Our Kitchen Renovation Plumbing Nightmare (And How We Got Through It)
SEO Title: Kitchen Plumbing Overhaul During Renovation: What We Learned the Hard Way | ProCraft Meta Description: We thought we were adding a kitchen island and upgrading our sink. Three weeks later we had opened walls, found 60-year-old galvanized pipe, and spent twice our original budget. Here’s the full story.
When we started our kitchen renovation, plumbing was supposed to be the easy part.
We had a clear plan: move the sink from the exterior wall to the island we were adding, upgrade from a single basin to a farmhouse-style double basin, and add a pot-filler over the range. Simple. Maybe $1,500-2,000 in plumbing work. We had a contractor lined up, a timeline, a budget.
None of that survived contact with our 1962 ranch house.
What We Found Behind the Walls
The first sign of trouble came when our general contractor opened the wall behind the old sink location. Instead of the copper supply lines we expected, he found galvanized steel pipe - original to the house, 60+ years old. The inside of a section he cut out looked like the inside of an old coffee can: scaled, narrowed to about 40% of the original diameter by mineral buildup.
Our water pressure had always been a little weak. Now we knew why.
He also found that the drain configuration for where we wanted to put the island sink was going to require going through a load-bearing joist - something our original plumbing plan hadn’t accounted for. That meant either a different island placement or more invasive work.
We called ProCraft and compared local options through their licensed plumber directory.
The Scope Expansion (And Why We Said Yes)
ProCraft’s plumber spent most of an afternoon assessing the situation. His recommendation was to do a full repipe of the kitchen supply lines while the walls were already open - hot and cold from the main to the kitchen, approximately 35 linear feet. The incremental cost of doing it while walls were open versus tearing into finished walls later was significant.
He also had a solution for the island drain: a studor vent (air admittance valve) that would allow proper venting without penetrating the joist, subject to local code. He checked - our county allows them in residential kitchens.
Final scope vs. original plan:
| Work | Original Plan | Final Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Sink relocation | Move supply/drain 8 ft | ✓ |
| Farmhouse sink install | Install only | ✓ |
| Pot-filler | Install only | ✓ |
| Supply line repipe | Not planned | Added - galvanized replacement |
| Drain reconfiguration | Simple extension | Modified for island placement |
| Air admittance valve | Not needed | Added for island venting |
The Cost Reality
Original plumbing budget: $1,800 (our estimate, not a contractor quote - mistake) Final plumbing invoice: $4,650
Breakdown:
- Supply line repipe, kitchen (copper, 35 LF, hot + cold): $1,840
- Island drain rough-in with AAV: $620
- Sink and faucet installation: $340
- Pot-filler installation (existing gas line nearby, no additional rough-in): $480
- Permits (required for repipe): $195
- Drywall patching (4 access points): $680 (through ProCraft’s GC partner, coordinated)
- Labor total: included in line items above
The drywall patching was technically out of scope for a plumber, but ProCraft coordinated it directly with a drywall contractor they work with regularly. Having one call handle both saved us probably two weeks of scheduling back-and-forth.
Timeline
- Week 1: Rough-in work - supply line repipe, drain reconfiguration, pot-filler rough-in. Walls open, kitchen out of service.
- Week 1, Day 5: City inspection of rough-in (passed).
- Week 2, Days 1-2: Drywall patching and mud.
- Week 2, Days 3-5: Drywall texture, prime, paint (matched existing).
- Week 3, Day 1: Fixture installation - sink, faucet, pot-filler. Final connections.
- Week 3, Day 2: Final inspection (passed). Kitchen back in service.
Three weeks total. We’d budgeted two. The extra week was the repipe - not something we could have rushed.
What Saved Us
A few things went right despite everything going sideways:
We said yes to full assessment upfront. The ProCraft plumber didn’t just quote what we asked for. He looked at everything and told us what he found. We could have said no to the repipe, gotten the work we asked for, and had failing galvanized pipes fail inside our newly finished kitchen walls two years later.
Permits mattered. Two of our neighbors did kitchen renovations recently and pulled no permits for plumbing changes. One of them is now dealing with a sale complication because the buyer’s inspector flagged unpermitted work. Our project is fully documented.
Coordination reduced chaos. The drywall handoff in particular - we didn’t have to manage two contractors independently. ProCraft handled the handoff, which meant the drywall crew knew exactly where the access points were and what finish level we needed.
The Part That Still Surprised Me
Our water pressure. I genuinely did not realize how bad it had gotten until it wasn’t bad anymore. First shower after the repipe, I actually turned the flow down because it felt like too much. After 12 years in this house, that was a strange feeling.
Sometimes the thing you didn’t plan to fix is the thing that needed fixing most.
Related Resources
- Compare local plumbers
- Before you hire a plumber: checklist
- Cost to reroute plumbing
- Sewer line replacement cost in 2026
Last updated: April 2026 | ProCraft Editorial Team