We moved our sink location, sink lines, vent, water lines for fridge and gas line for our cooktop with this remodel. That is, our GC, electrician and plumber moved all these. They didn't seem to have any problems, except that it was a bit tedious to channel out the underside of bricks in our (brick)floor to run the water line to a new location. They had to drill through thick adobe walls to put the new vent in for the Vent-a-hood. That made a mess, but they were taking out a window on the same wall, so what's a little more mess? Gas lines can be run through walls, but not adobe walls, so ours is up between the ceiling (wood) and the roof of our one story home. I don't think that we could have done these changes ourselves, because of building code issues. Frankly, after watching it all done, I'm glad we didn't attempt it!

venice welcome and congrats on your remodel -

Some things to consider
1. Plumbing, electrical, HVAC - are big $$$ in any remodel
2. Your range vent is in the best spot know from a functional perspective (exterior wall)
3. I would not assume an unused chimney on an interior wall is usable for range/cooktop venting - these are horses of very differing colors
- In order to make that determination you really need a qualified person to take a look re: feasibility
but if it is an inteior wall you are cutting down on the effectiveness of your venting regardlss - something to consider

You are wise to ask these ?'s before designing - feasibility is not always factored into design and only to find well into the project that someone did not do something they should have - which causes little and big problems, $$$, emotions to flare, retrofitting etc....

Good luck

Thanks -- it is precisely b/c I don't want to set my sights and heart on something only to find out that it won't work that I'm trying to figure this out now. As I'm eager to get going on the actual design and all the fun stuff that follows, the sooner I can resolve this, the better -- then I can move on the next conundrum (err, mind-stretching challenge), of which I have no doubt there will be no shortage ...

Still, I get the impression that many people were able to do things like this without too much of a headache, but maybe that's just wishful thinking!

gas line--easy
water intake lines--easy
drain--not so easy
vent--not so easy; exterior wall is far preferrable. But investigate the chimney--at the least, maybe it can be used as a "chase" to carry the ductwork up and out.

hardwood floors can be patched; they might not have to be all ripped up.

Gas pipes and water pipes can travel horizontally in walls or under or behind or through cabinets. (in most prefab cabinets, there's a pretty big gap behind drawers.

Drain lines can't travel very far horizontally; if you want a garbage disposal on your drain line, that gets even more restrictive. I moved my drain line over 24"--I couldn't redo the drain where it entered the wall bcs it's an apt. bldg, and the cast-iron pipes could easily crack. This meant, absolutely no garbage disposal.

A lot will depend on your foundation type as well. If you're slab, the expense and trouble more than doubles. You gotta get out the jackhammer or concrete saw. If you have crawlspace, it's more doable, but the drain location can still be a headache. Moving a range to an interior wall can be OK if you are able to go straight up through the roof for venting. That's not the cheapest option, but it sure beats a crazy patchwork quilt of elbows to get ductwork outside when it would have been much simpler and more effective remaining on an exterior wall.

There are so many budget breakers in a kitchen remodel that if at all possible, work with what you have. Try posting an outline of your kitchen as is to get some outside analysis on the current layout. Maybe just a few tweaks can make what you have more workable. Or maybe your kitchen needs the big bucks spent to move systems. Let's take a look to see. :~)

Venice, we're facing similar issues. I'm *hoping* that the vent, plumbing and gas line from my old water heater (went tankless last week! woohoo!) will be sufficient for a range vent/gas line but I have no idea the expense until I can get someone to my house to do an estimate. If it won't work, or is cost prohibitive, I'm back to the drawing board. :-(

I'm not sure why you'd have to rip up the hardwood floors - unless you don't have a basement? I guess I'm not used to houses with no basements or crawlspaces only. Both my gas and plumbing come up from the basement and moving either wouldn't necessitate ripping up the kitchen floor, other than perhaps making a hole behind the cabinets that no one would see anyway.

