How to choose a downstand

Now the downstand: the edge that shows at the front of your top. How tall it is, where it runs, and how it’s finished.

The downstand is the band that hangs down along the visible edges. Its height decides how thick your top looks, and how it’s mounted.

12 millimetres is the solid surface on its own. Slim and light, but it needs a cabinet underneath, with supports no more than 450 millimetres apart.

From 30 millimetres up, there’s a 15 millimetre plywood sheet underneath, the same at every height. 30 sits on a cabinet.

150 is the safest choice for a top floating on the wall. 100 and 200 are a matter of taste: on a cabinet, a taller front looks more elegant, and inside the cabinet that height is taken by the sink anyway.

Next, the sides. Click an edge to add or remove the downstand there. The back always sits against the wall, and a side that meets a wall stays plain.

With a front downstand of 100 millimetres or more, you can add an integrated towel holder: a slot milled right into it.

Set its length, from 200 to 400 millimetres, and its position: centred under the sink, or measured from the left or right edge. Then choose how rounded the slot’s corners are. Matching them to your sink gives a more consistent look.

For this vanity, we’ll leave the towel holder off, and go back to 30 millimetres.

Finally, the edge finish on the visible sides: a rounded fillet, or a bevelled chamfer, from 1 to 12 millimetres.

The edge finish goes on every side that has a downstand. Even at 12 millimetres, choose your open, visible sides here, so they get the finish too.

To round the vertical corner as well, choose a fillet or chamfer corner in step one, in the same size.

That’s the downstand. Next up: the upstand.