KITCHENS · NORTH SHORE
Kitchen Plumbing North Shore
Sinks, wastes and the island bench problem.
Sink and waste work, dishwasher and fridge connections, tapware, and the pipe runs that make an island bench possible. New kitchens, replacements and repairs.
Kitchen plumbing
Kitchen plumbing, from a new fit-out to a failed mixer
Kitchen plumbing is a smaller scope than a bathroom but it is less forgiving in one specific way: the cabinetry is built to millimetres and installed before anyone can adjust anything. Waste and supply have to land where the joiner expects them, not approximately near it.
Most of what we do here falls into three groups. New kitchens, where we work to the joiner’s plan and connect everything at the end. Replacements, where a sink or tapware is being swapped and the question is whether what is behind the cabinet will cooperate. And repairs, which is usually a mixer cartridge, a leaking waste or a dishwasher connection that has let go.
That last category is the most common call of the lot, and it is usually a small job.
The island bench
Islands are where kitchen plumbing gets interesting. Supply and waste have to reach the middle of the room, which means running under the floor and coming up inside a cabinet with no wall to hide in. On a timber floor that is straightforward. On a slab it needs to be planned before the concrete is poured, or it needs a different solution. Worth raising at the design stage.
What it costs
What drives the price on a kitchen
Kitchens vary less than bathrooms, but these four still move the number.
Whether the sink stays where it is
A like-for-like sink replacement in the same position is a short job. Moving the sink, particularly to an island, means new supply and waste runs and usually floor access.
Timber floor or slab
Running new waste under a timber floor is a morning. Under a slab it is either a much larger job or a redesign. This is the single biggest variable on any kitchen that changes layout.
What is already behind the cabinet
Old isolating valves that will not shut, corroded waste fittings and supply that was never quite right are common on kitchens that have been worked on before. Often a small job grows by an hour or two.
Appliance connections
Dishwashers and plumbed fridges each need their own supply and, for a dishwasher, a waste connection. Adding one where there was not one before is more work than swapping an existing appliance.
On new kitchens. Talk to us alongside the joiner rather than after. The joiner is designing cabinetry and the plumbing has to fit inside it. Ten minutes at the plan stage prevents the fairly common situation where the waste lands exactly where a drawer runner needs to be.
Repairs
Mixers, wastes and dishwasher connections
Most kitchen calls are not renovations. A mixer that drips, a mixer that has gone stiff, a waste weeping into the cabinet below, or a dishwasher connection that has quietly been wetting the floor of the cupboard for months.
Mixers are usually a cartridge rather than a replacement, which is a considerably cheaper outcome and worth checking before buying new tapware. Pull-out and pull-down spray mixers have a hose and a weight that wear as well, and those are replaceable on their own.
The one worth acting on quickly is water in the cabinet. Chipboard cabinetry swells irreversibly once it gets wet, so a small leak that gets ignored turns into a joinery bill rather than a plumbing one.
Plumbing maintenance and repairsLeak detection
Coverage
Kitchen plumbing across the North Shore
New kitchens, replacements and repairs throughout the Shore.
Questions
Kitchen plumbing questions
Can you put a sink in an island bench?
Usually, and it depends almost entirely on the floor. On a timber floor we can run supply and waste beneath and bring them up inside the island cabinet without much drama. On a concrete slab it needs to have been planned before the pour, or it needs an alternative approach. Raise it at the design stage, because the answer sometimes changes the kitchen layout.
My kitchen mixer drips. Do I need a new one?
Usually not. Most dripping mixers are a worn cartridge, which is a fraction of the cost of new tapware and a short job. Pull-down sprays also have a hose and weight that wear independently and can be replaced on their own. It is worth having it looked at before you go shopping, because people replace perfectly good tapware fairly often.
Can you connect a dishwasher or a plumbed fridge?
Yes. Swapping an appliance where the connection already exists is quick. Adding one where there was not a connection before means running supply, and for a dishwasher a waste connection as well, which depends on what is accessible behind the cabinetry. Tell us which situation it is when you ring and we will give you a realistic idea of time.
There is water in the cabinet under my sink. Is that urgent?
More urgent than people think, not because of the plumbing but because of the cabinetry. Most kitchen carcasses are chipboard, and once chipboard swells it does not go back. A small weeping waste that gets left for a few months becomes a joinery replacement rather than a plumbing repair. Worth sorting promptly even though the leak itself is small.
Should the plumber or the joiner come first on a new kitchen?
Both, in the right order, and ideally talking to each other early. The joiner designs the cabinetry, we make the plumbing fit inside it, and that works much better as a conversation at the plan stage than a discovery on install day. The common failure is a waste landing where a drawer runner needs to be, which is entirely avoidable with ten minutes up front.
New kitchen or a mixer that has given up?
For a new kitchen, ring while the joinery is still being drawn. For a repair, describe what it is doing and we will tell you whether it sounds like a cartridge or something larger.
Or call the team09 213 9815