Wall-Mounted Sinks for Dummies

A wall-mounted sink

Around Antisocial Network HQ it's pretty much a tenet of faith that no one should write how-to articles unless they've actually done whatever it is they're writing about. Why? because even a self-described "professional journalist" is going to have problems translating someone else's experience into words. OK, perhaps if the journalist interviews someone and then lets the interviewee edit the copy, but these people who just perform a copy-reword-paste job on someone else's instructions? Give us a break: someone like Elizabeth McGrath, tackling "How to Install a Wall-Mounted Sink" at TheSpruce.com doesn't even know if the directions she's rewording are right in the first place!

There are sooooo many questions to ask before tackling this job. Are we talking laundry sink, kitchen sink, or bathroom sink? Is this a remodel job or new construction? Porcelain, plastic, or stainless steel? Wall- or deck-mounted faucets? Pedestal or hanging? McGrath chose bathroom remodel, though she had nothing to say about the other questions.

One of our staffers performed this task in a bathroom remodel a couple of years ago, so we'll let him critique Elizabeth's work. The key to installation of a wall-mounted sink is that even a pedestal sink must be securely mounted to a structural member in the wall. Here's what Elizabeth says about that:

"Carefully cut a section of the drywall away and nail in blocking–either 2x6s or 2x8s–between the wall studs. If you have a tile wall or other wall covering, you'll have to be very cautious to only remove tile that won't show when your sink is in place. Replace and repair your drywall before beginning the sink installation."

Is this woman nuts? first, that's not what "blocking" is and second, that business about tile? it's total bullshit: there's a better than even chance that you'll have to take out three to four linear feet of drywall and then cut a notch in one or more studs to install the 2 x 8 the sink will mount to, and that's a darnsight more than just removing only the "tile that won't show when your sink is in place." That's not to mention that only in whatever YouTube video Elizabeth watched would someone install a new sink and leave old bathroom tile in place! And then there's

"Prepare the faucet, drain and pop-up assemblies on the sink... Insert the faucet to the sink and attach with locknuts,"

We dunno, shouldn't you follow the manufacturer's instructions for installing the sink? which may say to mount the sink first and then dress it up? Elizabeth then recapitulates someone else's instructions for installing the plumbing, and finally tells you to

"Install the mounting plate or the sink by attaching it to your blocking with lag screws..."

...which is all well and good, although thorough directions might suggest being careful with your lag screws, since porcelain sinks are surprisingly brittle. After that, she mumbles something about "a trim piece to cover the plumbing pipes" (redundant much?) and finishes by saying that if you have any problems, "contact a certified, professional plumber." Ummm, yeah – probably should've done that in the first place.
Our biggest problem with McGrath's article is that unless she also uses the name Don Vandervoort, Liz basically plagiarized the whole damned post. That's more than enough to earn her our scorn, but because Elizabeth also managed to mung up the directions because of her ignorance, she earns the coveted Dumbass of the Day award.

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