Sibu Bathroom: Planning the Vanity Wall and the Wet Floor Together
Bathroom concept: vanity wall, wet floor and finishes
The Challenge
A common Sibu bathroom brief: a vanity wall and a shower floor that has to drain, in a small room where the trap, the falls, and the vanity's basin and drawers all depend on one another.
The Approach
The concept starts from the floor trap and the falls, then sets the vanity so the basin, the trap and the drawers are coordinated before anything is ordered. The glass screen and the floor finish are chosen around those two. Nothing here is measured, specified or quoted.
Proposed resolution
Designed so the choices that are hardest to change after tiling, the trap, the falls, and the basin and drawer layout, can be settled on paper first. It is a concept for the reader to react to, not a built result, a quotation or an approval.
Key Lessons
- →Choose the floor trap and the falls before the floor finish and the grate
- →Settle the basin, the trap and the drawer layout together, because each one changes the others
- →A wall-hung vanity keeps more floor visible: decide what the wall behind it will carry before choosing it
- →Waterproofing is its own package: name who is responsible for it
See it, understand it, specify it
One bathroom, taken in the order a decision is made. It is a concept study: not a built project, a quotation or an approval.
Overall view
One bathroom vanity wall drawn as a whole: a wide vanity under a lit mirror, a tall open shelving unit beside it, towels on open shelves, and a window at the side.
Palette board
What each surface looks like in the concept. These are appearance directions read from the render: no sample, product or code is matched or approved.
- Ceiling
- Not drawn in this view, so it stays blank here.
- Wall
- Plain warm stone-beige, with a mirror lit softly around its edge.
- Floor
- Warm timber-look planks.
- Cabinet
- Warm timber-grain drawer fronts in a dark grey frame; open shelves lit from behind, and a tall dark grey open unit.
- Countertop
- A pale stone-look top with a thin edge.
- Backsplash
- Not drawn in this view, so it stays blank here.
- Metal
- Matte black on the tap, the drawer handles and the window frame.
- Fabric
- Folded towels in warm neutral tones on the open shelves.
Check physical samples together, under the intended lighting, before approving or buying anything.
Compare one decision at a time
Each set below holds renders that ELS read as sharing a viewpoint, the geometry and the light, with one decision changed. They come from the decision library, not from this bathroom's own render.
Bathroom niche lining
This bathroom's own comparison is being prepared. No render of it has a twin that changes one decision, so none is drawn. These renders are needed:
- This view with the vanity fronts as two doors and as drawers, in one finish.
- This view with the countertop in the pale stone look and in a plain light top.
- This view with the floor in warm timber-look planks and in a large-format tile.
Detail view
The junction the wet floor depends on: the floor trap, the falls and the waterproofing.
Bathroom floor trap and waterproofing: choose the trap before the grate
A floor trap chosen by the look of its grate can turn out too deep, restrict flow, conflict with the slab or sit above the required floor gradient, and the waterproofing around it can fall between the plumber, the tiler and the main contractor.
Choose in this sequence: drainage location, pipe diameter and depth, required flow, anti-odour or backflow function, the waterproofing interface, tile thickness and gradient, and only then the visible grate. Match the trap to its use (shower, general floor, washing machine or backflow risk) and record its outlet size, direction, installation depth, flow capacity, removable hair strainer and anti-odour mechanism; any figure not yet known is set per project. List waterproofing as its own package.
Read the full detailWhy this combination
Warm timber drawer fronts, a pale stone-look top and matte black metal give the wall one warm, quiet palette with a few dark accents, and the lit mirror gives the wall soft light. ELS leans to this combination in a bathroom with good daylight, where the warm tones carry the light and the dark lines stay few.
An alternative suits better when the bathroom is small or has no window, where lighter fronts keep it from feeling closed in; when the household wants water marks to show less, where a more textured top can help; or when the client keeps an existing floor or sanitaryware, in which case the new surfaces are chosen around what stays.
These are preferences, not rules. Judge the combination in the actual room, with the samples, under its own lighting.
Procurement status
Nothing here is specified. ALUMAX binds the exact product, price and lead time; ELS names only the family, and the tier is confirmed with the quotation.
| Item | ALUMAX family | Tier | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vanity, with its mirror framing | Bathroom vanities | To be confirmed | Quotation required |
| Basin, tap, toilet, shower fittings and floor trap | No product matched yet; no brand or code is named | Not set | Not matched yet |
- Glass shower screen, if one is used: ELS Source (materials) · ELS+ (installation)
- Floor finish: ELS Source (materials) · ELS+ (installation)
ELS Source is a related specialist supply service. Suitable alternatives may be used if they meet the specification. Supply is subject to suitability and quotation. Nothing is sent from this page.
An ELS+ proposal states what it supplies, and can include the material, sourced internally through ELS Source, under one accountable lead. To buy the material on its own, ask ELS Source directly.
Budget summary
This lists what is in scope, what is still to be measured and what ALUMAX's quotation will price. It shows no ringgit amount and no total.
Evidence status: concept only. Nothing is built, measured or quoted.
Scope
- A vanity with a basin, drawers and a mirror.
- A floor trap with correct falls.
- A floor finish and, if one is used, a glass shower screen.
Quantities
- Vanity width: To be measured on site
- Floor area: To be measured on site
- Shower screen, width and height: To be measured on site
- Floor traps, count: To be measured on site
Assumptions
- A concept with no site: the layout is the concept render's, and nothing is measured.
- The vanity wall is the concept render's; the shower and the toilet are not drawn in it.
Lines ALUMAX's quotation prices
- The vanity, in the family above.
- Any other line ALUMAX is asked to supply, once the brief names it.
To confirm before order
- Site measurement
- The tier
- Sample approval
- ALUMAX's quotation
- The trap position, the falls and the waterproofing
- Who supplies the floor finish and the glass
You need to arrange
Basin, tap, toilet and shower fittings, plumbing and electrical works, waterproofing, wall and floor tiling, lighting fittings and loose furniture.
Next step
Save this direction to your ELS Design Brief on this device. It is saved as “not yet specified or approved”.
*Illustrative scenario based on conditions ELS plans for across Sarawak — figures are indicative and not a quotation. We are actively building our project portfolio; named, photographed case studies will follow.