We want the sink on the island. Can that actually be done?

Usually, and the answer depends on what is under the floor. The drain has to slope down to the main drain line, so how far away that line is and which way the floor framing runs decide how the drain gets there, and sometimes whether the floor has to be built up. The sink also needs venting, and an island has no wall behind it, so that is solved under the counter instead. Both get settled from the basement or the ceiling below before a cabinet is ordered.

At what point in the project should the plumber see the plans?

Before they are final. The layout that looks obvious on paper is the one most likely to have a drain that cannot run where it needs to, and moving a fixture six inches on a drawing is free while moving it six inches after the tile is down is not. Our team reads the plan against the house, marks what works, flags what does not, and the drawing gets adjusted while adjusting it costs nothing.

The wall is open and the pipe inside looks old. Should it be replaced now?

If it is galvanized steel, it is almost always worth replacing: it rusts from the inside, and every year it is left is a year closer to a leak inside a finished wall. Older copper with green staining or visible pitting is a judgment call, and the judgment usually goes the same way, because the pipe is reachable now and may not be again for a long time. Replacing pipe in an open wall costs a fraction of replacing the same pipe through a closed one.

Services

Remodels

The island sink on the drawing needs a drain the floor cannot give it. Existing plumbing moved, upgraded and reconnected when a kitchen or a bathroom changes shape, with the layout tested against the house before anything is demolished.

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This is plumbing that already exists, being moved. If the fixtures are changing but the piping stays where it is, that is kitchen and bath. If the building itself is new, that is new construction. The test is simple: are the pipes moving, or only what is bolted to the end of them.

What it covers

Re-planning the plumbing of a room that is being rebuilt. Moving the water lines and drains to suit a new layout, adding a fixture or a whole bathroom where there was not one, replacing old pipe while the walls are open, and reconnecting everything at the finish.

The most valuable hour of a remodel happens before demolition, and the island sink is the example that explains why. On the drawing it is a sink in the middle of the room. Underneath, it needs a drain that slopes down to the main drain line, and the floor framing does not always run the way that needs. There is usually an answer, but it depends on what is under the floor, and finding that out after the cabinets are ordered is an expensive way to learn it.

Open walls are also the one chance to deal with what is inside them. The older streets around Natick center and South Natick, and the post war houses that followed them across MetroWest, hide several generations of pipe, some of it well past its useful life, and it is only reachable while the room is apart.

What the job involves

Looking at what is actually there. What the pipes are made of, where the main drain runs, and which walls and floors carry plumbing. Drawings of old houses are optimistic.
Checking the layout against the house. Where a drain can run, where a fixture can go and where it cannot without changes. This is where a plan gets confirmed or adjusted while adjusting is still a pencil.
Working with the demolition. Shutting off and capping so the rest of the house keeps working while one room does not.
Moving the drains. New drain lines run to the new fixture positions, sloped so they drain properly.
Moving the water lines. New water lines run to the new positions, with shutoffs, and old pipe replaced while it is exposed.
Tested before the walls close. Because the next chance costs tile.
Finishing. Fixtures set and connected once the finishes are in, then run and checked for leaks.

When you need it

A sink, range or dishwasher moving to an island or a different wall
A tub coming out and a walk in shower going in its place, or somewhere else
A bathroom, a powder room or a laundry going where there was not one
A bathroom being reconfigured so the toilet or the vanity moves
A wall opened and pipe found in it that nobody recognizes
A drawing that the current plumbing cannot serve without changes
A contractor who needs the plumbing scope priced, sequenced and on the schedule
Old supply pipe worth replacing while the room is already apart

Why it matters

A remodel is the only time the inside of your walls is negotiable. Everything that gets deferred during it becomes a demolition job later, which is why the cheapest pipe replacement of your life is the one done while the drywall is already off.

The layout constraints are the other half. Drains run on gravity, and that decides which of the layouts you like are actually buildable. Finding that out after the cabinetry is ordered is a genuinely expensive way to learn it.

And a remodel is a sequence, not a visit. The plumbing comes in early, leaves, and comes back at the end, and it comes in as part of a crew that has to hand off cleanly to the tile setter, the electrician and the cabinet installer. A plumber who is late is not only late to the plumbing. They are late to everybody queued behind it.

How Connerney handles it

Licensed and insured. Licensed and insured in Massachusetts.
The layout gets checked first. What the building allows is established before demolition, not discovered during it.
Tested before it is closed up. The new piping is tested while the walls are open, then run and checked again once the fixtures are in.
Owner run. Bill Connerney owns the business, answers the phone and books the jobs, and our team of experienced plumbers does the work. Rated 5.0 on Google across 20 reviews, and BBB accredited since 2018.

Questions people ask

We want the sink on the island. Can that actually be done?: Usually, and the answer depends on what is under the floor. The drain has to slope down to the main drain line, so how far away that line is and which way the floor framing runs decide how the drain gets there, and sometimes whether the floor has to be built up. The sink also needs venting, and an island has no wall behind it, so that is solved under the counter instead. Both get settled from the basement or the ceiling below before a cabinet is ordered.
At what point in the project should the plumber see the plans?: Before they are final. The layout that looks obvious on paper is the one most likely to have a drain that cannot run where it needs to, and moving a fixture six inches on a drawing is free while moving it six inches after the tile is down is not. Our team reads the plan against the house, marks what works, flags what does not, and the drawing gets adjusted while adjusting it costs nothing.
The wall is open and the pipe inside looks old. Should it be replaced now?: If it is galvanized steel, it is almost always worth replacing: it rusts from the inside, and every year it is left is a year closer to a leak inside a finished wall. Older copper with green staining or visible pitting is a judgment call, and the judgment usually goes the same way, because the pipe is reachable now and may not be again for a long time. Replacing pipe in an open wall costs a fraction of replacing the same pipe through a closed one.

Related services

Where we work

Based in Natick, working across MetroWest Massachusetts.

Plus the surrounding MetroWest towns. If you are nearby, call and ask.

Call us, or request service

Tell us what is going on. If no one picks up, leave a message and Bill will call you back as soon as he can. If it is easier to write it down, the form reaches the same place.

Call (508) 380-2629 or request service