Bathroom vanities have the widest price spread of anything in cabinetry, from about $300 to well past $10,000. Here is what sits behind that, and how to work out where your bathroom lands.
The 2026 numbers
| Option | Cabinet cost | Plus installation |
|---|---|---|
| Stock vanity, big box | $300 to $1,200 | $300 to $1,000 |
| Semi-custom, 36 inch with quartz top | $1,800 to $3,500 installed | |
| Custom cabinetry | $3,000 to $4,500 | plus top and install |
| Custom built-in, fully specified | up to $10,000 or more | |
Published 2026 data puts most vanities between $300 and $6,000 for the unit, with installation adding roughly $300 to $1,000, and custom cabinetry alone typically $3,000 to $4,500. A well configured 36 inch single sink vanity with semi-custom cabinetry, an undermount sink, and a quartz top installs in the $1,800 to $3,500 range in most markets.
Why anyone pays for custom in a bathroom
One reason dominates: stock vanities come in 24, 30, 36, 48, and 60 inches, and real bathrooms are rarely any of those numbers.
This is particularly true of older Clovis housing. Homes built before the 1980s, especially around Old Town, frequently have bathrooms that were carved out of whatever space was available. A 30 inch stock vanity in a 34 inch alcove leaves a four inch gap, closed with a scribe strip and a bead of caulk that discolours within a couple of years.
Building to the alcove recovers those four inches. In a bathroom that size, four inches is frequently the difference between a single door bay and a proper drawer stack.
What drives the number
- Width and configuration. Drawer stacks cost more per inch than door bays, because each drawer is a box in its own right
- Notched drawers. Building drawer boxes to wrap around the P trap and supply lines is hand work, and it is the single best upgrade in most bathrooms
- Species and finish. Painted MDF, paint grade maple, and stained hardwood price differently
- Wall hung construction, which needs blocking in the wall and a more precise install
- The countertop, almost always quoted separately
- Plumbing relocation, if the drain has to move to make the layout work
- A linen tower built into the same run
The upgrade worth paying for. A standard vanity wastes most of its volume around the P trap. Drawer boxes notched or built U shaped to wrap around the plumbing recover that dead space, and it is the change homeowners notice daily. It requires knowing exactly where your supply and drain lines sit, which is why the measure matters.
Get the height right
Most new vanities are built at 34 to 36 inches, often called comfort height, rather than the 30 to 32 inch standard common in mid century tract housing across Clovis and Selma. Taller is easier on your back for most adults.
Two exceptions. A bathroom used mainly by young children is better lower. And a vessel sink sits on top of the counter and adds four to six inches, so the cabinet itself should be built lower to compensate.
Good news on cost: the supply and drain rough in usually sits well below the counter, so moving from 30 to 36 inches rarely requires plumbing work. Worth confirming at the measure rather than assuming.
The two local conditions that change the specification
Hard water. Groundwater across the Fresno and Clovis area carries heavy dissolved mineral content, which is why scale builds so quickly on local fixtures and shower glass. That same water drying repeatedly on a cabinet face leaves deposits that dull and eventually etch a soft finish. Specify catalysed or conversion finishes rather than standard latex enamel, and seal the top edge of every drawer front where splash actually collects.
The humidity gradient. A bathroom is the one room that runs high humidity year round regardless of the weather outside. Because Clovis summer air is extremely dry, this room sees a steeper local moisture gradient than anywhere else in the house. Sealing all six faces of every door, including the bottom edge nobody sees, is what stops the panel swelling and pushing the door out of alignment. Our materials guide covers this in depth.
Is custom worth it for a bathroom?
Yes if: your alcove is not a standard width, you want notched drawers around the plumbing, you need a linen tower integrated into the run, or the bathroom has a sloped ceiling or knee wall, which is common in the older two storey homes around Reedley's historic downtown.
No if: your bathroom is a standard 36 or 48 inch opening, it is a rental, or it is a powder room seeing light use. A good semi-custom vanity will serve you well and cost considerably less.
Our bathroom vanities page covers construction, the configuration options, and how we handle plumbing during the measure.
Configurations, and what each costs you in storage
The layout inside the vanity matters more to daily use than the width does:
| Configuration | Works well when | Trade off |
|---|---|---|
| Doors only | Budget is tight, or you store large items | Poor access to anything behind the front row |
| Notched drawers | You want daily items reachable | Costs more, interior depth reduced around the trap |
| Door plus flanking drawer stacks | Widths over 54 inches | Needs the width to work properly |
| Floating or wall hung | Small bathrooms, easier floor cleaning | Requires solid blocking in the wall |
| Double sink | Wall is 60 inches or wider | Below 60 inches it costs more storage than it is worth |
| Vanity plus linen tower | No dedicated linen closet | Consumes counter width |
The double sink question is the one people most often get wrong. Below about 60 inches of wall, a second basin eats the drawer and counter space that made the room work, and two people rarely use it simultaneously anyway. A single basin with a generous counter and real drawer storage serves most households better.
Countertop choices for a bathroom
Vanity tops are small, which means upgrading is cheaper here than in a kitchen. Quartz is the practical default: non porous, never needs sealing, and completely indifferent to how mineralised the local water is. Granite works and needs periodic sealing. Cultured marble is the budget option, and worth knowing that its gel coat surface dulls, then crazes, then stains, at which point it cannot be economically restored.
That last point matters in Clovis and Selma tract housing, where a cultured marble integral top is the original specification in a great many bathrooms. When it reaches that stage the vanity and the top become one project rather than two, which is usually good news: the new cabinet can be built to the full alcove width rather than matching whatever dimension the old top imposed.
Our countertops page covers material selection in more detail.
Clovis Custom Cabinets builds custom cabinetry to order in Clovis, California, for homes and businesses across the greater Fresno area. For a free measure and a written quote, call (559) 314-3498.
