area will be covered anyway, so after measuring to find an approximate location, a small nail and a hammer can accurately locate a stud in that space. drive the nail every 1 1/4" to find the stud, then poke around to find one side of the stud so you can anchor the vanity to the center of the stud.
 
With drywall, I often use a wire coat hanger to probe the wall and find solid backing.

I’ve also used it to push up through the ceiling of a house so I can locate that exact spot in the attic space.

Also you can use the hanger to unlock your car if you lock you keys in it.

Joan Crawford use to beat her kids with coat hangers,

You can also hang your clothes on them.

Cheap abortion ?

Can’t I get a woop woop for the coat hanger ?
 
Thank you all very much for responding!

I'm still in a state of confusion at the moment. I had tried a push pin before, but it went in easily just about everywhere I pushed it in, so I thought it might be too short, so misleading me to think there's nothing there when there's really a stud back there a little ways???

I'm not worried at all about the cosmetics. I'm just worried about damaging a pipe and having water spraying out of the wall. Based on some of the comments, I took a little jeweler's screwdriver last night and very carefully made a whole in a spot that I thought (based on some of the contradictory results of the stud finder) a stud was most likely to be. I was able to get a wire hanger in far enough to know that there isn't a stud right there. I wasn't able to get the hanger in there at a right angle far enough to sweep back and forth to try to find nearby studs -- due to the corkscrew in the hanger -- but may try that again.

I could try to reuse the two holes that the old pedestal sink was screwed into. I wasn't sure how I'd know where those holes are once I put the new sink in front of it, but I figure I could draw a couple vertical lines straight down from the holes and mark the inches away from the hole. That might work. The problem with that is that I don't think those screws were in studs, but at least I would know that there's apparently nothing to accidentally strike right there.
 
You are being WAY too careful. The plumbing will not be next to the drywall, so use a 1 1/2" long nail and hammer it in 3/4" to 1" deep. Or take a utility knife and cut a 1/2" wide slot an inch or so long and probe with a piece of wire. Cover the slot with duct tape if you want after you find the studs.
 
A lot of good suggestions above. For your consideration, given the apparent age of the house from the picture, the drywall/sheetrock may be *two* layers. I discovered this situation when I moved into my house (which was built in 1964). So a stud finder may act strangely but I've found if you use it enough times over the same area, it will eventually find a stud. The key here is repeatability - if you get 'hits' in the same (approx) location 5x out of 8 for example, there is probably a stud there. Confirm with drill method. If the wall is double layered, you will need to go in approximately 3/4" till you hit a stud.
Also, if the wall is double layered, these anchors mentioned above may not be deep enough: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BMQQNPTF?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
A mushroom head toggle bolt anchor will be a better option. Having said that, I hate anchors of any sort, so you would be better off to take your time and find a stud.

Another thing to consider when trying to get in the ball park for a stud is to measure 16" from a inside or outside corner. This is not always correct as the inside corner of the wall may not be built off of a stud. The other suggestions above, e.g. finding electrical box, etc. are better things to try first.
Good luck.
J
 
Thank you MicEd69 and three_jeeps !

"WAY too careful." Guilty as charged. :)

I have lots of time to work on this. Some of the drain parts I've ordered have been delayed and aren't expected here till August 7th. In the meantime, instead of doing any more short-term wall fishing, I've ordered a new stud finder, which, if it works any better than my old one, will be useful for some future projects too.

My home was built in 1954. Unfortunately there are no electrical boxes along the same wall. The 2 most likely places where I thought there might be studs, were in the right place measuring 16" from one of the two corners. But as I mentioned, there is apparently no stud there when I tried one of those locations.

It may be a couple of weeks before I finish this project, but when I do, I will post the exciting conclusion here, just in case any other newbie is ever in the same boat. Thanks again.
 
Open up the wall and see where the water lines are and any studs. The vanity is going to cover it anyway. you can re-drywall it
shut if you want to. I was going to mention toggle bolts too. they will hold that vanity tight.
 
I know no one’s been on the edge of their seat waiting for the conclusion of this, but I promised I’d post a follow-up message, so here goes.

This is what I ended up doing ...

Although re-drywalling is no doubt simple to everyone else here, I’ve never drywalled anything in my life, so it’s a mystery to me and I was reluctant to cause much damage to the wall.

I ordered one of those Franklin stud finders with the multiple lights lined up, because they seemed relatively simple and don’t need calibration. It was much better than the stud finder I had been using. It wasn’t perfect – It seemed to show that the vertical studs would keep randomly jumping inches to the right and left on the way down – but it at least led me to two spots where I thought there were studs.

I used my method of carefully creating a hole with a jeweler’s screwdriver in those two spots, and then, as was suggested in this thread, I took a wire hanger and pushed it in and could tell that it was quickly hitting something substantial.

I still wimped out a bit when it came to the actual drilling. Instead of using the screws from the old pedestal sink, I found a couple slightly shorter and smaller screws and used those instead, so I probably did a half-assed job of that. Luckily, no water sprayed in my face when I carefully screwed those in, and I went and checked my water meter and it didn’t show any obvious running of water.

I had some other issues come up. The floor isn’t level, so I had to cut a piece of wood, and stick it under the left edge of the cabinet.

Fortunately, I realized I should connect the drain and the stopper lifter thingie before gluing the sink to the cabinet. I knew I couldn’t attach the new water lines both to the wall lines and to the sink before gluing the sink to the cabinet, because I would have needed some strong person to stand there and hold the sink up in midair while I did that, so I could only connect the water lines to one end first. I chose to connect the water lines to the wall lines, and that was my biggest mistake because it turns out it’s much harder to connect the water lines to the bottom of the faucets once the sink is in place.

I had a lot of trouble with water leakage after I turned the water back on, but have pretty much gotten everything tightened up. I’m waiting on a special wrench specifically for hard-to-reach faucets, which will help me secure that some more up at the top.

I’m still planning to rig up some sort of kick plate to the bottom front of the cabinet to cover up the gap underneath, and I’m going to use some silicone caulk connecting the back of the sink and cabinet to the wall, as best I can.

I’m not sure if I did it better than the contractor who didn’t show up would have, but I saved $425 in labor costs.

Thank you again to everyone who responded. I greatly appreciate your taking the time to help.
 
As they say, one learns by doing. Some things are not as easy as they look. For attaching the countertop to the cabinet you could undo the trap, pull the counter top out a bit, tilt it backwards and apply adhesive caulk or silicone to the cabinet edge, then re-seat the counter top. A trick to consider using is before you apply the adhesive/silicone, run some painters tape around the outside top of the cabinet. After the countertop is re-seated, remove the tape - the tape will catch any adhesive that would squeeze out and run down the sides. Makes cleanup a lot easier.

To finish off the base of the cabinet/cover the shims installed to level it, consider installing moulding around the base. Typical profiles include: ranch base, quarter round, and three-quarter core. You will want to cut them at 45 degree angles where they join at outside corners.

Congrats and good luck!
 
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