52 
House & Garden 
THE PLUMBING IN YOUR KITCHEN 
On these Simple Rules the Kitchen System is Based—The Variety and Uses of Sinks 
and Tubs—Placing Refrigerators—IIow to Ilomdle Plumbers 
ETHEL R. PEYSER 
Another sink in the Frick 
house is metal encased 
in wood to prevent 
smashing of dishes. Dram 
board is ash. Courtesy 
of Meyer & Sniffeti 
O NCE u])on a time there was a 
business man who, upon buying 
his first house, bought simultaneously a 
})lumber’s kit. He was sure he could 
save a lot of money by attending to 
simj)le matters Idmself. One day a 
simple faucet spmng a simple leak. He 
confidently used a complicated tool and 
the result was a vast sea of trouble. 
Plumbers! Expense! It is not neces¬ 
sary to draw the moral. 
'I'he plumbing in the house is akin 
to the alimentary canal in the human 
bod}’, and is as complicated a system as 
is the alimentary canal. The system of 
plumbing in the house is a series of 
pipes which carries water to the house, 
and eliminates it as it carries with it 
various forms of waste, connecting the 
house with the main sources of water, 
gas and with the sewage system. The 
best plumliing is that which effects these things 
with the least deterioration and with the least 
mixture of sewer gas and foreign matter. 
klver}^ community has its own plumbing laws 
and regulations. This is true unless one builds 
in verv rural sections 
where there is no 
sewage system. How¬ 
ever, this article will 
deal only with con¬ 
ditions in which a 
sewage system pre¬ 
vails. 
(Above) This vegetable 
sink is roll rim English 
porcelain, with trays each 
side. From the New 
York home of the late 
Henry C. Frick 
Plumbing Laws 
.\s will be seen 
by the following 
excerpts from the 
plumbing laws of 
New York City, the 
ordinary housewife 
need not worry about 
transgressing the 
law, as everything, 
from the material 
used to the size of it 
and the laying of it, 
is controlled. And 
the plumber is sup¬ 
posed to know these 
rules before he is 
licensed. 
All materials must 
])e of the best qual¬ 
ity, free from de¬ 
fects, and all work 
must be executed in 
a thorough, work¬ 
manlike manner. 
All cast-iron pipes 
and fittings must be 
uncoated, sound, cyl¬ 
indrical and smooth, 
free from cracks, 
sand holes and other 
defects, and of uni¬ 
form thickness, and 
of the grade known 
in commerce as “ex¬ 
tra hea\w”. 
In the -Lon^. I-siavd hotne of the late F. W. Woolworth the kitchen fixtures include porcelain sink, 
^>cnd. wood drain boards, metal work table and French hooded range, the whole cotiveniently 
arranged. ‘ "C. P. II. Gilbert was the architect of this kitchen. Courtesy of Bramhall-Deane Co. 
The size, weight and maker’s name 
must be cast on each length of pipe. 
All joints must be made with picked 
oakum and molten lead and be made 
gas-tight. Twelve ounces of fine, soft 
pig lead must be used at each joint for 
each inch in the diameter of the pipe. 
All wrought iron and steel pipes must 
Ije equal in quality to “standard” and 
must be properly tested by the manu¬ 
facturer. All pipe must be lap-welded. 
No plain black or uncoated pipe will 
be permitted. 
Each building must be separately 
and independently connected with a 
public or private sewer, or cesspool, ex¬ 
cept where a l)uilding is located on the 
rear of the same lot with another build- 
I ing, when its plumbing and drainage 
s}’stem may iDe connected to the house- 
drain of the front building behind the 
house trap and fresh air inlet which shall be 
used for both buildings if sewer connected; 
or ma}' be connected to an existing cesspool of 
front house and be provided with a separate 
house trap and fresh air inlet. 
Further Provisions 
W here there is no 
sewer in the street 
or avenue, and it is 
possible to construct 
a private sewer to 
connect in an adja¬ 
cent street or avenue, 
a private sewer must 
be constructed. It 
must be laid out¬ 
side the curb, under 
the roadway of the 
street. 
All pipes and traps 
should, where pos¬ 
sible, be exposed to 
view. They should 
always be readih" 
accessible for inspec¬ 
tion and repairing. 
In every building 
where there is a lead¬ 
er connected to the 
drain, if there are 
any plumbing fix¬ 
tures, there must be 
at least one 4" pipe 
extending above the 
roof for ventilation. 
The contents of 
settling chamber or 
dust .receptacle for 
vacuum cleaners may 
be discharged into a 
plumbing and drain¬ 
age system. 
Leaders must be 
trapped with cast- 
iron running traps 
so placed as to pre¬ 
vent freezing. 
Rain-water lead- 
(Cout. on page 82) 
