Tile behind wall hung vanity?

My wife selected a wall hung vanity that is about 48" long and 24" high. It fastens to the wall with lag bolts.

At first I thought I would tile the wall, and hang the vanity. Considering having to drill through the new, thick, porcelain tile for the bolts / water / drain - maybe I should hang the vanity, then tile around it?

What's your opinion.

DougB said:

My wife selected a wall hung vanity that is about 48" long and 24" high. It fastens to the wall with lag bolts.

At first I thought I would tile the wall, and hang the vanity. Considering having to drill through the new, thick, porcelain tile for the bolts / water / drain - maybe I should hang the vanity, then tile around it?

What's your opinion.

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It would certainly look neater if the tile went behind the vanity. Can't you just tile so just maybe 1/2 inch or so of tile will be under the vanity all along it's perimeter and still be able to use the bolts to secure it to the wall where the tile is not covering it?. I guess that depends on where the holes if any, already are in the vanity intended for mounting it.

I thought it may look neater if I tiled it in. You would see any gap between the vanity and the tile.

Diamond core bits will cut holes in nearly anything, and for a couple of holes, you can get by with an el-cheapo as long as you keep it wet while drilling. They take a little finesse to start and keep exactly where you want as most do not come with a center pilot drill. The magic is to hold the drill at about a 45-degree angle, start a divot with the edge of the bit, then slowly rotate the drill to perpendicular with the wall while spraying it with a water bottle. No need to press hard, just let it grind through the tile. Make sure that the hole is larger than the lag bolt, otherwise, the bolt will crack the tile when you insert it.

If the plumbing will not be exposed, I would just leave a couple of tiles out where the pipes go through the wall. No sense spending money on a large diamond bit that you will probably never use again.

Good thought about leaving out a couple of tile. A friend said to treat the vanity like a kitchen cabinet: The cabinets go in first, then the tile.

tile

One of the worst jobs you will ever want to do is remove a lavatory when the tile was installed around it after it was hung. In fact, if you do not have replacement tiles, it can be IMPOSSIBLE.