The Hidden Kitchen: Understanding the Systems in your Kitchen Before You Remodel
You are finally ready to start construction on your new kitchen. The first worker comes in and begins to demolish a wall to enlarge the space you’ve planned for your dream kitchen. Down comes plaster and lath and when the dust settles you have a problem. There in the middle of your now skeletal wall is a six inch black iron pipe running from the floor to the ceiling and up. Over a couple feet is a run of heating duct going from the basement to your master bedroom upstairs. Horizontally the studs are pierced by three rows of electrical wires, going to who knows what. Finally the worker looks up and observes that the wall looks like a bearing wall, holding up the floor joists of the rooms above. He can’t just take it out without installing a large , heavy header or beam across the opening, ruining your imagined expanse of smooth ceiling.
All of these things exist in the walls of every kitchen, hidden but absolutely necessary to the safe and efficient functioning of your house. Planning a kitchen without identifying these hidden systems is asking for an expensive and messy lesson in home mechanics like our horror tale above.
In the section on 3D Kitchen Design (category to your right) when we started working on the way your new kitchen will function, we mentioned these hidden systems as obstructions that must be considered now, before any actual purchasing, budgeting or construction is done. Only at the design stage can you rearrange and plan around these systems without spending money and time needlessly. Even though most building codes require licensed contractors to work on of these systems, you’ll benefit from a basic knowledge and awareness of how they function and where they are located. In this section we’re going to look at each hidden system and your options, from a design viewpoint, for coping with them.
Building Codes and Regulations
All of these mechanical structures and systems are regulated by law because of numerous safety and community quality issues. Most community regulations are based on national building codes that specify, in excruciating detail, how each and every situation must be handled. Following code and using licensed contractors is not only necessary much of the time but may be a legal requirement. Permits must be obtained. If you skip these requirements and build illegally, many municipalities have the legal right to require you tear out the offending work and rebuild. There are very good reasons for the severity of these laws and codes. They keep your house safe from fire, structural collapse and other dangerous situations.
Hidden Systems
The walls and ceilings of your home contain an array of wires, pipes, drains and ducts. Planning to move or remove any wall or ceiling means uncovering and interrupting these utility systems. An expert can often predict what will be in the walls by following visible lines in the basement or attic as they enter and exit walls or ceilings. However even the most inexperienced builder knows that you can never be sure what you’ll find in a wall. Be prepared to deal with unexpected discoveries. Some will be problems, others entertaining surprises. When tearing a kitchen out in an older city home, we found a cache of photos taken during the construction of the home at the turn of the century. They showed a very different area in its infancy as a city and added to the owners enjoyment and knowledge of their home’s history.
In the Hidden Kitchen category of this site we’re going to offer a crash course in these hidden systems. It is not designed to enable you to work with them hands-on. That is best left to experts. It is designed to help you understand the potential problems and opportunities you’ll face in coping with these vital sources of everything that makes your kitchen comfortable and functional. Understanding how to use and work with these systems from a design standpoint is essential to good kitchen design.
