Bathroom drawers design question - avoid water inside

[thikone]

Hi all,

Did anybody thought about bathroom sink cabinet and how to avoid water getting into drawers when it overflows, kind of?
We have three children and they do all kind of nasty things, as you can probably guess. Currently we have IKEA MDF cabinet and the fronts of drawers are pretty much destroyed. “Hot fixed” them with duct tape to make more “waterproof” but want to make something similar out of oak.

I know that kitchen countertops have some kind of notch so that water dips down rather than going under it.
Is there any similar idea to make water to go down to the floor rather than inside the drawers?
Or maybe particular shape of the drawers fronts that helps in this regard?

 

[Bingy man]

Best to prevent water overflow in the 1st instance. By this I mean some of those fancy designer type sinks just will not take the full flow of water from the tap without overflowing. So fit isolating valves to the hot and cold supplies to the basin to reduce the flow . Ensure the basin has a built in overflow ( some don’t ) assuming your replacing the cabinet at some point then seal any cut edges or unprotected edges at rear of cabinet with silicone or contact adhesive and finally use a quality silicone to seal to the wall / tiles and also seal sides ( if applicable) and seal the edges around the floor . If you adopt the policy of wiping up any spills asap then you should be ok . As you say kids and water don’t usually mix but these simple steps will go a long way to preventing the water ingress into the cabinet and mdf and chipboard will happily absorb water until it can’t cope anymore. If fitting a new basin waste make sure it’s slotted as this works with the basins built in overflow ( if fitted ) . Good luck

 

[Just4Fun]

I know that kitchen countertops have some kind of notch so that water dips down rather than going under it.

I have not heard of that and have never seen it - or at least I have never noticed it. Is it the same idea as a window cill drip groove? That sounds like a good idea on a wooden worktop but I'm not sure if it would be OK on a manufactured board. Could you seal it OK without risking water soaking into the worktop? As an alternative I have also seen a thin plastic strip inserted into the underside of a kitchen worktop, descending about 5mm, which serves the same purpose but that doesn't work if the drawer fronts (or cupboard doors) finish flush under the worktop.

 

[TheUnicorn]

I agree with bingyman, best to make as much adjustment as possible to the plumbing

 

[thikone]

Thanks, guys!

Yes, we never had this problem before children appeared in our life. All is done right including silicone and overflow bypass or how it is called.

But I do remember when I was installing IKEA kitchen, countertop had a special lip or groove or notch just under the front. It kind of breaks water adhesion to surface as it goes over the front edge and under the countertop. And that got me thinking maybe I can do something like this for the bathroom cabinet. Or perhaps design the fronts of the drawers so that they overhang each other and the water will flow down to the tiles floor.

Might be just oak will do the trick as it very resistant to water and rotting. Just was curious if anybody gave it an extra thought...

 

[Bingy man]

I’ve only ever seen the water drip channel you are referring to on the better quality kitchen work tops but never seen it on bathroom vanity units etc .

 

[jetsetwilly]

I've never seen it done but maybe you could still have flush drawer fronts but with chamfered/sloped top edges, or a lip. We have the same need - no plumbing mods in the world can overcome a child's appetite for chaos!

 

[jcassidy]

Thanks, guys!

Yes, we never had this problem before children appeared in our life. All is done right including silicone and overflow bypass or how it is called.

Might be just oak will do the trick as it very resistant to water and rotting. Just was curious if anybody gave it an extra thought...

Nothing is child proof. If you get 10 years out of something, you're doing well!

If you're installing solid oak tops then why not groove in a drip channel. You can do the same with composite tops by sticking a slim round strip of silcone on the underside set back just a little from the edge.

Won't help with the pools and oceans of water kids generally work with.

 

[thikone]

Well said, guys! Yes!
Chamfered top and down edges of drawers fronts might do it! And/or a drip channel. Now, how would it look like, I wonder...