A double basin countertop looks simple on a drawing: two basins, one long run of surface, some tapware. In practice it is the point where several trades meet, and where the smallest gaps in a specification become variations on site. Because the Santerson Double Basin Countertop is made to measure — finish, layout and dimensions are each specified per project — accuracy depends on the information the buyer signs off, not on a standard catalogue size. The items below are worth locking down before the order is released.
1. Basin spacing and the two tap sets
Send a dimensioned layout, not a mood board. Confirm the distance between basin centres, each basin's setback from the front edge, and where each mixer sits in relation to its bowl. On a shared vanity, a tap too close to the rim splashes across the surface; too far back, and users reach through the spray. Then confirm the clear distance between the two basins, because that gap is the practical measure of whether two people can stand side by side without elbowing each other.
A frequent problem is that tapware is ordered separately from the countertop and nobody reconciles the two until the vanities arrive on site. Ask for one reflected layout that puts basin centres, tap centres, waste outlets and mirror centrelines on the same datum.
2. How the basin meets the deck
The mounting method changes the cut, the edge detail and what the household has to clean every week:
- Undermount — the bowl is fixed beneath the deck, so the cutout size, its corner radii and the deck thickness at the fixings all have to match the bowl chosen. The Santerson Undermount Basin is offered with project-specific dimensions and finish, so confirm the cutout dimensions and the deck thickness in the same instruction.
- Vessel (above counter) — the bowl sits on the deck, which raises the wash height. Confirm the bowl footprint, the tap reach and spout height, and whether the mixer is deck-mounted or wall-mounted.
- Integrated — basin and deck are formed from one material, so the fall to the waste and the radius of the internal corners are decided at fabrication. The Integrated Basin page sets out how layout and dimensions are fixed per project.
3. Material, finish and edge profile
Ask which surface the quotation actually prices. Santerson Stone & Marble Surfaces covers the stone and marble options in the Countertops & Basins collection; the practical difference between them is how each behaves around a sink that gets used several times a day — water at the seams, acidic cosmetics, and abrasion from everyday cleaning. Confirm the face finish, honed or polished, the edge profile, whether an upstand is required at the wall, and how the joint is sealed.
Then ask for a sample with the edge machined on it, and for the cleaning and re-sealing recommendations in writing. A photograph of a slab says very little about how a mitred edge will read under bathroom lighting.
4. Cutouts for tapware, waste and overflow
Confirm the number and diameter of tapware holes in the deck, whether a pop-up or click-clack waste is specified, and whether the bowls have overflows. Wall-hung mixers need a different coordination set from deck-mounted ones: the rough-in valve sits inside the wall, so its position has to be frozen before any template is cut, and the spout reach has to clear the rim of the bowl you have chosen.
Where a mirror cabinet, wall light or side-hung cabinet hangs above the vanity, its fixing zone belongs on the countertop drawing. Brackets that must fix into the wall behind the stone are far easier to accommodate before fabrication than after.
5. Support, access and the services underneath
A long span between two bowls needs a stated support method. The fabrication drawing should show vanities, brackets or a frame, and confirm the load path for the thickness you have specified. Confirm trap access, whether the waste runs appear on the layout, and how pop-up rods or sensors will be reached for servicing once the vanity is closed in.
If the vanity carcass and the countertop come from different suppliers, name one party as responsible for the combined dimension check. Where these jobs fail is at the interface between the carcass front, the slab thickness and the splashback rebate.
6. The paperwork that protects the order
- A fabrication drawing carrying every dimension, cutout and edge detail, signed off against the as-built site survey.
- A material and finish schedule naming the surface, thickness, face finish and edge profile for each run.
- Basin and tapware specifications, with the mounting method stated for every location.
- Care and maintenance instructions for the selected surface.
Why the made-to-measure route changes the conversation
Because these countertops are fabricated rather than stocked, the specification conversation is part of the purchase, not an afterthought. Santerson's Custom & OEM Service covers bespoke finishes and material choices, and the company's services run from design coordination through production, door-to-door logistics and installation support. For a project buying countertops alongside vanities, storage and other interior fixtures, that single point of coordination is what keeps basin spacing, tap rough-ins and slab thickness on one drawing instead of three.
Sign-off checklist
Insist on a dimensioned reflected layout for each vanity; the basin mounting method written against every location; material, thickness, finish and edge profile confirmed against a machined sample; tapware and waste cutouts reconciled with the rough-in; the support method shown on the fabrication drawing; and final dimensions taken from the as-built survey rather than the drawing issue. Each of these belongs as a line in the purchase order, which makes it enforceable — and settling them on paper costs a fraction of settling them on site.
Santerson is a China-based manufacturer and supplier of furniture and building materials for villa, hospitality and office projects, and supplies double basin countertops as a made-to-measure item within a wider fit-out. Send the layout and the tapware schedule, and get the finish decisions confirmed in writing before production starts.