If you want to dress up a bathroom, especially a smaller bathroom, one of the biggest changes you can make is to replace the vanity and the bathroom sink.

There is a great variety of bathroom sink styles available today. Pedestal, wall mount, countertop and more provide options to fit any space and decorating scheme. Each has its unique installation details. We’ll cover some general tips for just a couple here.

First, common to all installations: turn off the water and get a bucket and some towels to catch any remaining water. Open the valve to drain as much as possible. Now, onto the options…

In one way, pedestal sinks are the easiest to install. Since they come in two pieces (the sink and pedestal), and the design is very open, it’s easy to get around to hook everything up. But they can be heavy and they require a bit more precision and care than some other types because everything is so visible.

Remove the old sink by disconnecting all hoses and pipes. It will take careful measurement and placement to get the pedestal sink in the right place. Some puttying and finishing work may be needed to redo walls and floors if a cabinet-style countertop is being replaced with a pedestal.

Some pedestals are heavy enough and shaped just right so that setting them in place is all that’s needed. Then the hoses are re-attached in an operation that takes only a few minutes. For other designs it will be necessary to drill some holes in the floor and/or wall. Lag screws bolt the pedestal to the floor in this scenario while the sink may provide a means for installing a wall-mount bracket.

Wall mount sinks are a great option for those smaller bathrooms that have little space and don’t require any cabinetry. They can fit in a corner or occupy a little more than a foot of one wall. But because they are ‘floating’ the installation requires great care to ensure they’re well supported and don’t tear out the wall during use. Everyone leans on the sink at some point.

Here again some wall and/or floor re-finishing will be needed if the sink replaces a cabinet/countertop style. The tricky part is it’s best to do that once you’re all done. Mounting the wall mount sink requires drilling into available studs and sinking secure lag screws and/or brackets. The inevitable slip will produce cracks and tears that you don’t want to have to patch twice.

Tile walls will require use of a masonry bit. Even at that, it’s possible to crack a tile while drilling into it. Be prepared to possibly replace one or two.

In all cases, simply following the manufacturers’ directions step-by-step will get you to your goal. Be generous and exact with any Teflon plumber’s tape. Wind in a direction so that the fitting will squeeze it into the threads, rather than loosen it. Be accurate with any plumber’s putty used to seal a drain flange and wipe up any excess before it dries. Be equally precise with caulk. That gives a professional look at the end.