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Venting a
Kitchen Island Site Visitor Question:
I am planning a kitchen
remodeling project where I am installing a kitchen island with a sink. I
have been told by my building contractor that installing a kitchen
island sink is tricky relative to the pluming. In particular, he says
the venting of a kitchen island sink is difficult to do. I spoke with a
plumber about this situation and he indicated that I need to tie the
kitchen island sink drain pipe and vent into the main stack. To do this
he wants to run 2" PVC pipes through the floor joists. |
A total of eight floor joists will have to be drilled. My kitchen sits
over a basement with limited headroom, so he can not drop the pipes below
the floor joists. I also am planning kitchen cabinets with granite
countertops for the kitchen island, and am concerned that if they drill the
floor joists that the floor will be severely weakened. My question to you is
it okay for the plumber to drill the floor joists?
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Also, I already have ceramic
floor tile installed. What tool would you recommend to drill through the
sink base cabinet and the ceramic floor tile?
Answer:
Venting a
kitchen island sink is tricky. Normally a kitchen sink vent is tied into
the main vent stack which is hidden in a wall. It is very important that
a kitchen sink vent be installed such that sufficient air is supplied to
the plumbing drain pipes to allow the waste water to flow properly
through the plumbing drain system.
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To do this correctly, the kitchen
sink vent needs to rise approximately 6 inches above the level of the sink
before the vent pipe turns horizontally. This is impossible to do with a
kitchen island sink, so a more clever way to implement the kitchen island
sink vent is required. I leave that discussion for another time.
Regarding Drilling Floor Joists and Cutting Ceramic Floor
Tile
Drilling holes through floor
joists for plumbing pipes is common, however there are specific codes the
plumber needs to follow in terms of the maximum hole size, relative to the
width of the floor joist.
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For example, I think the maximum
hole size is 2" in diameter for 8" wide floor joists. You could ask the
contractor to show you the actual code to confirm that he will not
exceed the maximum hole size for the particular floor joists that you have.
Also, these requirements are based on drilling the hole in the CENTER of the
floor joist, not near the edges. You never want to have the floor joists
notched or drilled at the top or bottom as this will severely weaken the
joist.
You could also have the
contractor scab in some additional lumber just above and below the hole if
you still feel concerned. Scabbing is the process of nailing to the cut or
drilled floor joist a couple of pieces of 2" thick lumber, which can be up
to a couple of feet in length, above and below the hole. The scabs act as
reinforcement to the cut / drilled floor joist.
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Regarding cutting your sink base
and ceramic tile, you can use a screw gun or drill, with a carbide tip, 2"
in diameter, hole saw, such as the
Milwaukee 49-56-2123 Hole Saw Carbide Tipped 2-1/8-Inch
. If you need to cut out a larger section of ceramic
tile, then I would recommend the use of a circular hand-held wet saw. A wet
saw will help keep the dust down and make short work out of your tile
cutting. You could also use a coping saw with a carbide blade; however it is
slow and takes a lot of elbow grease.
Additional Home Plumbing Resources from
Amazon.com
Kitchen Sinks and Faucets from Amazon.com
