Kitchen remodeling in Arlington Heights, IL

The village rewrote the permit exemptions in the residential code. Painting, papering, tiling, carpeting, countertops and kitchen upper cabinets can be done without a permit. That is a short list. Pulling base cabinets, moving a sink or adding circuits all need one.

Kitchen work goes in under the Alteration, Remodel, Repair permit for houses. The village asks for a contractor proposal, dimensioned and scaled plans, and a Tax Assessor Supplemental Information form. The permit lists a general contractor, a carpentry contractor and an electrical contractor, so every trade on your job has to be in the village system. The typical review slot is five business days.

Arlington Heights added a section to the code just for kitchen remodels. Where base cabinets are removed, three things must be brought up to date. The countertop and wall outlets must meet the 2017 National Electrical Code rules for kitchen receptacles. The sink must be vented to the Illinois Plumbing Code. Exhaust vents must end outside the house, not in the attic or a soffit.

The Building Official can waive these where compliance is a practical difficulty. We plan for them anyway. In a ranch with the kitchen on an outside wall the hood duct is usually simple. In a split level, where a bedroom level may sit right above the kitchen, the duct route takes more thought.

Plaster, drywall or studs wider than 16 inches apart do not count as support for upper cabinets under the village amendment. In older kitchens we open the wall and add blocking before the cabinets go up.

Any new wall that carries a drain or vent pipe running sideways through the studs must be built in 2x6. If you are moving the sink to an island or a new wall, that thicker wall eats into the room, so we measure it into the layout from the start.

The village moved from the 2005 to the 2017 National Electrical Code on March 1, 2020, and its own notice points out that ground fault protection now covers far more locations than before. A kitchen last wired in the 1960s will not meet that. Expect new circuits, new outlets along the counter and a look at the panel. The village keeps a separate permit type for panel upgrades if the old one is full.

Noisy remodeling on private property is limited to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. A permit expires if substantial work has not started within six months, so we schedule the start date before we apply. We handle the permit and inspections, and the inspector is booked for a morning or an afternoon, not a set hour.