We are in the process of getting our house on the market. One needed repair project is the master bathroom vanity. The sink was cracked and dripping water damaged the floor and one side of the cabinet under the sink. Water damage is localized, so I am trying to repair it.
I’m thinking my options are:
1. Use 1/4 inch prefinished maple plywood to cover the damaged area (I have this already)
2. Use my Vecturo oscillating saw to cut out the damaged particle board; either all of it (floor and one side) or 1/2 the floor and the lower side; replace with either 3/4 inch prefinished maple plywood or melamine MDF (the latter would match the rest).
3. For a purely cosmetic “cover-up”, get white laminate, cut to size and use contact cement to fasten in place; would need to sand down some of the raised part of the particle board.
I would appreciate advice on the best way to deal with it. Not trying to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear; it’s very likely future owners would rip it all out and put in better vanity.

Wife and I (read: I) cut a piece of 1/4" ply and then she bought a sized vinyl mat for on top of it.

Actually looks so good that mats were bought the other other bathroom and under the kitchen sink

I like option one. If it looks off throw a coat of stain on the whole interior.

LS1- can you give me a source for the vinyl mats so I can see if it would work?

Krazeehorse: Thanks for the advice.

It looks to me like it would be easier to remove the bottom half of the left side, and the left side of the floor. Those are the only sections with water damage.

Here's a photo:

Tough to see the condition of the surface but how about a couple rolls of shelf liner and some glue? If you were staying there, I'd say just rip that out and replace it with plywood. Just for cosmetics, liner will cover it.

Rip it out the bad section and line the entirety of that cabinet with 1/4” ply, and paint it.

Thats the cheap way.

The right way is to pull the entire cabinet and replace it. (Good luck)

Is there any mold underneath it? Is this on the first floor or second floor? Is the floor wood or concrete? Is the vanity attached to a wall in a corner(s)? I'm with MikeinNC on this one and replace it.

I’ve got more Festool gear than I’ve got SIGs; and feel very comfortable cutting out the damaged pieces, putting in plywood in their place, then covering with laminate.
My wife will be happy, I will get a chance to fix something, everyone’s happy.

More than necessary, but I’ll feel good about it.

Thanks all for your help.

The whole cabinet needs to be replaced.

If it was just the bottom i might feel differently, but I think it would be easier to just replace the vanity with a builder grade one.

Wife did amazon; https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Und...147&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

Undercounter mats

Note: our damage was mainly confined to the horizontal piece on the bottom

quote:

Originally posted by XLT:
The whole cabinet needs to be replaced.

This. Particle board is a hard no on ANY furniture.

Where I live, you will need to fill out a disclosure form when you list it for sale unless you sell “as-is, no disclosure “ which is a red flag to buyers.
The form asks about things like this and not accurately describing former issues and repairs opens a seller up to clear liability.
Just FYI.

Replace or disclose and let the new owners pick out a new cabinet. I’m with PHPaul, that garbage has no business in any furniture that sees active use. Especially around water.

Yeah, new vanities are cheap. Replace.

Normally I would not only agree with most of you, I would have already done and built the cabinets myself. But that didn’t happen. To explain again, as it wasn’t clear: there is water damage ONLY because one sink was cracked, and before we fixed that water got under part of the cabinet and caused the damage. There is no other water damage, nor will there be.

We will of course disclose the event, the repair, and it will be perfectly functional until the new owners rip it out shortly after they buy the house, and redo the kitchen cabinets as well.

I would replace the vanity with something from Lowes or Home Depot before I tried to repair the damaged vanity.

Replace the cabinet with a Home depot or Lowes.... possible more unseen damage / mold.............Retired cabinet maker here.... Once I was fired because I told a customer that personally I would not build a indoor dog house out of melamine covered MDF or Melamine covered particle board.... Told the boss that the customer asked me what I thought of her choice of materials for a ground floor semi enclosed area (high moisture) that was less than 3ft above normal river level that was approx 25 yards distance away..,, After that incident whenever asked I would only reply ""I cannot say anything because I am not sure what lies the shop might have already told you""....................................... drill sgt.

There is a way to repair this, but remember the bottom of the cabinet is dado joinery so replacing it entirely in place is impossible. You’ll need to cleat support under the new bottom. The cleats are secured to the sides, across the front and the back. You’re essentially building a pedestal for the bottom to sit on.

This video captures the essence but his work is a little primitive

quote:

There is a way to repair this, but remember the bottom of the cabinet is dado joinery so replacing it entirely in place is impossible. You’ll need to cleat support under the new bottom. The cleats are secured to the sides, across the front and the back. You’re essentially building a pedestal for the bottom to sit on.

Now that right there is useful advice! I’m going to wait until the existing tile countertop is removed to do the repair, for better access, and less worry about the weight of the countertop causing the whole thing to collapse.