Kitchen Plumbing

Kitchen Plumbing in Folkestone

Kitchen plumbing splits into two visits, and knowing that in advance saves a great deal of frustration if you are coordinating a refit yourself.

First fix happens once the old kitchen is out and before the new units go in. Water supplies and waste runs are moved to where the new layout needs them, capped off and pressure tested. Get this wrong and units end up sitting over pipework in the wrong place, and correcting it later means taking the kitchen apart again.

Second fix happens after the units and worktops are installed. Sink, tap, appliance connections, waste, isolating valves, then everything tested under pressure before we leave.

If you are having a kitchen fitted, we work around your fitter's schedule. If you are managing it yourself, send us the layout before you order anything and we will tell you what will and will not work. Our guide on planning plumbing for a new kitchen covers the decisions worth making early.

Sinks and taps

We fit sinks into any worktop material, including undermount installations in stone and composite, where the cut-out has to be right first time and is worth planning well ahead.

Isolating valves go on both feeds under every sink as standard. It is a small thing that means a future tap change does not involve draining the house.

Boiling water taps need an accessible under-sink tank position with room for servicing, plus a switched fused spur. If that electrical supply is not already there it needs adding, and doing that during a refit is far easier than afterwards. See choosing the right taps for your home for matching taps to your water system, which matters more than most people expect.

For repairs to existing taps rather than new installations, see tap and toilet repairs.

Appliance connections

Washing machines, dishwashers, American fridge freezers with a water feed, and water softeners, which are worth serious consideration given how hard the water is across this part of Kent.

Every appliance gets its own isolating valve. We do not fit self-cutting saddle valves, the type that clamp onto a pipe and pierce it, because they are a well known cause of slow leaks behind units that go unnoticed for months. Our dishwasher and washing machine plumbing guide explains what a proper installation involves.

Waste disposals

Fitted, serviced and repaired. Sizing matters, because an underpowered unit jams constantly, and so does what goes into it: no bones, no large quantities of fibrous peelings, no fat, and always run cold water while it is operating.

Most disposal failures are jams rather than motor faults. Most units have a reset button underneath and a hex key slot for freeing the flywheel, and both are worth trying before calling anyone out.

The leaks that start under the units

The space under a kitchen sink produces more domestic leaks than anywhere else in a house, and the reason is that nobody looks in there.

Flexible hoses. The braided hoses feeding taps and appliances have a finite service life and fail without warning, at full mains pressure. If yours are over ten years old, replacing them is genuinely cheap insurance against a destroyed floor. See how to spot a failing flexible hose.

Waste trap seals. They perish and weep slowly, and by the time it shows on the cupboard base the chipboard has already swollen.

Appliance hoses. Same story, and worse because the leak sits behind an appliance nobody moves.

Our article on kitchen plumbing problems you should not ignore covers what to check, and if water is appearing with no visible source, that needs leak detection rather than pulling units out on a hunch.

Kitchen drainage

Fat and grease are the reason kitchen wastes block. They go down warm and liquid, cool in the pipe run, and build up in layers until nothing gets past.

For a slow or blocked kitchen waste, see blocked drains and clearance. For a smell with no blockage, why does my sink drain smell will tell you where to look.

"Finally found a plumber I can trust. They didn't try to upsell me on things I didn't need, just came in, fixed the clogged kitchen sink, and charged exactly what they quoted. Honest work goes a long way."
jericho, Google review

Utility rooms

We plumb utility rooms as part of a kitchen project or as a standalone job, covering supplies, drainage, appliance positions and leak protection. Getting the waste run right is the part that decides whether a utility works or whether you spend years listening to a machine that will not drain properly. See planning plumbing for a utility room.

Renovations

Most kitchen plumbing happens inside a bigger project, and the expensive decisions get made before anyone picks a tap.

Moving a sink a metre along a wall is straightforward. Moving it to the other side of the room means new waste runs with the correct fall, and that is a different job and a different price. Finding that out after the units are ordered is where kitchen budgets go wrong. See should you move plumbing during a renovation.

For bathroom projects, see bathroom fitting.

Where we work

Kitchen plumbing across Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate, Seabrook, Saltwood, Hawkinge, Dover and Ashford, where kitchen refits in the newer estates are a large part of what we do.

Common questions

Will you work alongside my kitchen fitter? Yes, and we do regularly. Give us their programme and we will slot first and second fix around it.

Can you fit a sink I have already bought? Yes. Send us the model before the worktop is templated so the cut-out is right.

Do I need a water softener? The supply across Folkestone and Hythe is hard, and it shows up in scaled taps, kettles and appliances. A softener is not essential but it extends the life of everything it feeds.

How long does second fix take? A standard kitchen with sink, tap, dishwasher and washing machine is usually half a day.

Do you fit boiling water taps? Yes, provided there is a suitable under-sink position and electrical supply, both of which we check before quoting.

Call +44 7915 255984 for kitchen plumbing in Folkestone.