Designing A Kitchen Part 2: Planning UtilitiesE-Materials

This post is part deux of our series on kitchen design. It might be a good idea to read part one first, Kitchen Planning, before diving into this post.

Using the existing layout of your kitchen will cut down on the need for planning utilities, but not eliminate it. New appliances may have their hook ups in different spots than your old ones, or they may have an entirely different fitting altogether. Either way, using the original layout is much easier than designing a new one.

If you are creating a new kitchen from scratch, I recommend tackling it on your own only if you’re an experienced DIY’er. Getting these things right the first time is extraordinarily important. You don’t want to figure out that you have a gas leak inside the wall after it’s been closed, or have a faulty wire in the ground after it’s been tiled over! So if you know what you’re doing, more power to you; if not, it’s a good idea to hire some help.

Things To Consider When Planning Utilities

Whether you’re doing it yourself, or are hiring someone to help, it’s important to know how everything works and what your options are. Having a pro help out is awesome, but it will be even better and go more smoothly if you know what they’re talking about!

Propane And Natural Gas

When buying gas appliances figure out where the hookups are and where the lines run. This is going to have a huge impact on where you place your appliances if you don’t want to change the entire gas scheme of your kitchen. Quite often older appliances will use a different connection than the new fancy one you just bought, so you may need adapters or fittings to make it work properly.

Never, ever forget that gas explodes! Always keep the gas off when working on things like this. It’s always a good idea to have a pro do the connecting of appliances, or at least have them check your work, to make sure that nothing is going to blow up. Also, if you aren’t comfortable working with gas, hire a pro.

Electricity

There is a whole lot of electricity running through your kitchen. Everything from the toaster to the lights has to be considered during the planning phase. In most remodeling jobs you’ll just use the existing wiring layout and add a few outlets as you need them, but overhauls require a lot of work to get everything right.

Don’t forget that large appliance need special outlet to be plugged in. Dishwashers, refrigerators, and electric stoves/ovens require 220 volt outlets. Most ovens require a special outlet that allows it to draw major power to heat up then reduce it to keep the oven warm. Either way, that has to be worked into your plan.

While it doesn’t blow up, electricity is still very dangerous. I recommend having a pro come check your work at the very least, if not doing the job for you to make sure that it’s safe.

Plumbing

Once you understand how plumbing works it’s fairly simple, but you probably won’t have that kind of familiarity until you complete a big job like a kitchen. Both your sink and dishwasher have to be plumbed in. The sink will need both hot and cold water, as well as a waste pipe. Most dishwashers get all of their plumbing from the sink, but that isn’t always the case. Some plumbing jobs, especially extending the waste pipe, will require you to notify your local building inspector.

Order Of Operations

You can put all of this together however you want, but I really don’t recommend it! Getting the work done in your kitchen is a lot like getting dressed in the morning. You put on your underwear and socks before you get to your pants and shoes, doing that in a different order will still get you dressed but…

So, the order that this all goes down in is as follows:

Electric
Plumbing and gas
Walls, ceilings, and floors
Cabinets
Counters and backsplash
Sink and dishwasher
Stove, oven, and microwave
Exhaust hood

There you have it! On paper it doesn’t really seem that hard! Be smart and cautious in all of your decisions when remodeling your kitchen. The extra planning will take more time, but it will help ensure that you get the job done properly and stay within your budget.