Moving a Kitchen from One End of a flat to the other...

[jcgw]

I am hoping to buy my first property very soon and am exploring the idea of making some renovations.
The first thing I would like to do is move the kitchen from the back of the property to the front, which as I understand it would involve running the waste pipe up through the property, pulling up floor boards and drilling through joists. I have attached a just about legible ground plan of the first floor victorian flat and would be grateful for any advise as to weather this is possible and if so what should I look out for. I want to cost this out and decide if I want to go ahead with it.

Thanks

James

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[SimonG]

Welcome to the forum 🙂

Firstly nothing is impossible.
Secondly don't go drilling joists willy nilly, lots of rules about what can and can't be done.
Thirdly Holderness Road sounds familiar, whereabouts you at?

 

[jcgw]

Firstly. Glad to hear it.
Secondly. No way would I drill joists willy nilly, hence being on this forum and trying to get as much info about the potential scheme as possible, and if I do get a plumber/build to do this I would like to know what I am talking about. Though would love to do it myself if possible.
Thirdly. Tooting.

 

[Destroyer2813]

First thing from looking at your drawing is gonna be drainege, not to much drama in moving the hot and cold water supplys.do you know if there are any foul drains near the front of the property

 

[WHPES]

NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No drilling of joists to take waste pipes under any circumstances. Extremely foolish and loads of rules about not doing this. A house not far from here with Acrow props holding up the downstairs ceilings due to exactly this!!. You've seen "Cowboy Builders" on TV - that's the sort of thing they do!

 

[SimonG]

Have you had a look under your floorboards, you might have more room under there than you think.

 

[chris watkins]

Hi James
What you need is the old plumbers trick of a magic waste pipe, I have come across architects before on lots of occasions who require the same service. (they also draw lines on bits of paper from point A to point B for waste pipes).

Let me explain, a waste pipe has to have a fall to allow gravity to carry the water away to the drainage system. The minimum fall under Part H of the building reg's is 9mm per Metre run of pipe. Your drawing shows a run of around 10 Metres so your waste pipe would need to have a fall of some 180mm. Now taking it that you do not have a basement or a very large void under the ground floor that would mean cutting notches into your flooring joist of more than 200mm!!!!!!!! Not much left to support the floors. Add to that the minimum pipe size would have to be 40mm & you would need to something to stop the traps from being siphoned out & its a bit of a non starter if you ask me. Are those steps going up or down?
Is there not another drainage point around the proposed new position?

 

[jcgw]

NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No drilling of joists to take waste pipes under any circumstances. Extremely foolish and loads of rules about not doing this.

Okay, what would you suggest? I'm not even close to drilling joists, I need to find out what I can do.
I have not had a chance to look under the floor boards, so I do not know how much space i have nor which way the joists run. But its a 1910 construction, perhaps there is a standard on this type of south London property? I do not yet own the property. I just want to find out wether the idea is realistic, or should the kitchen stay where it is?
It has been suggested that I could avoid going down the corridor and just come from Bedroom 1, if there is a waste pipe in the ext corner by the bathroom/toilet.
It has also been suggested that I go through the joists with a thinner diameter waste pipe and install a macerator.
These are just suggestions but I want to find out if they are credible or not. Perhaps there is another idea, would love to hear them, I do like the idea of moving the kitchen it would create a third room.

 

[jcgw]

The steps go down, I did not check the riser height but I imagine you get about a 500mm drop. So there is a drop from the lounge to the existing kitchen. I'm not an architect, an art director, we draw points from A to B on film sets.

That is excellent info about the building regs, I have no idea if there is a drainage point in the new location, I doubt it, its a terrace so I could not go through the side wall, but perhaps I could go out of the front on the property, but are waste pipes usually going out of the front?, it would mean dealing with the neighbors down stairs in putting a new one in, it could be an unpopular idea.

 

[SimonG]

First floor, didn't spot that.

 

[Gray0689]

Mate you would need a plumber to come check it out when you get property as could be very possible
And as said you could actually have a void under floor as a lot of houses did in that time

 

[Gray0689]

First floor me either lol
But you may be lucky and joists could be running right way for you to do this but again you need someone to give you a site survey

 

[chris watkins]

IMHO the idea is a non starter unless there is a below ground drainage point or soil stack around the living room or the external area. I would not recommend the use of a pump for kitchen waste (would not normally use a macerator but a waste water lifter) it will lead to a lot of trouble, it is the grease from cooking more than the food waste.

 

[dancinplumba]

your joists in hallway will run top to bottom as drawing is and ones in lounge will run left to right

 

[chris watkins]

First floor me either lol
But you may be lucky and joists could be running right way for you to do this but again you need someone to give you a site survey

OK, where did it say first floor cos I miss it to ??
Gray0689 could I also suggest that he could be very lucky & the people below might allow him to run his waste pipe right through their lounge. LOL we could tell'em it's a cloths line or something :wink:

 

[SimonG]

OK, where did it say first floor cos I miss it to ??
Gray0689 could I also suggest that he could be very lucky & the people below might allow him to run his waste pipe right through their lounge. LOL :wink:

It was the 'ground floor plan of the first floor flat' that got me. in the op.

 

[Gray0689]

You never know chris lol

 

[jcgw]

OK, where did it say first floor cos I miss it to ??
Gray0689 could I also suggest that he could be very lucky & the people below might allow him to run his waste pipe right through their lounge. LOL :wink:

'I am hoping to buy my first property very soon and am exploring the idea of making some renovations.
The first thing I would like to do is move the kitchen from the back of the property to the front, which as I understand it would involve running the waste pipe up through the property, pulling up floor boards and drilling through joists. I have attached a just about legible ground plan of the first floor victorian flat and would be grateful for any advise as to weather this is possible and if so what should I look out for. I want to cost this out and decide if I want to go ahead with it.'

Sure, maybe I should not have said 'Ground Plan', but I didn't say 'Ground Floor Plan'...

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[WHPES]

There's a video on youtube showing a waste pipe coming through the ceiling above the lounge sofa and running along the wall to outside. You can see the bath trap poking down through the ceiling too, next to the light fitting in the room below..

 

[andyplumber2009]

Consider contacting planning to see if any one has gone through regs (not always full planning) to do anything similar in the street
What is your objective? Gain a bedroom? Bigger bathroom?
Flip kitchen to other end of room? waste would only have to pass through one other room, maybe making it feasible?
Andy