Proper plumbing is essential for all kitchen renovations to avoid a host of frustrating and complicated plumbing concerns. From ensuring your kitchen meets the Plumbing Code of Australia (PCA) standards to preventing leaks, many things will go wrong if you don’t opt for professional kitchen plumbing services. With that in mind, here are our top kitchen plumbing tips to make sure everything works out perfectly!
Planning Your Kitchen Plumbing Layout
Kitchen renovation plumbing considerations start with the layout of your new kitchen. As one of the leading plumbers in Sutherland Shire and the wider Sydney area, we often get asked what the ideal kitchen layout is. You want to know what goes where, and in all honesty, it revolves around your appliances and plumbing fixtures.
Our advice for an efficient kitchen plumbing layout is to keep certain appliances close to one another. For example, have your washing machine and dishwasher close to your sink, with your fridge near both of them. It minimises plumbing runs, which basically means you don’t have loads of pipes running all the way around your kitchen area.
Another big tip when plumbing for a kitchen renovation is to include multiple shutoff valves and access points. This will make it easier to maintain the plumbing fittings while creating space to seamlessly add upgrades or new appliances in the future.
Essential Plumbing Upgrades for Kitchens Renovations
Some of our favourite kitchen plumbing tips focus on the upgrades you can bring to your renovation. If you’re remodelling your kitchen, you may as well improve it with the following plumbing additions:
Water Supply Lines
We already spoke about shut-off valves for easy maintenance, but this is one of the best upgrades you can bring to kitchen plumbing renovation. Alongside this, you should enhance water supply lines with either PEX or copper piping. We do a lot of plumbing in St George, Sydney and NSW in general. One common concern is homes now have durable piping for their plumbing network. As such tend to favour PEX piping because it’s easier to manoeuvre and should last for 50 years. It also resists scaling, which helps thanks to the changeable weather conditions in NSW throughout the year!
Drainage Systems
If your sink, dishwasher or washing machine doesn’t drain properly, you’ll be in for a world of trouble. It could cause leaks in your plumbing system, or you could end up with water pooling in the drainage pipes and becoming stale, resulting in terrible smells!
Clogged drains are one of the most common plumbing issues, which is why you need an upgraded drainage system that works efficiently for your kitchen renovation. Another of our top kitchen plumbing tips is to always install proper grease traps in your sink or dishwasher. Too many people discard cooking oil down the sink, which ends up clogging the drainage systems and is reported to cost around $15-20 million dollars a year to fix in NSW. Grease traps catch your oil and fat so you can remove it and avoid sending it down the drain.
Gas Lines (if applicable)
Plumbing for a kitchen renovation may involve installing new gas lines. If you want a gas cooker, then you must think about the safety considerations for gas appliances. You must work with a professional plumber for this, as they’ll know how to meet the right standards.
Water-Efficient Fixtures and Appliances
It’s no secret that droughts are becoming increasingly common across NSW and Australia. So, when questioning what to consider when renovating your kitchen, think about buying and installing water-efficient fixtures and appliances. Investing in the right modern plumbing technology will help you save water and energy.
The trick is looking for products with a WELS (Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards) rating. The Australian government introduced the WELS scheme to help you find more water-efficient products for your home. Look for Water Rating labels on taps, dishwashers or washing machines and pay attention to the stars. The more stars a product has, the more water-efficient it will be.
Compliance with Australian Plumbing Regulations
Did you know that kitchen renovation plumbing must follow a strict code of standards? All plumbing and drainage work in NSW must comply with the Plumbing Code of Australia (PCA). This means your kitchen renovation must meet the correct standards for design, construction, installation, replacement, repair, alteration and maintenance of plumbing/drainage installations.
There is a lot to be aware of – and if your kitchen plumbing doesn’t meet these standards, you could be in big trouble. It puts you at a big safety risk, not to mention you’ll have a tough time selling your home in the future and will probably need to spend a fortune on repairs. Avoid all of this by working with plumbers who know how to meet these standards.
Professional Plumbing Work for Kitchens
The previous talking point demonstrates the importance of working with licensed plumbers for kitchen renovations. Generally speaking, there aren’t many things you can DIY in a kitchen plumbing renovation. Maybe you can get away with replacing the washer in a tap, but you want to avoid falling foul of the PCA regulations.
As you’ve seen from our top kitchen plumbing tips, we’re perfectly equipped to help with any renovation in NSW. Work with us to ensure your plumbing fixtures are installed by professionals to the latest codes and standards. You’ll avoid a lot of stress and will soon have the kitchen of your dreams!