Marble basins

Types of basin

Countertop bowls sit on a vanity top or a piece of furniture. Simplest to fit and to replace.

Integrated basins are cut into a stone vanity top, often with a sloping floor to a hidden slot drain. See vanity tops.

Column basins stand on their own from the floor. Our projects have two, one carved from beige marble, one built in bands against an Emperador wall.

Carving

We start from a block 15 to 20 cm thick, rough out the bowl with diamond tools, then smooth it by hand with finer and finer abrasives. The waste hole is drilled last. A solid 50 by 40 cm basin weighs 40 to 60 kg. Wall-hung, it needs a bracket in masonry, not plasterboard. A column puts its weight on the floor, so that's what we check.

Which stone

• Beige marble, forgiving with limescale and soap.
• Emperador, dark brown, hides marks.
• Nero Marquina, striking but shows every water spot.
• Carrara, classic white, shows make-up.
• Onyx, a thin onyx basin can be lit from below.
• Galala, a pale cream limestone that carves easily.

Living with it

Toothpaste, mouthwash and most limescale removers are slightly acidic and dull the polish where they sit. A honed bowl hides that. Wipe it after use, pH-neutral cleaner, reseal when water stops beading. A tired basin can be honed and repolished, see restoration.

Taps and waste

Carved basins rarely have a tap hole, so taps go on the wall or on the top behind the bowl. Choose the waste before we carve, it changes the shape of the bottom.

Several pieces

If you want the basin, the top and some cladding in the same stone, tell us at the start. We check the block or slab is big enough before the first cut, because a second block rarely looks the same.

See also the kitchen sink version, or call +33 7 45 20 76 39.