Elje / Guides

Buying vanities from China

Vanities are small joinery: cheap at the factory, easy to ship, and ruined by one wrong height. Spec them like a kitchen.

What to spec

  • Width, depth and height of the carcass, and the finished top height (usually 850 to 900 mm to the top).
  • Wall-hung or floor-standing. Wall-hung needs blocking at framing.
  • Moisture-resistant carcass board, E0 or E1, with edges sealed on every face.
  • The top: stone with an integrated basin, a separate above-counter basin, or an under-mount. Basin and tap position drawn.
  • Drawers cut around the waste, or a waste set back to clear them.

What it costs landed

On the house we fitted out, board vanities were quoted at $499 to $751 each at the factory gate, without tops. A marble powder-room vanity top with an integrated basin was quoted at $1,125.

Elje estimate, October 2026. Not yet from a delivered job; replaced with real landed numbers as jobs land.

ItemFactory gateLanded estimate
Wall-hung board vanity, 600 to 1,200 mm, no top$499 to $751 (real quotes)$650 to $1,100
Marble top with integrated basin, powder room$1,125 (real quote)$1,450 to $1,700
Similar vanity from an Australian retailer$900 to $3,000

What to check

  • Board emission class and moisture resistance, with the report.
  • Stone tops: no engineered stone. Porcelain, sintered or natural only.
  • Basin waste and tap: WaterMark and WELS.
  • Inspection: drawer clearances around the waste, edge sealing, hinge brand.

Mistakes we have seen

  • Ordering the vanity before the tap. The spout length decides where the basin goes.
  • A top-mounted mixer on a narrow integrated basin that splashes the wall.
  • No blocking behind a wall-hung vanity.

Questions

Do vanities need WaterMark?

The cabinet does not. The basin, the waste and the tap do where the WaterMark schedule lists them.

Sources