Patching hole under bathroom sink

[Bienes Raices]

There are some small holes under the bathroom sink. It's one of those cheap vanities that's made of particle board (or maybe just wood?--not sure). Can this be taped and spackled the same way as drywall? Or is there a better way of doing this. Is it okay to sand this material? Thanks! It's under the sink and out of view.

[Jon Holdman]

The holes indicate there have been drips in the past and the bottom of the cabinet has been wet. The particle board disintegrated and is falling apart.

Best solution is to remove the vanity, pull out the bottom, and replace it with a new, solid board.

An alternative is to just replace the vanity. Depending on the size, you can completely replace a vanity, including the top and the faucets for less than $200 in parts. That's using the cheapest alternatives from Home Depot.

If you don't want to do either of those, cut a piece of particle board that will fit inside the cabinet. If there are pipes that go through the floor, you'll have to cut slots to allow you to slide in the board around them. Save the u-shaped pieces you cut out and drop them in behind the pipes. Tack it down, apply some contact paper that matches the cabinet and you have a quick and dirty solution.