Kitchen Remodel

Plumbing

 

Your Kitchen Plumbing Upgrade!

So, you want to remodel your kitchen, now what?

You thought about, and, googled everything you can think of. How much is it to remodel a kitchen? How much are The Home Depot and Lowes kitchen cabinets? How much are kitchen appliances, Moen kitchen faucets, quartz countertops?  On and on, the search never ends. There is a lot we can discuss about kitchen renovations, but let's do it in different blog posts.

Where do you begin? Your whole life, you heard stories about how complicated it is dealing with general contractors, electricians, plumbers, the department of buildings, permits...
I know, right? Already sounds complicated.
Don't worry, I'll make this as simple as I can. I promise!
Let's leave the contractors, electricians, and architects aside for another blog and concentrate on plumbing for now.

Plumbing has come a long way from its origin, and plumbing codes have changed over the years, and vary depending on where you live. Different cities and counties may carry different plumbing codes, so we rely on architects and plumbers to help us figure things out, because it could get very confusing.

Let's Get Your Kitchen Renovation Started!

First, you need to decide on your layout arrangement, are you going to keep it the same way? Or are you changing things around?
Just for the sake of this exercise let's say you chose to keep the gas stove in the same location, but you want to move the sink to the next wall because you decided to add a dishwasher, and want to keep them together. 
Now that you have an idea of where your appliances are going to be installed, we need to clear another important point. Permits, do you need them?
You knew, they would show up sooner or later!
We know you are moving the sink and adding a dishwasher, so let's see if we need Permits, and what kind of permits, we might need.

The next question is. Do you live in a private home,  a co-op, or condo?
On private homes, most homeowners will choose not to file an application with the Department of Buildings, but the truth is, they might need to file, and they can face a violation if caught without a permit.

The NYC building department, will allow you to do minor plumbing work without a permit application, these include the sink, faucet, and toilet replacement but moving a sink to another wall, or adding a dishwasher, will require a plumbing permit.
There are different types of plumbing permits out there. (ALT 1, ALT 2, LAA) We can discuss types of permits on another blog post. 

Let's make things fun! Let's say you live in a co-op and have discussed with your board and management company your new layout, and they have said we need to apply for an LAA permit.

To apply for an LAA we need a licensed plumber. Since our plumber is licensed, let's ask him to pull a permit for us. In NYC he can do this application online and shouldn't take too long, usually from one day to the next. Since he is filing for a permit, we should know that there will be plumbing inspections. One after the rough work is done and another after the project is finished.

So, now we know your kitchen layout, and that we have for an LAA Permit. 

Great, let's continue with the project.

Speaking with the Owner of New York Best Finish Contracting he explains that to replace kitchen cabinets we don't need any construction permits and since we are not doing any electrical work either, we don't need an electrical permit, so we should be good to go.

Let's get started!

The first week went by fast, we did all protection needed for demolition, the demo contractor has finished removing the cabinets and drywall, and now we can see inside your kitchen walls.

Many times, while doing a kitchen renovation, after the walls have been opened, if you live in a Co-op the super will come over and take a look at the risers. (the hot and cold water pipes that come from the basement and go all the way up to each apt) Sometimes the risers are old, they were made from galvanized steel and there is asbestos wrapping around them, if that's the case, this is a good time to get rid of them. But lucky for us, your risers were made of copper and don't have any asbestos, so we are good to continue with your renovation.

Great, now the plumber can start his work. We see the exposed risers and since we have our LAA permit, now we can ask the super to give us a shutdown, which means the hot and cold water valves to the rises will be closed in the basement so we can proceed  to replace your pipe branches (water lines that come out of the risers to the fixtures) and install our new shutoff valves or stop valves. Shutoff valves are usually placed inside the walls. There are different types, ball valves, gate valves ... some compression, sweat...  Don't worry the plumber will know which ones to use.
Because we want them inside the wall we will install an access panel for future access.
Once the new branches and the cold and hot water shutoff valves have been installed, we can ask the super to open the water in the basement. No leaks? Great! Looks like our plumber is doing good!

The water might be open in the basement, but it needs to remain closed at the new stop valves because we are not done yet. After the shutoff valves, we still need to continue our water risers to our new sink location, and install new water angle stop valves. These are the typical water valves you see inside your kitchen sink cabinet, also called angle valves.

To install these valves, we will Install an SP Plumbing Box 2000, this will make the installation a lot easier, and faster because the plumbing box 2000 already comes with the valves inside. But we will talk more about this later on the project, but for now, before the walls are closed, we need to connect our SP plumbing Box 2000 to your drain, and vent pipe. The drain, is the pipe used to carry the unwanted or wastewater away. The vent, is the pipe that allows air to enter the plumbing system.

