Plumb the tankless unit and screw it to the
wall, being sure to insert a vibration-suppression
gasket between the unit’s metal housing and the
wall. To connect water pipes, start by screwing
water valve assemblies to the union couplings on
the bottom of the unit, then connect the sweated
leads to house supply pipes.
On the other hand, if your water-supply sys-
tem is flexible PEX tubing, it will employ com-
at right center, the gas installer has added a new leg to feed the tankless water heater under the
pression fittings rather than soldered ones. Note:
house. To the coupling below the blue shutoff lever, he will attach CSST—a flexible, code-approved
PEX may need a transitional fitting to attach it to material that is more easily routed than galvanized or black steel piping.
plumbing
355
turning on the gas, spraying soapy water on
joints, and looking for active bubbling.
venT pIpes
Vent pipe diameter, maximum vent length, pitch,
clearances, adapters, etc., will be specified in the
installation instructions, so read them (and local
code requirements) closely. If the heater is
installed indoors, you may vent it up through a
roof or out through an exterior wall. As a rule of
thumb, keep vent runs as straight as possible—
on the outside, the end of the vent
the fewer bends the better.
pipe is covered by a rubber flange.
In the photo sequence, the tankless water
heater was installed in a well-ventilated crawl-
space. The location was optimal because a “wet
The 5-in. concentric pipe shown here pitches slightly
wall” above serviced both a kitchen and a bath-
downward toward an exterior wall so combustion
P R O T I P
room, but venting a concentric pipe with a
condensation will drain away from the heater.
5-in. outer diameter (O.D.) up through the roof
after you’ve made all gas,
would have been impractical. So the installer
water, and electrical connections
placed an elbow atop the unit and from it ran
with a simple rubber flange that slides over the
and turned the tankless heater
vent pipe to the nearest exterior wall, maintaining end of the pipe, which can be caulked to the sid-
on, run the hot water and use a
a 1⁄4-in.-per-ft. pitch downward toward the exterior. ing. You can also dress up the termination with a
digital thermometer to check the
That slight downward pitch is necessary to allow
mounting plate. To keep rain from damming up
at-faucet temperature and com-
condensation in combustion gases to run away
behind a mounting plate, however, honor the
pare it with the temperature set-
from the unit and drip outside. (A tankless water
First Rule of Flashing: Fit the top of the plate
ting on the heater control panel.
heater has a combustion fan that pulls air into
under the siding course above and over siding
Check water temperatures at all
the burner; that same fan gently expels exhaust
courses below.
fixtures the water heater serves.
gases, even though the vent pipe has a slight
downward pitch.)
At the exterior wall, trace the O.D. of the pipe
onto the sheathing, and drill a hole in the cen-
ter—through the sheathing and siding—to locate
the opening outside. Vent kits typically come
cssT gas-supply
control panel
line
cold-water inlet
Hot-water outlet
3⁄4-in. union
union
gas shutoff
Temperature- and
pressure-relief
(TPR) valve
drain
gas valve
Water shutoff
a close-up of connections.
356 Chapter 12
Kitchens
13
and Baths
No other rooms are renovated as often as
kitchens and bathrooms, in part because we’ve
changed the way we live. In the old days, home-
owners regarded kitchens and bathrooms as drab
utility rooms, best situated at the back of the
house, away from guests. Times change. These
days, if you throw a party, everybody hangs out
in the kitchen. Bathrooms aren’t exactly spartan
anymore, either. Today’s kitchens and baths con-
tain so many cabinets, counters, fixtures, and
appliances that it takes careful planning to make
them all fit—and still have room for people to
move around. This chapter will help with that.
Kitchen Planning
The best kitchens can accommodate your per-
sonal tastes and lifestyles as well as your physical
characteristics, such as your height.
What goes on in your kitchen?
Start planning by imagining a day in the life of
your kitchen, being as specific as possible about
the activities—and the actors. Do you want a
sunny spot to have coffee, read the paper, and
wake up? Will the kitchen table double as a desk
for homework? Or will the kitchen be a com-
mand center in which you field calls and arrange
after-school carpools while tossing the salad?
Keep a notebook in your present kitchen and
jot down observations about what goes on—as
well as a wish list for what you’d like changed.
Many entries will be cooking specific: Is there
enough storage and counter space to prep several
dishes? Does the cook like company? When you
entertain, how large is the crowd? Is there a con-
venient place for cookbooks? Such consider-
These days, adventurous homeowners can assemble and install good-looking kitchen cabinets on
their own. This set of IKEA® cabinets is chronicled on pp. 368–371.
