Kitchen Plumbing - What to Consider Before Getting into DIY Installation

Perhaps, you’re all set to take over the installation of your kitchen plumbing this weekend. This is sure to save you a good deal of money, but wait—do you really know how to do a professional job on the plumbing of your kitchen?

The plumbing of your kitchen is both difficult to understand and highly technical. So, it’s necessary that you consider a few vital things when installing the plumbing of your kitchen:

Your kitchen island demands a complex plumbing system: This requires a basement so that the pipes below can be easily installed through the floor of your kitchen. This is a difficult job, made more so if your house is built on a concrete surface. So, be careful.

You can’t install your kitchen plumbing without the necessary permit: People usually do their own kitchen plumbing and so avoid getting the local permit required. However, this will work against you when you put your house up for sale.

You must hand over your kitchen plumbing to professional plumbers: If you’re installing kitchen plumbing, you definitely need professional expertise. Handling minor problems in the kitchen is entirely different from taking on the full responsibility of installing your kitchen plumbing. This specialty service is best done by plumbers, especially if this is not your area of expertise.

You can dispose your garbage yourself: To complete the installation of your kitchen sink faster, you can help out by disposing of the garbage disposal.

Take care to install the dishwasher adjacent to the kitchen sink: This is necessary because this will make water supply and drainage easy and immediate.

If you’ve done all of the above, you’re now ready to actually install your kitchen plumbing. Here are some pointers to watch out for:

Since you are taking care of the installation of your kitchen plumbing, you will realize that your kitchen houses many appliances that work with water such as a sink, ice maker or dishwasher. These appliances need valves to supply them with water and drains to take the water away.

Types of plumbing valves: Usually, kitchens have two kinds of plumbing valves—angle stops and faucets. Of these, angle stops are shut-off valves that are installed at the end of water pipes that pass through the walls or under the floor. It would be interesting to note that we use four kinds of faucets.

Functions: Installing kitchen plumbing involves screwing on angle stops on the water pipes. With these ball valves, water can be shut off while undergoing repairs. To make all water connections in your kitchen by using a wrench, you can screw on flexible hose pipes to the taps of your many appliances and get threaded outlets. By sticking a threaded fitting on to the waste stub-out, you are putting on waste lines with compression couplings which can be further tightened manually.

Features: Your kitchen faucets may have one or two handles. Those with one handle have two inlet stems moving outward from the center of the faucet itself, while two-handled faucets have inlet stems at a pre-set distance. However, both faucet types are connected to the angle stops which come with flexible hoses.

What to consider: Kitchen plumbing installation isn’t just about saving money to work around your house. This specialized job is best left to experts who’ve done this several times before and have both the experience and the equipment to do a perfect job.