Dishwasher & Appliance Hookups
Dishwashers, washing machines, ice makers and pot fillers connected properly — air gaps, high loops and shutoffs included.
Learn more
Artisan Water Group
Kitchen Remodel Plumbing in Lake in the Hills, IL
Kitchen plumbing is deceptively simple until the sink moves to an island.
- 5.0★ · 11 Google reviews
- Licensed & insured
- Free written estimates
- Locally owned
Need this handled today? Call and a real person answers — nights, weekends and holidays included. You get the price before we start.
A sink against a wall vents easily — the vent goes straight up inside the wall and out the roof. A sink in the middle of a room has no wall to run a vent up, and a drain without a vent does not drain properly. It gurgles, it siphons traps dry, and it produces the intermittent sewer smell that a surprising number of beautiful new kitchens have.
There are correct ways to solve it. There are also shortcuts that pass a casual glance and fail inspection or, worse, do not fail inspection and simply do not work. Getting this right is most of what a plumber contributes to a kitchen remodel.
What kitchen projects need a plumber for
The more the layout changes, the earlier we should be involved.
The sink is moving to an island
The venting question above. This needs designing rather than improvising, and it is the item most likely to surprise a homeowner mid-project.
The sink is moving along a wall
Simpler, but the drain still needs correct slope back to the stack and the supply lines have to follow. Not a five-minute change.
You are adding a pot filler
A new supply run to a point above the range, with a shutoff and correct routing. Best done before the backsplash goes on.
New appliances with water connections
Dishwasher, ice maker, second refrigerator, filtered water tap. Each needs a proper valve, and the layout determines the runs.
A second sink or a prep sink
Another drain, another vent consideration, another supply pair. Very common in island designs and worth planning early.
Old drain lines behind the cabinets
Cabinets coming out is the only easy access you will get to that wall for twenty years. Galvanised or corroded drain sections should be dealt with now.
How a kitchen remodel goes on our side
Usually two visits, timed so we are never the trade holding everyone else up.
1. Review the plan before cabinets are ordered
Where the sink lands relative to the stack, whether an island vent is needed, where appliances sit and what each needs. Changing a drawing costs nothing; changing a cabinet order does.
2. Design the island venting properly
Depending on layout and code, that is a loop vent under the counter, a vent run through the floor into an adjacent wall, or another approved configuration. We will tell you which applies rather than defaulting to the easiest.
3. Permit for relocations
Moving drains and supply lines is permitted work. Pulled and scheduled so the rough inspection fits your timeline.
4. Rough-in with the cabinets in mind
Supply and drain positioned so they land inside the cabinet, not behind a drawer bank or a false panel. Getting this right by an inch saves a cabinet modification later.
5. Finish plumbing after counters
Sink and faucet set, disposal mounted and supported, dishwasher connected with a high loop and the knockout plug removed, water lines to fridge and pot filler completed.
6. Fill test everything
Both bowls filled and released, dishwasher run through a drain cycle, every joint checked with a paper towel. A dry cabinet base on day one is not the same as a dry one on day ninety.
Island sinks and the venting problem
Every drain needs air behind it. Without a vent, draining water pulls a vacuum that siphons the trap dry, and a dry trap is an open path for sewer gas into your kitchen. That is why an unvented island sink produces an intermittent smell that no amount of cleaning fixes.
The solutions all involve getting air to the trap without a wall to run a vent up. Common approaches include a loop vent rising as high as possible under the counter before returning down and across to a vented line, or running the vent down through the floor and across to an adjacent wall where it can rise. Which is appropriate depends on your layout, what is below the floor, and what the inspector will accept.
What is not a solution is relying on a mechanical air admittance valve where local code does not permit one, or simply omitting the vent and hoping. Both produce a kitchen that smells, and both are far more expensive to correct after the island is built and the counter is set.
The details that keep the cabinet base dry
Water damage in a new kitchen almost never comes from a dramatic failure. It comes from a slow weep in a connection that nobody looked at for two years, quietly swelling the cabinet floor from underneath.
The specifics that prevent it: new quarter-turn shutoffs rather than reused multi-turn valves, new supply lines rather than the old ones, a disposal supported so its weight is not hanging on the drain assembly, a properly sloped trap arm, and rigid trap components rather than flexible accordion pipe, which collects debris and clogs.
