difficulty of this project?

[J.Lef]

Hello to all once again. Still in the process of remodeling kitchen. So far, so good. Everything I have done myself. Now I face the dreaded "plumbing" question. Here is the situation. And was trying to decide if this is a project I can tackle on my own, or leaving for a pro. We are buying our first refrigerator with an ice and water dispenser and maker. It will be a counter depth model, if this has any meaning to the situation. Basically, I have a galley kitchen, with the sink being at the top right of kitchen, and the fridge will be a the bottom left, if looking birds eye view, of the rectangle. My sink right now, is a standard stainless sink, with one faucet coming out, with one handle. Its an extendable handle to 55 inches. The one handle, controls water temp, pressure, regular or spray. Question, I have, is how difficult and safe would it for me, to attach the ice/water from sink to fridge. To cross the span of the kitchen, I will need to make whole in bottom cabinet, and run the hose underneath the (I dont know what you call it, the metal runner that separates the kitchen tile, from the dining room carpeting. Once it spans this, I can run it against bottom of wall without it beeing seen? Any comments on difficulty, for a non plumber? Also, I assume this hose will be under constant pressure. So it it springs a hole, it will leak out and flood? Looking forward to any information that you can impart with me. This is last thing, for the kitchen to be finished. Since this was my first attempt, to do a major remodeling myself, all I can tell you, is allow 50 percent more cash then planned, and four times as much time. LOL Thank goodness for retirement, as I could never have the time when I was working. :)

Much regards to all.

[DerbyDad03]

The sink is not the only place to get the water for the fridge from.

You can tap into any of the cold water pipes in the basement and run your inlet tube from there through a hole in floor right behind the fridge. I put a 5-year filter in the line and attached it to the joists in the basement for easy access

Yes, the tube will be under pressure, and yes, things could get messy if it springs a leak. There are devices that will detect excessive flow and shut the water off. Google around for something like that.

[J.Lef]

The sink is not the only place to get the water for the fridge from.

You can tap into any of the cold water pipes in the basement and run your inlet tube from there through a hole in floor right behind the fridge. I put a 5-year filter in the line and attached it to the joists in the basement for easy access

Thanks for responding and good idea, but I dont have a basement, and thus it needs to come from sink pipeing.

Much regards

[Joseph Meehan]

I would suggest having a professional take care of this for you. The best choice of how to run that line is not likely to be what you have described. Since there are so many different possibilities and different construction situations, it would not be easy to determine what might be best in your situation. The experienced professional has seen it all and likely will make a choice you had never considered.

Having it done by the professional also means assuming it is a good professional, that they will use the proper materials, that may not be easily available or usable by the homeowner, but will provide far greater resistance to leaks. They should use piping of the same quality and reliability as the general plumbing in your home.

As a final note, consider that if it does spring a leak and it does not meet code, or if it was not properly installed using proper materials, your home owner's insurance may not cover and damages.

Hiring a plumber may be cheaper in the long run. BTW I am not a professional plumber and do most of my own work, but I do shy away from that kind of project unless I feel I really know what I am doing. In my own home, I would do it myself, but I would not do it the way you are describing.

[S. Barker]

Can you go under the floor? Where is the rest of your plumbing? You should consider 1/4" or 3/8" soft copper if you have long runs. You won't have to worry about it.

steve

[J.Lef]

Much regards

[Norminn]

Copper plumbing?

Threshold? You are planning on removing the threshold, put tubing in place under it, and replacing?

When we bought our first fridge with icemaker, our home was on a slab and the sink across the kitchen from the fridge. We had to span a doorway - the rear entry to the house - and just laid the copper tubing along the threshold. There was nothing to hold it down, but kept a small rug by the door so the tubing was protected. It never got stepped on.

We installed the copper tubing and saddle valve ourselves - the maintenance guys at the factory where I worked often did "government work" (off the record) for friends. They supplied the saddle valve and instructions for us, gratis of our employer :o) Hubby and I installed it and, after 20 years, it was doing just fine. It was our first plumbing project and it was secure from the git go. I made a coil of tubing, extra length, behind the fridge so I could pull out the fridge for cleaning. It would probably be easier to run copper tubing through the cabinets and just make the hole large enough to pass the tubing along with some soft foam to keep it from vibrating and making noise. It was a pretty simple task. Good luck.