As someone who currently has a recirculating vent on an interior wall, I'd think long and hard before moving that stove with the exterior vent though! You have exactly what I'd like to have - only I'd have to move the gas and like you, I'm not sure if it would be worth it! I'm also not sure I'd like the functionality of the kitchen if I were to move the stove to that wall. Why can't things ever be easy!

I think the functionality greatly depends on the relationship of the kitchen to the backyard and other rooms. In our house, for example, I want the range/ovens on the interior wall rather than the wall next to our slider to move the cooking zone away from the high traffic area coming/going from the backyard. And I want to move the pantry and fridge to the location of the current ovens (next to the door) to provide easy access to snacks & drinks from the backyard. We want to add a sink to that wall for easy hand/fruit washing.

But, we live in So.Cal., and our backyard looks like a park so we pretty much live outside every weekend from March through October. It's all about location!

Venice,

Is your basement finished or unfinished? If the basement is open (meaning you can see pipes, wires, etc.) moving gas and water line shouldn't be a big deal.

On the stove, keep in mind the longer your ductwork the less the hood is going to pull (I like venting directly via an outside wall with a 9 inch diamter, keep bends to a min as well).

Good luck.

We had to figure these issues out ourselves before we began the planning stage. We moved the sink down a few inches, moved a gas line to an opposite wall, cut into the floor to run water and drain pipes to a new prep sink and had to make sure our vent could go straight up through the attic to the outside. But, my house is an older split foyer where we have no upstairs and the room below the kitchen is being remodeled as well and we could access the prep sink drain from below very easily. If you are on a slab with no crawl space or no basement these changes are a lot more difficult and costly. We are GCing our own project and even though our moves were not difficult, they still cost a bit more than I was expecting. The gas line was $250, plumbing $550 and the vent will be $350. I hope that helps you!

Thanks to all for your thoughts and suggestions. Very helpful!

So, the consensus seems to be that while moving gas and water lines isn't a big deal, moving the drain lines could well be, as tally_sue_nyc notes, and which is something DH was concerned about, too.

Sarschlos, flow is an issue for us, too, and one reason why we were contemplating the change  the other main one is simply aesthetics  but I think I can work around that by flipping which way the doors to the backyard open (which will make more sense once I post a layout).

Sandsonik, we do have a basement, and vince25, it is indeed finished. Not really thought that all the work could be done from below (never remodeled anything before  HUGE learning curve ⺠) WeÂd certainly have to punch through the ceiling to see what is where, though, as right now we have only a vague idea.

Also seems that venting the range directly through an exterior wall is the way to go. Points well taken on efficiency of venting, esp. with the range with which weÂre going.

All told, seems like all roads point to working with what we have, and, as live_wire_oak suggests, keeping the cheque book tucked away for this one unless itÂs absolutely mandatory to pull it out! Now, back to the layout Â

Venice -
Why not post a pic of existing and/or rough draft drawing - You will be pleasantly surprised at the creative minds here that can virtually transform your space

all the best

Venice - does your finished basement have a drywall ceiling or a drop ceiling?

If its the former, your costs will go up since you need to repair the drywall. if its the latter - gas / water should be easy and roughly in line with the numbers mo sgal posted

A bit off topic, but I was pleasantly surprised at how little the cost of digging up our slab was. We really wanted a sink in our island, which of course required a 10' trench in the slab. The total cost of digging the trench through the concrete, running the plumbing and electricity through the trench and refilling it was only about $1,500. Well worth it to have a prep sink in the island, in my opinion.

We are on a slab and were easily able to run water supply through the space that used to have the downdraft vent, but we had to jackhammer to find and connect the drain for an island prep sink. Both of our quotes for that were about $500.

We also relocated the cooktop to an interior wall and ran gas over to it -- about $500. I can't tell you what the venting cost, but it wasn't a big issue once we figured out where it would run (a few holes in the ceiling and a lot of upstairs/dowstairs measuring). Our sink is right under the window and there was no rational way to have the cooktop over there, so it worked for us.

