Kitchen plumbing covers everything under and around the sink: faucet and disposal installs, dishwasher and ice maker lines, pot fillers, and the shutoffs and drain work that make a remodel or a simple swap hold up. In Portland's older kitchens, that usually means updating fittings that were never meant to handle a modern disposal or a filtered-water line.
When do you need a kitchen plumber?
Most calls fall into a few groups. A faucet that drips at the base or won't hold pressure. A garbage disposal that hums but won't turn, or leaks at the flange. A dishwasher that won't drain, or backs water into the sink. A slow kitchen drain that a store-bought snake won't clear. And remodels — new sink, new island, a pot filler over the range, an ice maker line to a new fridge location — where the rough-in has to be right before the cabinets go in.
If water is actively leaking under the cabinet, shut off the angle stops under the sink and call — see emergency plumbing if it's after hours or you can't find a working shutoff at all.
How does the visit go?
For a repair, we look at the fixture, the trap and P-trap connections, and the supply lines before touching anything — a lot of "faucet problems" are actually a worn cartridge or a failed disposal seal, not a bad fixture. We'll tell you what's wearing out and whether it's worth fixing versus replacing, especially on fixtures more than 12–15 years old.
For a remodel or new install, we work from your layout or your GC's plan: setting supply and drain lines for the sink, disposal, dishwasher, ice maker and any pot filler, then coming back to trim out once countertops and cabinets are in. If a permit applies to the scope of work, we handle that as part of the job.
What affects the price?
Access matters — a sink with room underneath costs less labor than one crammed behind a disposal, a filtered-water unit, and a soft-water loop. Whether you're supplying fixtures or we are changes the estimate. Moving a sink or adding a pot filler means new drain or supply lines, sometimes through a wall or cabinet, which is more work than a straight swap. Older galvanized or undersized supply lines sometimes need updating to feed a dishwasher or ice maker properly — that's a fair amount of Portland's pre-1960s housing stock. And disposal installs vary depending on whether the outlet and switch are already there or need to be added.
What's specific to Portland kitchens?
A lot of Portland-metro homes — bungalows in Southeast, older ranches in Beaverton and Milwaukie, farmhouses further out toward Tualatin and Oregon City — still have original or partially updated kitchen plumbing: narrow cabinet openings, galvanized supply lines feeding into copper, or drain lines that were never sized for a disposal. Portland's water is soft and slightly acidic, which is generally easy on fixtures but has, over decades, contributed to pinhole leaks in older copper supply lines under some sinks — something worth a look if your kitchen fixtures are original to the house.
Newer builds in Happy Valley, Wilsonville and parts of Hillsboro tend to have PEX supply lines and more room to work, so installs and disposal swaps go faster and don't usually turn up surprises.
If the slow drain turns out to be further down the line rather than at the trap, that's drain cleaning or, for a stubborn grease buildup, hydro jetting territory rather than a fixture repair.
Why Sheltons Construction
We're a licensed Oregon plumbing contractor working the Portland metro — Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties, and down to Salem for larger or scheduled jobs. We quote the job in front of us, tell you what's actually wrong before we start, and finish what we start. If your kitchen work turns up something bigger — old supply lines throughout the house, low pressure at every fixture — we'll say so and walk you through the options, whether that's a section of repiping, a look at water pressure, or just fixing the kitchen and leaving the rest alone.
What to do now
For a leak or a dishwasher flooding the cabinet, shut off the angle stops and call us — same guidance applies if it's after hours through emergency plumbing. For a remodel, disposal install, or fixture swap, request a quote and tell us what's going in; we'll ask about layout, fixtures and timeline before we come out. Questions about permits or how a visit works are answered on our FAQ.
We work kitchens across the metro: Portland, Beaverton, Hillsboro, Gresham, Tigard, Tualatin, Lake Oswego, West Linn, Oregon City, Milwaukie, and Happy Valley.