Best way to accurately cut plumbing holes in back of vanity

[RonMiller]

Most of my living is made installing kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities. When installing cabinets with water lines my method has been to back up the cabinet to the lines when practical and mark them. Other times they have to be measured and drawn. After many years these are usually quite accurate but it can be time consuming.

I'm wondering if there is a better way? I recently saw someone else's sink base install (don't know who did this work) and it was pretty amazing. The two water lines coming from the wall had a hole only slightly larger than the lines and the same with the drain. It was perfect and I know the lines were in place when the work was done. So it got me thinking...is there another method such as a template or a trick I don't know or ??? to do this accurately and/or faster.

Any ideas?

 

[Larso]

I mostly do just the same as you but if i need a high degree of accuracy a template is the way to go.I find the quickest onsite template is a piece of Gyprock (drywall or sheet rock in the US i think).
Just cut a piece of scrap so it registers to a known mark on at least one side and the bottom and then when in place push the board firmly back onto the pipe tails and the gyprock is soft enough to leave very accurate marks of the position for you to transfer to your cabinet.
Be sure to register on the cabinet from the same side as your template,don't ask why i make this important point!

 

[bkharman]

Use cardboard or 2mm backer. Cut to the same size and location as the cabinet and then put some chalk or pencil on the ends of the pipes.  Put the board against it and then cut to fit. If there are different length pipes then cut the most extruding first then fit again until the whole board goes against the wall.

Put it against the cabinet back and drill/cut away!

Cheers. Bryan.

 

[mastercabman]

Measure twice......cut ince!!!!+

 

[peter halle]

Try this and you will laugh, but later thank me.

Get your hands on a stick of lipstick.  Coat the end of the pipe(s) with it.  Slide the cabinet until it hits.  You are now marked and move on.

Also great for installing deadbolts from scratch and needing to know where on the jamb to drill the receiver hole.

Peter

 

[Larso]

Good one Peter i forgot about this one,this is much quicker than any template and does work.
If you cant bring yourself to carry lipstick i have used this method with a small dab of wet paint,i carry a small tin of primer for sealing the bottom of doors i hang so always have some available.
Funny how we get locked into a way of working until someone else comes up with a better way and then wonder why we didn't think of it ourselves.

 

[Cleg79]

I always take the back of the sink unit out when fitting units and install afterward, with cut outs to access isolation valves etc. plumbing is more important to be able to access than what the back of sink unit looks like you can always box pipe work in afterwards, but destroying a unit to get to a leaking tap is no fun.

 

[Brandon]

I've installed an uncountable amount of sink bases and vanities, a couple measurements and some marks on the back of the cabinet. Drill a pilot hole through and hole saw from the inside. Can't go wrong, the accuracy is based on your level line on the wall, made even easier when there is another cabinet in the same run already set to measure off of.

 

[rst]

The lip stick trick works well but don't steal your wife's until you've seen how expensive it is!!

 

[mastercabman]

Get your hands on a stick of lipstick.  Coat the end of the pipe(s) with it.  Slide the cabinet until it hits.  You are now marked and move on.

Peter

That's one way of doing it
But not fool proof
What happens if the pipes are coming off the wall at an angle?
What if your cabinet needs to be shimed up?
How do you know you are sliding the cabinet straight?
I have seen too many installers doing it that way and always have to fix their mistakes
Measure twice,cut once!!!!

 

[jmbfestool]

I don't think the lip stick idea is fool proof.

Few reasons the lip stick method would fail.
If the pipes are not level or square. The longer the pipes stick out from the wall the more likely you will be out.

I find often the pipes are not cut at equal lengths. Hot and Cold and waist pipes are never all of equal length.  So you would likely only get a mark of just one of the pipes.

Positioning the unit. You would have to level the unit and get it in postition (more difficult if it has no unit already fixed next to it to slide along). Then once you pushed it into place you would have to level it again because the floor might be running out.

 

[overanalyze]

Holes in the cabinets and under sink plumbing have to be neat!! It is a pet peeve of mine!

Level lines on the wall that give you true references of the cabinet sides and top. Measure twice, sharp hole saws, go at it.

If doing a remodel and you are not changing out the valves you can get a tighter hole by taking the handle off the valve.

If they come through the floor same rules apply.

 

[Cheese]

Holes in the cabinets and under sink plumbing have to be neat!! It is a pet peeve of mine!

[member=22025]overanalyze[/member]
Now that's a nice install.  [thumbs up] [thumbs up]  And all these years I thought it was just me that was so anal... [eek]

I really like the placement of the AAV. Everything neat & tidy including the electrical.

I recognize everything except for the small clear line on the LH side of the drain, what's that for?

 

[overanalyze]

@Cheese

Thank you! I love it when my clients even make mention of how nice there sink cabinet looks!

That line on the left is filtered drinking water.

 

[cblanton42]

Nicer than anything I've ever done [smile].
      I've never seen a kitchen sink sit on the counter top like that, (plenty of bathroom sinks, but no kitchen sinks).  Do you have a pic of the sink?  Just curious what it looks like.  Also, pipes coming through floor of cabinet is unusual, was that by design or necessary for some reason?
Again, good work!

CB

 

[mastercabman]

Nicer than anything I've ever done [smile].
      I've never seen a kitchen sink sit on the counter top like that, (plenty of bathroom sinks, but no kitchen sinks).  Do you have a pic of the sink?  Just curious what it looks like.  Also, pipes coming through floor of cabinet is unusual, was that by design or necessary for some reason?
Again, good work!

CB

It looks like a farm sink
Some of them you need to set it on plywood

 

[cblanton42]

Ah!  That would also explain the reason the plumbing looks lower than normal, but I was working up to that part! ;D

Thanks,
CB

 

[Brice Burrell]

Nicer than anything I've ever done [smile].
      I've never seen a kitchen sink sit on the counter top like that, (plenty of bathroom sinks, but no kitchen sinks).  Do you have a pic of the sink?  Just curious what it looks like.  Also, pipes coming through floor of cabinet is unusual, was that by design or necessary for some reason?
Again, good work!

CB

Pipes from the floor are usually a good indication of an island, the air admittance valve reaffirms that. 

 

[Holzhacker]

Ok I have to say that the holes and install in the pic is so unbelievably neat, clean and nice I'm not sure I could pull it off. Very nice work.
However, I'd have to write the crap out of it if it were done here since it is not compliant with the plumbing code.
- no stinkin' AAV's allowed, fixture not properly vented
- discharging dishwasher into side of garbage disposal not allowed due to cross-contamination concerns
- no PEX allowed
But heh that's just around here ... the Plumber protects the health of the nation.

 

[mastercabman]

Ok I have to say that the holes and install in the pic is so unbelievably neat, clean and nice I'm not sure I could pull it off. Very nice work.
However, I'd have to write the crap out of it if it were done here since it is not compliant with the plumbing code.
- no stinkin' AAV's allowed, fixture not properly vented
- discharging dishwasher into side of garbage disposal not allowed due to cross-contamination concerns
- no PEX allowed
But heh that's just around here ... the Plumber protects the health of the nation.

Makes me wonder why is it so different where you live
Mechanical vent are very popular here in VA
What's the difference between connecting a DW to a garbage disposal and a drain?
As long as you make a loop above the connection there's nothing wrong
PEX is everywhere!
As far as pipes coming from the floor,it could be because of building codes or maybe it is an island
I know that in North Carolina you can't have water pipes in exterior walls  but the drain is OK
So we do see a lot of houses with water line from floor and drain line from wall  ,makes it very difficult for us installer to make this look good