New Kitchen Plumbing and Island Sinks in Cuyahoga Falls

Why Moving a Kitchen Is a Plumbing Project

A sink on an exterior wall under a window is easy to plumb: the drain drops into the wall, connects to a nearby stack and vents through the same wall. Move that sink across the room into an island and every one of those pieces has to be rebuilt. The drain needs a path through the floor with enough slope to reach the existing line, and the vent can no longer simply rise inside a wall.

Dishwashers, refrigerators with water dispensers and gas ranges add their own needs. Planning all of them together prevents a finished kitchen with an ice maker line stretched across the back of a cabinet.

Getting a Drain to the Island

Over a basement, the drain usually drops straight down through the floor and runs along the basement ceiling to the existing stack or building drain. That is the easiest situation, though joists may need to be drilled or headed off along the way. Over a slab, the concrete has to be cut and trenched from the island to the nearest drain line, and the trench is inspected before it is patched.

Distance matters. Long horizontal drain runs need proper slope and sizing, and they may need a cleanout. We measure the route before recommending an island location, and sometimes shifting the island a foot or two makes the plumbing much simpler.

Venting an Island Sink

Venting is the trickiest part of island plumbing because there is no wall to carry a pipe upward. The common approaches are:

• A loop or island vent, where the vent rises inside the cabinet, loops back down and runs under the floor to connect with a vent in a nearby wall
• A dedicated vent that runs below the floor and rises in the closest interior wall
• An air admittance valve inside the cabinet, where local code and the inspector allow it

Which one we recommend

It depends on what is below the kitchen and what your inspector will accept. We explain the options during the estimate and choose the one that will pass inspection and drain well for the long term.

Supply Lines and Extras

New hot and cold lines are run to the sink location with accessible shutoffs. While the floor or walls are open, it is a good time to add the extras that are hard to retrofit later:

• A dedicated line and shutoff for the refrigerator
• A separate prep sink with its own drain and vent
• A pot filler line behind the range
• A hot water dispenser or under-sink filter loop

Moving a gas range

If the range is moving too, the gas line has to follow. We can extend or reroute it with our natural gas line service while the rest of the plumbing is going in.

How the Project Comes Together

After a free estimate and your approval of the layout and materials, we rough in the new drain, vent and supply lines once demolition is done. The work is tested and inspected before walls, floors and cabinets go in. Once countertops are installed, we come back to set the sink, faucet, disposal and dishwasher connections. If you want one team for the full remodel, see our kitchen remodeling services, and visit the main new plumbing page for more on materials.