And the dishwasher details — knockout plug removed, drain hose secured in a high loop or run to an air gap, hose clamped rather than pushed on. Our dishwasher and appliance hookups page covers those in depth, because they are the connections that fail most often and cost the most when they do.
What kitchen remodel plumbing costs depend on
As with bathrooms, movement is the main cost driver.
- Sink staying or moving
- A sink in the same position is finish work. A sink moving to an island is drain, vent and supply routing plus a permit.
- Island venting solution
- The approach depends on layout and access below. A basement underneath makes this far easier than a slab or a finished ceiling.
- Number of water connections
- Dishwasher, ice maker, pot filler, filtered tap, prep sink. Each is a run and a valve.
- Access below the kitchen
- An unfinished basement below is the best case by a wide margin. Finished ceiling, crawl space or slab all add labour and restoration.
- Existing pipe condition
- If the cabinets come out and reveal corroded galvanised or a cast iron section at the end of its life, replacing it now is dramatically cheaper than later.
- Permit and inspections
- Required for relocations, pulled by us and itemized separately.
Bring us the layout drawing before the cabinets are ordered. That review costs nothing and it is the single highest-value thing we do on a kitchen project.
Kitchen Remodel Plumbing FAQs
Can I put a sink in my kitchen island?
Yes, with proper venting designed for it. An island has no wall to run a vent up, so the vent has to be handled another way — a loop vent under the counter or a run through the floor to an adjacent wall. It is very doable; it just cannot be improvised.
Do I need a permit to move my kitchen sink?
Moving a sink means relocating drain and supply lines, which is permitted work requiring rough and final inspections. Replacing a sink in the same position generally is not.
When should I involve a plumber in a kitchen remodel?
Before the cabinets are ordered. A twenty-minute review of the layout catches venting problems, appliance connection issues and rough-in conflicts while they are still free to fix on paper.
How much does adding a pot filler cost?
It depends on the run from an existing supply to the wall above the range and whether we can get there through open framing or have to fish through finished wall. Doing it during a remodel, before the backsplash, is considerably cheaper than after.
My new kitchen smells occasionally. Why?
Most often a venting problem letting a trap siphon dry, particularly with an island sink. Sometimes a dishwasher drain hose without a high loop letting sink water back into the machine. Both are diagnosable and both are fixable.
Often needed together
Related plumbing services
These come up on the same houses more often than not.
Garbage Disposal Repair & Installation
Disposals, dishwasher hookups, sink drains and ice maker lines — the kitchen plumbing that fails at the worst time.
Learn moreFaucet Repair & Installation
Kitchen, bath and utility faucets — repaired or replaced with the ceramic-disc, solid-brass parts that survive 26–28 grain water.
Learn more
Worth reading first
More on this from our blog
Drains & Sewer6 min read5 Reasons Your Drains Keep Clogging (and When to Call a Plumber)
A drain that clogs once is a clog. A drain that clogs every few months is a symptom — and clearing it again is treating the wrong thing.
Homeowner Guides5 min readDo I Need a Permit for Plumbing Work in McHenry County?
Permits feel like paperwork until you file an insurance claim or sell the house. Here is what actually requires one and why it protects you.
Kitchen Remodel Plumbing
Ready to get your kitchen remodel plumbing handled?
Call and talk to the person who will do the work. Free written estimates on non-emergency kitchen remodel plumbing, and a price before we start on anything urgent.
- 5.0 from 11 Google reviews
- Licensed & insured
- 24/7 emergency service
Get Your Free Estimate
Tell us what is going on and we will get back to you with a straight answer. No obligation, no pressure.
5.0 from 11 Google reviewsLicensed & insuredFree written estimates
Our online form is not taking submissions just yet.
Please call (207) 419-2600 instead — a real person answers, nights and weekends included, and we can usually sort it faster on the phone anyway.
Why homeowners choose us for this
We are a licensed, insured, owner-operated shop based on Pine Street in Lake in the Hills. That means the person quoting the job is the person doing it, and nobody here is measured on how much they sold you.
Every recommendation starts with the water. At 26–28 grains per gallon, our supply is roughly six times harder than the national average, and it is the single biggest factor in how long anything in your plumbing lasts. Fixing the symptom without addressing that is how you end up calling someone again in two years.
And when a permit is required — water heaters, sewer work, gas piping — we pull it and show the fee on its own line. Ask every plumber you talk to for the same. Read more in our guide to plumbing permits in McHenry County.