Moving Kitchen to other side of house

ST1991

Hi all

Another question about the house we are about to complete on, but making a new thread as it is a completely different question.

How difficult is it to move a kitchen from the front (front extension) to the back of a house?
Downstairs is concrete floors, house is old (1900) and there is no existing plumbing/waste at the rear of the house. The bathroom is at the front of the house, too.

The kitchen is currently very small (2.9 x 1.6m) and very grotty. We have plans to turn it into a nice entrance area and sectioned-off utility room and/or downstairs wc if possible.

In the actual kitchen we would only need a sink.
Best case scenario if it can be done, i would also like a dishwasher and washing machine in the kitchen too, but the washing machine can stay in the utility at the front if that cannot be done (and i can live without a dishwasher)

Has anyone done anything like this before?

I don't think we can output any waste water at the back of the house, so i'm not sure how it would work...

Doozergirl

The main issue is drainage. As soon as you have it, you can have as many watery items as you like. You meed to locate all the manholes around the house tonsee if you can connect onto the drains somewhere. If the drainage is at the opposite side, you will probably have to creat a new manhold and dig to the current one.

Gas, if you want it, otherwise an electric induction hob is a really good option.

You'll need some alterations to the electrics as well.

ellie27

2.9 x 1.6 m? Do you already have a hallway and this is going to enlarge it by opening up the kitchen into the current hallway? If not, then 2.9 x 1.6 is small for a hall nevermind a utility and wc??

ST1991

ellie27 wrote: »

2.9 x 1.6 m? Do you already have a hallway and this is going to enlarge it by opening up the kitchen into the current hallway? If not, then 2.9 x 1.6 is small for a hall nevermind a utility and wc??

We are working to a very small amount of space, but the layout does permit for a stud-wall to be put up in this space creating a small downstairs toilet/sink and also housing the boiler. This also just means we walk into a 'space' as opposed to walking straight into the kitchen or living room.

Doozer, thankyou for your mention of drainage. I think that is the biggest issue...
We have all electric appliances so don't plan on having a gas oven.
I know that we cannot extend at the back of the house due to drain access, but it isn't visible to us where that drain is, and i wasn't sure if you can just output waste into any drain?

Doozergirl

It has to go into a foul sewer.

What do you mean when you say you can't extend? Are you saying that there is already drainage at the back that you're not currently accessing?

You need to look for manholes on your property. And next door if there are none on your land. If you have none, you should rectify that.

You check the manholes for the direction of pipes tonsee where the best place is to tap in to.

FreeBear

ST1991 wrote: »

We have all electric appliances so don't plan on having a gas oven.
I know that we cannot extend at the back of the house due to drain access, but it isn't visible to us where that drain is, and i wasn't sure if you can just output waste into any drain?

Even with electric appliances, you will still need to lay in a dedicated run of cable for the cooker.

As for drainage, you can not "just output waste" in to any old drain. Quite often, there are separate drains for rainwater coming off the roofs and another drain system for things like the toilet, bath, and kitchen. Surface water drains (from the downpipes off the guttering) will go to a soakaway somewhere in the garden - Quite likely there won't be any manhole covers to identify where the pipes go.
For foul water drains (from bathroom/kitchen), these go out to a main sewer in the road and then on to the sewerage plant where the water is treated - These drains will have manhole covers so that the pipes can be rodded and unblocked.

Connecting a new pipe to a foul water drain usually requires the involvement of building control - Something to bear in mind when thinking about where to relocate your kitchen.


Boot note - A very small number of properties are not connected to the main sewerage system. These will have a septic tank somewhere in the garden. Building control still need to sign off any changes to drainage.

Dan-Dan

Dont forget your mains water pipe would need (re) routing to where the sink would go as well