357
standard cabinet dimensions
zzzzzz Figuring dimensions
E
reference*
space
dimension (in.)
a
height above the finish floor
F
kitchen countertops
36
bath vanity countertops
32–34
B
base cabinet depth
24
D
c
height and depth of kickspace
4
G
d
Wall cabinet distance above:
standard countertop
18
sink and cooktop
30
A
e
depth of wall cabinet
12–15
f
typical wall cabinet height (8-ft. ceilings)
30
C
G
highest usable shelf
80
B
* Letter refers to “Figuring Dimensions” at right.
ations will be useful in evaluating your kitchen
counter and cabinet spac
e
and establishing priorities for the new one.
Meal preparation consists of food prep, cooking,
and cleanup, ideally with counter space for each
cabinet heights and clearances
job. Prepping the food—washing, cutting, and
Over the years, architects, appliance designers,
mixing—takes the most time, so give as much
and builders have adopted a set of physical
space as possible to counters near the sink and
dimensions that, in theory, make kitchens safer
the cooktop.
and easier to use. As shown in “Figuring Dimen-
Sink counters should be 24 in. wide on each
sions” above, these dimensions work for most
side of the sink, though 36 in. is better, allowing
people but in the end may not suit everybody. As
plenty of room for food prep and the air-drying of
a rule of thumb, a counter is the right height if
pots and pans. Because dishwashers are 24 in.
you can place your palms flat on it, with a slight
wide, they fit neatly under a 24-in. counter. If the
bend to your elbow. If the standard counter
kitchen is tiny and there’s no undercounter dish-
height of 36 in. above the finish floor isn’t right
washer, 18-in.-wide sink counters are minimal.
for you, lowering or raising it an inch or two may Have a splashback behind the sink.
do the trick. However, if you’re thinking of selling
the house fairly soon, your ideal counter or shelf
Cooktop counters should be at least 18 in. to
height may not appeal to the average buyer.
24 in. wide on both sides of the unit, and at least
Equally important are the clearances needed
one side should be made of a heat-resistant mate-
to move easily in a kitchen—clearances that
rial. Placing a stove on an exterior wall keeps
homeowners frequently overlook when laying out exhaust-fan ducts short, but never place a gas
new kitchens. Be sure to allow enough room to
stove in front of a window because a draft could
open cabinet doors fully and still walk around
blow out burners. The wall behind a stove should
them. Traffic lanes through work areas are vital
be washable.
because cooks frequently handle hot, sharp, or
By the refrigerator, next to the latch side, have a
heavy objects. Keep a 60-in. minimal clearance if counter at least 15 in. wide so you can place
the work area doubles as a corridor. Ideally,
things there as they go in and out of the fridge. If
though, family traffic should bypass the cooking
the refrigerator and the sink share a counter, the
space. If a kitchen has two or more doors, you
space should be 36 in. to 42 in. long. Because this
may be able to reroute that unwanted traffic by
counter is typically a food-prep area, you’ll need
eliminating one of them while gaining counter
a large surface to store countertop appliances.
and cabinet space in the process.
358 chapter 13
Minimum kitchen
Work-space clearances
33-in.-wide sink
zzzzzz recommended counter space and clearances
space
dimension (in.)
in front of base cabinet
36
between base cabinet and facing wall 40
between facing appliances
48
Work space plus foot traffic
60
18 in. to 36 in.
24 in. to 36 in.
Dishwasher
under counter
CoUnter outlets
Kitchen counters 12 in. wide or wider must have
at least one electrical receptacle to serve them.
all points on a counter must be within 2 ft. from
Each work area—food prep, cooking, and cleanup—should have adequate
a receptacle, and all counter receptacles must
counter space so a cook can work efficiently, with enough clearance
have Gfci protection. chapter 11 addresses this.
to move safely. Counters with dishwashers underneath must be at
least 24 in. wide; otherwise, 18 in. is the minimum. See “Minimum
Kitchen Work-Space Clearances” at left.
Cabinet space has few rules. The best indicator
of how much cabinet space you need is the num-
ber of appliances, bowls, and paraphernalia you
own. Or use this rule of thumb: Figure 18 sq. ft.
zzzzzz common kitchen layouts
of basic storage plus 6 sq. ft. for each person in
the household.
layout choices: Work areas
The person preparing and cooking the meal moves
primarily in a space bounded by the refrigerator,
the stove, and the sink—the so-called work tri-
angle. When laying out such work areas, designers
try to keep the distance traveled between the
three points within 12 ft. to 22 ft. Three of the
layouts shown at right feature a work triangle.
