What are vessel sinks?

Contrary to traditional sinks, vessel sinks are installed on top of the bathroom counter or vanity. These are ideally designed for the bathroom and not the kitchen. Given their shape and size, vessel sinks are a more practical option for the bathroom in your house interior design. They have a unique appeal and act as a decorative item in the bathroom or vanity. Besides their appeal, they are preferred because you get numerous choices while choosing the design, colour, material, etc. Commonly used vessel sink materials are stone, marble, stainless steel, copper, fired ceramic, and glass.

Types of vessel sink installations

There are two types of installation processes for installing vessel sinks in your house interior design. Here are the distinctions:

Recessed installation process

In the recessed installation process, the vessel sinks receive much greater stability. A small hole is cut on the countertop to install the basin. Although the hole is bigger than the drain hole cut in the above-counter installation process, it is smaller than the diameter of the sink. As a result, the vessel sink goes down halfway inside the countertop.

Above-counter installation

In the above-counter installation process, the entire body of the vessel sink basin stays outside of the countertop. Most homeowners choose this process while installing a vessel sink basin in their house interior design. In this process, you will only need to make a drain hole. Cutting a big hole on the countertop is not necessary.

What are the advantages and drawbacks of vessel sinks?

Just like other products, vessel sink basins have both advantages and drawbacks. Mentioned below are a few:

Advantages

Aesthetic appeal: Vessel sink basins have an aesthetic appeal and add more panache to your house’s interior decoration. They allow you to enliven the bathroom’s beauty without making a lot of expenses.

Changing is easy: Compared to the other types of sinks, changing vessel sink basins is much easier. This is because vessel sink basins are not attached to the place like drop-in sinks.

Space occupied: Vessel sink basins have compact designs. They can easily fit into small places. As a result, you can have a little more counter space when you install vessel sinks.

Easy installation process: Installing vessel sinks basins is easy. You do not always require professional help as well. Hence, you can avoid costly and difficult sink installation processes.

Drawbacks

Not very durable: Vessel sink basins are not a very durable option. After installation, they display exposed edges. They can easily get chipped or damaged. Repairing the damaged time and again will result in a lot of expenses.

Not stable: Vessel sink basins are not considered very stable as they are secured only at one point. Hence, they have less stability. On the other hand, recessed vessel sink basins that go halfway inside the countertop offer more stability.

Cleaning can be difficult: Certain areas of a vessel sink can be difficult to clean. For instance, the area where the basin meets the countertop.

Chances of overflowing: Unlike traditional sink basins, vessel sink basins do have an overflow relief drain that prevents the basins from overflowing by draining water out from another pipe.

Faucets

Traditional drop-in sinks came with pre-drilled holes on the body so that faucets and handles can be installed. However, vessel sink basins come with no such pre-cut holes. Installing fixtures in vessel sink basins is quite different.

Faucet configuration: To install the faucets, holes are drilled into the vanity or countertop. Depending on your taste and house’s interior design, you can either opt for a single-hole or a double-hole configuration.

Faucets for vessel sink basins:

There are numerous options available while choosing faucets for vessel sink basins. Many manufacturers manufacture and advertise vessel sink basin faucets separately. However, any faucet that has a height of four inches or more is ideal for a vessel sink basin.

Cost of vessel sink basins

Given the look of vessel sink basins, they were considered high-end bathroom fixtures not very long ago. However, they have become widely popular in modern days and many vessel sink basin designs are available at very affordable and reasonable rates.