Cascading Home Repair

It's funny how renovations in one area (which you expect to stay confined to that one area) have a way of creeping outward and affecting areas that you're not ready to deal with at all. For example, in order to replace my interior wall with a beam AND keep a functional kitchen, I have to be prepared to move electrical and gas (for the range) hookups on that interior wall to their new locations. The electrical isn't a huge problem at this point, but moving the gas line requires that I also consider how I will maintain gas service in the garage, where it is essential for the gas dryer. Remember that any disruption in kitchen or wash could be really bad with a 3rd grader at home, so it pays to solve these problems before taking the wall down.

The gas in the garage is currently fed from a tee off the kitchen interior wall gas line. So now I have to think about rerouting two gas lines. This requires that I put thought into how the garage will be organized with respect to washer and dryer and I haven't even really considered anything beyond a new garage door.

A flexible gas piping system has experienced some lack of acceptance among local code enforcement so gas lines are still cast iron (“black”) pipe. This is a rigid system and it’s been suggested that it has to be dropped in through a hole in the roof, through a hole in the header plate, into the wall cavity where I want it to reside, through a drilled-out or notched fire block, and out into the room with an elbow+valve. Clearly this is an exercise in careful alignment and long drill extensions. Therefore, I’d rather figure out where I want the gas line in the garage and do this once rather than try to repeat it.

I’d prefer the washer and dryer to be located other than where they now are, but this idea is complicated by the necessity of moving the water supply, sink, and drain lines, not to mention all the garage debris. Did I mention that when you have a slab foundation that it’s quite difficult to move drain lines? I really want the dryer on the far side of the garage so that when it vents, the lint goes into the less traveled side yard (next to the icky neighbors). *blah - scratch this whole idea*

Since I'm using this blog as an exercise in thinking aloud, I expect to change my mind, like I just did.

New better idea: Keep the washer and dryer in their current location (or move just slightly). The lint problem really isn't so bad as I think and it ought to be reduced when I redo the garage door. Actually, it is already reduced due to the new kitchen doors driving foot traffic away from the dryer vent. I’ll also need to at least rotate the garage sink so that it hangs off a different wall, but this can wait and it’s only water supply (the easiest service to change) that would (hopefully) need any changes.


Path forward to demolishing the interior wall: Locate the new kitchen gas supply line where needed. Route the new garage gas line so that it can supply the dryer at or near its current location. Consider carefully whether it’s easier to go through the roof or to remove a 16” wide swath of wall to access the wall cavity.