Home Improvement Bleg
Dec 29
So I’m in the process of a (protracted) kitchen remodel. The big thing is that I’ve turned an old external-storage-room-cum-pantry into a utility room, and moved the washer and dryer from the kitchen into that room. This leaves a large open space in the kitchen where the washer and dryer used to be. My intention is to put additional cabinetry there for storage, but because of the washer and dryer, the space is already plumbed with hot and cold water as well as a drain (all currently capped, since they’re not in use). It seems a shame to waste that plumbing. This plumbing is a little less than four feet away from the kitchen sink, but it independent of that. I’ve got a slab foundation, with no basement or crawl space, so plumbing is rather like gold in my house.
So my question to the bloggy masses is this: What to do with that plumbing? My ideas so far are these:
- Install a small bar sink
- Move the dishwasher there, and attach it to that plumbing
- Clean it up, but leave the washer/dryer hookup there, in case for some bizarre reason some future homeowner might want to move the washer and dryer back.
- Hell with it, just cover over the whole mess with sheetrock and call it good
- Something else, that I just haven’t thought of yet
Thoughts?
#1 by KTK at December 29th, 2008
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It seems a shame to waste that resource. The problem is that it’s too close to your existing sink to provide anything different. I definitely woudn’t remove it permanently - as you say, someone else may have a use for it. But you’ve got to do something with it that you can’t do with the kitchen sink just an arm’s-length away.
I don’t know how large your kitchen is, but a bar sink right next to your kitchen sink doesn’t sound that great. You want a bar sink in . . . a bar. It’s no fun trying to be cool hanging around your personal little wet bar if the bar is in the kitchen and somebody’s running the garbage disposal right next to you. That’s *not* how Hugh Hefner does it, bucko.
However, if the kitchen was really large, you could partition off that side, put a door through to the living room or whatever is the next room over, and make a little den out of it - in which a wet bar would be the ultimate cool. Alternatively, remodel the *entire* kitchen into an eat-in bar and grill (I’m serious), with lounge decor and a island counter/tabletop in front of the stove and fridge, and a bar on the side. Now *that* would rock, but I suspect either of those plans is going to take some fast talking.
Another thing you can do is run the plumbing through the wall to the *outside* - cover over the inside wall surface, and turn the outside into a carwash station, hot tub, or even a (lockable) wet bar for your BBQ patio! (Depending on what that side of the house faces.) Or, build an addition on that side of the house and turn it into a formal dining room or a den, with a bar, again running the plumbing through to the other side of the wall. (And please, if you do build an addition in order to have a bar, remember to take the external siding off the inside wall that abuts the kitchen, after you build the new outside walls around it. Otherwise it’s just redneck.)
For non-bar options: a mop closet? Half-bath? Put in a big greenhouse/window garden, and set up a potting bench/watering station in the corner? Homebrew installation?
Or just cut to the chase and ask your wife what she wants to do with it. That’s what you’re going to do anyway.
Good luck.
#2 by Big U at December 29th, 2008
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Where is your dishwasher now?
#3 by Kevin at December 29th, 2008
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The bar sink idea has some promise, but only if you extend the dining room into that area — not a small task.
#4 by tgirsch at December 29th, 2008
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KTK:
Sadly, though the plumbing is indeed on an exterior wall, it’s on the driveway side of the house, and there’s already and external faucet right there (backing up against the main sink).
That said, though, this plumbing is right next to the dining room, so if I didn’t mind pulling down drywall, it really wouldn’t take much to move the plumbing the 3 feet over it would need to go to be in there instead of in the kitchen. That’s a thought.
You’re also right about asking my wife, but I’ve already done that, and she’s as stumped as I am. But then again, she doesn’t care all that much, as I do 90% of the cooking — the kitchen is my space more than hers, and she likes it that way.
Big U:
Actually, the dishwasher is just on the other side of the kitchen sink, so maybe 6 feet away. I need to replace that anyway, so I’ll be getting a new one no matter what. The one I have now is monstrously loud, monstrously energy inefficient, and monstrously bad at its raison d’etre.
Thing is, it’s a galley kitchen, the fridge and the stove are at the extreme other end, so I was thinking it would be nice to have more of the storage closer to the work “triangle” (sink-range-fridge), with the dishwasher outside that triangle. Either way, I intend to move the dishwasher to the other side of the sink; it’s just a question of whether or not to use that plumbing for that purpose.
Kevin:
You’ve seen my house. What you haven’t seen is that I’ve actually re-opened the wall that leads to the dining room, so there actually is a pass-through there. I was kind of thinking that I’d have the small bar sink there, with storage above, and wine/liquor storage set up on the opposite wall (so that if you’re facing the bar sink, the wine/liquor would be behind you).
I’d upload pictures, but you never fixed the picture-uploady-thingy after the last WP upgrade… *hint*
#5 by tgirsch at December 29th, 2008
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Somebody else suggested a prep sink, and I really like that idea, except that it’s outside the “triangle.” I think I’d learn to cope, though! Could also move the garbage disposal there if we did that.
#6 by Big U at December 30th, 2008
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For temporary purposes, why not construct a custom-built movable shelving/cupboard unit that fits the space but does not permanently seal off the plumbing. You could easily (depending on your ability) construct it to look like a part of the kitchen without actually connecting it to the wall making it easy to move if you take it out and access the plumbing some time.
Just a thought.
#7 by digglahhh at December 31st, 2008
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That’s *not* how Hugh Hefner does it, bucko.
I doubt Hef is currently aware of how exactly he does it either.