One of the most versatile trades of all times is the plumbing trade. From laying out the piping of a structure to installing the hot water system of a building, a plumber can choose to specialize in a wide variety of tasks. Gas systems, clean water supply systems, drainage systems, kitchen plumbing systems to name but a few are all tasks that are carried out by plumbers. There are various aspects of kitchen plumbing systems which must be there for the kitchen to function in an efficient way.
What Kitchen Plumbing Entails
The kitchen is fitted with pipes which supply clean water and other pipes that get rid of waste water. There may also be pipes which supply gas to the kitchen, and the gas valve is usually located either on the floor or the wall. The hot and cold water valves are normally located under the sink. From the valves, supply tubes are connected to the faucet.
A saddle valve may be attached to the cold water valve in order to provide additional water connections which supply water to appliances such as a water filter. The additional connections may be made from plastic tubes or copper. The gas valve is normally found under the appliances which use gas, and you can shut it off when the gas is not in use for safety purposes.
Repairing Sink Pipes
The pipes which are found under the kitchen sink are normally curved and are known as P-traps. Compression fittings connect these curved pipes to the drainage pipe of the sink, and you can sometimes unscrew these fittings without the help of any tool. When replacing kitchen sink pipes, the plumber has to carefully take the measurements of the pipes so that the new pipes can be cut just right.
The water valves are turned off in order to cut off the supply of water to the sink when the repair work is ongoing. The P-trap connections are unscrewed from the tailpieces of the sink by hand or by use of pliers. The traps are removed from the connections and the drain tailpieces are also removed. New tailpieces are screwed in and new pipes are cut and fixed into place with compression fittings by hand.
Other Repairs Required In The Kitchen
There are many valves which are found in the kitchen and they are prone to leaking. Taps which are used in the kitchen are also prone to leaking and require repairs once in a while. The dishwasher may fail to work properly if the water supply pipes and the drainage pipes are not working properly. The kitchen drains can get clogged up and may require drain cleaning. The garbage disposal may get clogged up if too much garbage is placed in it and would require repairs.
Maintaining Your Kitchen Plumbing
In order to keep your kitchen plumbing working well for you, there are a few things which you can do. Firstly, you should ensure that you do not pour grease and fatty substances down the kitchen sink. Instead of flowing down the drain, grease and fat get stuck to the insides of the pipe and when it accumulates, the drain gets blocked. You should also not throw leftover foods that are hard to grind in the garbage disposal.