Since we are having an inspection for the rough work, we need to make sure our drainpipe is vented, or else it will not pass the inspection. But because the old kitchen already had a vent line, we don't need to install any new pipes, simply connect to the existing vent line, and extend it to our new location.

A typical installation would be PVC or cast-iron pipe depending on your Plumbing Code. For your project, we need to use a cast-iron pipe.

Since our SP Plumbing Pox 2000 already comes with the 2-inch cast-iron sanitary tee it will be fast and easy, all we need is (2) 2-inch couplings. One for the vent and one for the drain, and that's it (See pic below)

Plumbing Box 1000

 

A few weeks went by, the plumber inspector passed by the apt. and gave us the green light to continue, so now the contractor has closed the walls, installed the new kitchen cabinets, the new quartz countertop, backsplash tiles, and painted the kitchen.

That was fast! Not really! This is not reality TV, so it probably took about a month, :)

Now, it is time to have our plumber come back, and install the finishes, our sink, faucet, drain, and new dishwasher. Since we didn't move the gas, that is an easy connection.

Let's talk a little about what goes on inside the kitchen Sink Cabinet.

So far, we know, that inside our kitchen Sink Cabinet we have our new angle stop valves, or speedy valves. (these are the valves that feed hot and cold water to your faucet)

Plumbing Inside the kitchen sink cabinet has come a long way over the years. It used to be a very clutter mess, that included exposed pipes, water hoses, valves, fittings, a drain trap, (see pics below) that left no room inside the cabinet for a homeowner. 

 Old Plumbing
 Exposed pipes, water hoses, valves, fittings, drain trap, and a dishwasher drain. (see pic above left)
To a little cleaner but still intrusive, crowded, and exposed valves with no protection (see pic above right)
SP Plumbing Box 1000

Today's All in One Plumbing Box are wall recessed (see pic above)

Stream Products Plumbing Box 1000 looks organized, much cleaner, and gives the homeowner much-needed space inside the kitchen sink base cabinet. It is fully wall-recessed, and comes with doors for valve protection.

This is what we are installing for your project.

Stream Products Inc carries different lines of Plumbing Boxes, metal, and Plastic

For your project, in the beginning, we chose to install an SP Plumbing Box 2000 because it comes with stop angle valves for connecting hot water, cold water, a dishwasher, and a connection for your fridge. The SP Plumbing Box 2000 also comes with a 2-inch cast-iron sanitary tee that connects to your kitchen drain, and vent.

Let's connect the SP Plumbing Box 2000 to your sink, faucet, fridge, and dishwasher.

Now, we have to access the inside of our plumbing box, we can simply open the doors or remove them. The doors are very easy to remove, they are attached to the box with 4 screws. Top, and bottom

Now that the doors are open, we can see on the left the hot water stop angle valve. This valve we will connect to your faucet's hot water, and the new dishwasher. To connect the faucet to the angle valve all we need is a 3/8 comp adapter or hose, and to connect to the dishwasher we need a 3/8-inch comp adapter or hose.

On the right side, we have your cold-water angle stop valve. This will connect to the faucet's cold water and the new fridge. For the cold water, all we need is a 3/8 comp. adapter or hose, and to connect to the refrigerator we need a 1/4-inch comp. adapter or hose.

Once this is done, we need to connect the sink drain, this is very easy, all we need is a 2-inch nipple that screws into the sanitary tee on one side, and to the drain trap on the other side. The trap connects to a tailpiece pipe that connects to the sink. We also have a dishwasher that needs to connect to the drain line as well, we do this with a 1 1/2 tailpiece pipe with a branch for a direct dishwasher outlet.

After that, all we need to do is to close the SP Plumbing Box 2000 doors back to protect the valves, and we are done. Now the plumber might request the final inspection, but because we did everything correct, we know it will pass inspection. Now, wasn't this easy?

SP Plumbing Box 2000

 SP Plumbing Box 2000, showing a clean look, organized hoses, recessed in-wall box, and valve protection with doors (Pic above)

Stream Products Plumbing Boxes can be connected to any room of the house where you might have a sink. It could be a kitchen, a bath, or a laundry. If you don't have access to Stream Products, SP Plumbing Boxes you can ask your architect, designer, contractor, or plumbing supply store.

After the plumber is done with the kitchen plumbing, usually there will be other finishes your contractor will take care of. Other than that congratulation, the kitchen renovation is finished.

Plumbing can be easy, fun, and beautiful, if done the correct way, but you need the correct tools.

Before you start your kitchen remodel, please check with your local codes, to make sure what permits are required.

 

1 comment

  • Very informative!

    Vanesa

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