Cutout in drywall around sink coutertop

bananey · 05-03-2011, 06:44 PM

My contractor installed a bathroom vanity with quartz countertop and 3 inch quartz backsplash along the back of the counter. The vanity butts up against a wall on one side and the wall side has no backsplash.

After light use the countertop stays wet. I can't find a leak and recently noticed a watermark and sogginess where the countertop meets the drywall. On closer inspection I saw the drywall had been cut to insert the backsplash into the wall. I guess it wouldn't fit flush.

I asked the worker to check and see if the thing were level and was told the vanity is pitched back toward the faucets ever so slightly.

The contractor claims the drywall is wet because we splashed water onto it. We are 2 adults using this sink installed about 3 weeks ago in a half bath. There is one coat of primer on the drywall and has been since right after installation. No chaulking applied.

What could be causing the drywall to get wet? Is is the slight backward pitch with water trickling towards the wall and being absorbed by the cut drywall? If so, how would this be corrected? If corrected, will that piece of drywall need to be replaced or will it just dry out?

Sorry to ask so many questions but I have had many problems with this contractor. He tries to intimidate me and I would like to be forearmed.

Also, does wet drywall have a funny odor? I was worried about the venting but now hope it's caused by the wet drywall.

Thank you!

Thank you.

**oh'mike** · 05-03-2011, 07:39 PM

Post a picture if you can---Vanity top should be level---I need to see the situation---wet drywall around a new sink to should be correctable.---Mike--

chrisBC · 05-03-2011, 11:30 PM

well the vanity should be installed level, or to an acceptable tolerance. "slightly" may mean within tolerances, it may not.

It very well could be from water splashing. I don't see how the drywall gets wet if there is a backsplash.

Even if it is out of level slightly I don't see how the water would get out of the sink short of splashing it out, unless there is a plumbing leak on some kind.

As stated, hard to tell without pic.

bananey · 05-04-2011, 05:42 PM

Thank you.

I will try and post a photo. There is no backsplash against the side wall and that is the wall that is wet. The backsplash is along the back wall behind the faucet.

There are no splash water marks so I don't buy the contractor's theory. The water mark is rising from the margin of where the counter meets the sink. It's a 36 inch vanity. The countertop gets a little bit wet when we turn off the faucets, use the soap pump, that is, normal hand washing activities.

A picture is worth a thousand words...

bananey · 05-04-2011, 05:47 PM

see below