If you have the cooktop on an outside wall, moving it would have to really accomplish a lot in terms of the layout and function of your kitchen to be worth considering in my book. Stuck in an island where the cook fanny bumps anyone at the sink or walking by onthe narrow side of the kitchen was so very worth the move -- but it sounds like you've got some good things going there.

I'll echo what's already been said. Get some photos or drawings and you'll get some great advise.

Although I think I'll stick with the plan to work within existing constraints, it's nonetheless interesting to read how inexpensive some of these fixes were, even the digging of the trench (not cheap, but not bad, considering the work done). Something else that occurred to me and perhaps is worth mentioning is that our house has three stories, so to go up the chimney breast through the roof would be quite a journey for a vent ...

Working on the layout -- again -- this evening. Hope to have something ready to post soon.

Just wanted to say that I made good on my promise, and have posted the layout for feedback in a posting called "Newcomer's layout for feedback," or something to that effect ...

I did want to add that if your new vent requires a larger duct, then it will pretty much be just like running it the first time. The old duct work will need to be removed (yes, you get charged for that), the new duct work needs to be run, most likely the hole in the roof or side of the house will need to he expanded and a new cover put on. So, you may not save as much as you think you will if you have a bigger duct to deal with.

so to go up the chimney breast through the roof would be quite a journey for a vent

Perhaps, but it is also straight UP. So the air will travel quite quickly, and that distance may not make it impossible.

You might talk w/ an HVAC pro, and see what they say. Some people put the vent fan on the roof; if you needed, you could have 2 fans to make that 3-story rise possible.

They will also tell you if the chimney is big enough or safe enough to serve as a chase for your ductwork.

Research, research! Certainly you should take the encouragement with you to know that these are reasonable things to investigate.

We had our plumber move our sink lines and drains over about 6 feet or so. He also had to move the sink vent, so a roofer had to come in and repair the roof after the vent was popped through. He also installed a line for the icemaker. Cost for the plumber $1100 - roof guy, friend of a friend, $50. The $1100 includes him doing the sink when the granite is installed.

The new stove exhaust vent - after the electrician did his thing - will be $600 approx.

Hope this helps,
Boxie

talley_sue, I am indeed encouraged. We need to get an HVAC guy in anyway to counsel us on a fireplace we want to restore, so can speak with him then.

Thanks, buehl. Not sure if we'll need a new and larger duct. There's one there now (a duct to outside, that is), but the vent that came with the house is dead; I guess that's something else to speak about with the HVAC guy.

V. helpful, boxiebabe. Not cheap, but not horrible, either, though we'd have to move it a greater distance. If I do switch the sink to be across the way, then it's a good 10' leap. Down the wall on the the side where it is looks more doable.

Just want to chime in here for anybody else contemplating this in their remodel.
We bought a Florida 1971 split-plan house on slab concrete and gutted the middle part, moving the kitchen about 10' over and added an island prep sink & gas range, and all the associated electrical needed for a 16.5' island (it's really a galley style kitchen but one side is an island).
We were also pleasantly surprised how inexpensive it was to have the entire raised dining room removed and repoured along with all the trenches, especially thinking how many weeks it would have taken to DIY and haul away all the debris. (Just don't forget to have the dirt sprayed for termites before the pour! And keep the receipt. Don't ask how I know this.)
When they jacked out the old plumbing, the drainpipe had completely rusted through under the slab, near the spot where the old sink was. If you could only smell the rancid grease that emanated from that section of pipe, you would never, ever, not even think about pouring grease/oil/fat/drippings/etc down a sink again - no matter how much hot water you waste after it. (If you ever watch "Dirty Jobs", you've possibly seen the one where he cleans out a rancid grease vat and was puking his guts out.)
A relatively small amount of hardened grease allowed some water to pool behind it and rust out the pipe. Who knows how long the sink water had been actually draining out under the slab? Just keep in mind that this could happen to you!