L-SHAPE
The fourth is a single-line kitchen, but the dis-
U-SHAPE
tance traveled should be roughly the same.
U-shaped kitchens are the most practical
because they isolate the work area from family
traffic. Because cooks spend a lot of time rinsing
veggies before dinner and washing pots after, put
the sink at the base of the U, with the refrigerator
on one side and the stove on the other. If one per-
son preps food or washes while the other cooks,
their paths won’t cross too often. If possible,
place the sink beneath a window so the eye and
the mind can roam.
L-shaped kitchens are popular because they
allow various arrangements. That is, you can put
a dining table or a kitchen island in the imagi-
GALLEY
SINGLE-LINE
kitchens and baths
359
nary fourth corner. However, this becomes a
somewhat less efficient setup if one leg of the L is
kitchen lighting basics
too long. Again, position the sink in the middle.
kitchen lighting should be a combination of natural light (windows), general
Galley kitchens create efficient work triangles,
lighting, and task lighting to illuminate specific work areas. For light that is both
but they can become hectic if there’s through
warm and efficient, combine incandescent and fluorescent bulbs. Warm fluorescent
traffic. If you close one end of the galley to stop
lights are another option.
traffic, the galley should be at least 4 ft. wide to
General lighting can come from overhead fixtures, recessed ceiling lights, track
accommodate two cooks. To avoid colliding
doors, never place a refrigerator directly across
lighting, or perimeter lighting. Mount ceiling lights 10 in. to 12 in. out from cabinet
from an oven in a tight galley kitchen.
faces to illuminate kitchen surfaces evenly, while minimizing shadows cast by wall
cabinets or by people using the counter. For an average-size kitchen (75 sq. ft. to
Single-line kitchens, common to small apart-
100 sq. ft
.), ceiling-mounted general lighting should total about 200 watts incan-
ments, are workable if they’re not longer than
descent or 80 watts fluorescent; if there’s recessed ceiling lighting, four 100-watt
12 ft. and there’s a minimum of 4 ft. to the oppo-
incandescent bulbs should be enough. For larger kitchens, figure 2 watts of incan-
site wall. Compact, space-saver appliances can
maximize both floor and counter space.
descent or 1 watt of fluorescent light per sq. ft. of kitchen area.
Task lighting over sinks and cooktops should be at least two 75-watt incandes-
Islands are great in multiple-use kitchens, for
cent bulbs or two 30-watt fluorescent bulbs. ideally, task lighting should be placed
they can provide a buffer between cooking tasks,
behind a face trim board of some kind so that the bulbs shine more on the work sur-
a place to eat breakfast or read, or a place to sit
face than in one’s eyes. to illuminate countertops, task lighting is often installed
and talk with the cook. Make the island roomy,
with at least 10 to 12 sq. ft. of open counter
under wall cabinets, hidden by a face board or a cabinet rail. low-voltage halogen
space, so someone hanging out won’t be in the
“puck” lights or slimline fluorescent bulbs can be shielded by a face board that’s
flight path of hot dishes coming and going.
only 11⁄4 in. high. in general, under-cabinet lights should be two-thirds as long as
the counter they illuminate. (see also “kitchen lighting” on p. 378.)
kitchen cabinet layouts
Once you’ve chosen a work layout that you like,
make to-scale floor plans: A 1⁄4-in. to 1-ft. scale
provides a good amount of detail for a single
room yet still fits on an 81⁄2-in. by 11-in. sheet of
graph paper. Include windows, doors, appliances,
and cabinets. You may find it helpful to cut to-
High point of floor—
scale rectangles to represent the refrigerator,
zzzzzz adding cabinets, refining the layout
start install here.
241/2 in.
sink, and cooktop. If you cut them from differ-
ent-colored paper or label each piece, you’ll have
30 in.
42 in.
36 in.
36 in.
an easier time trying out your layouts.
Basic layout. Refining the layout is a fluid pro-
cess, but a few spatial arrangements are so com-
mon they’re almost givens. Place the sink under a
Fridge
Corner
36 in.
window. Don’t put a refrigerator and a stove side
cabinet
Double-door
base cabinet
Renovation 4th Edition Page 83
