Moving the Sink, Drains & Adding an Island in Fargo, ND

In much of the country, relocating a kitchen sink means cutting a concrete slab. Here it usually means going downstairs. Fargo houses have full basements, and that single fact makes plumbing changes dramatically cheaper than they are in slab-on-grade markets. Repositioning a sink to the window, adding a prep sink to an island, or moving the dishwasher to the other side of the run is generally a matter of running new drain and supply through accessible joist bays, with the drain pitched to reach the existing stack.

The constraints are the ones you would expect once you are working from below: the drain needs continuous fall to the stack, which limits how far from it a new fixture can sit; the vent has to be handled properly rather than left to gurgle; and a joist should be drilled in its allowable zone rather than notched wherever it is convenient. On older homes we also check what the existing waste line is actually made of before promising to tie into it, because a cast-iron stack that is scaled nearly shut is a separate job that is far better discovered before the cabinets are ordered than after.