Hi All,

As promised I finally have a few free moments while sitting in the airport to post some pics of my build. I have been working on it for the past 3 weekends and will post pics of the progress for each day that I worked on it. Not being good with cad software I opted to draw by hand my outdoor kitchen with rough dimensions to get an idea of size available for the components. This worked well so I ordered all the components (Grill, Side Burner, Recessed Cooker, doors, sink, refrigerator, trash bin etc.) to have on hand prior to starting the build.


The Site for the outdoor kitchen.

The first day working on the island was running the water, natural gas, electrical, cable, cat 5 and drain lines under the paver. When finished this is what it looked like stubbed out.



The first day framing I spent laying out the frame and verifing dimensions of all components and making sure I could fit everything in the layout taking into account the width of the metal studs for framing in each component. Once I confirmed all dimensions I began cutting and assembling the base of the island.


Seems I will have to break the post up due to the 3 attachment limit per post. Please see next post for further details.

The next weekend I spent working on the acutal framing. I started by cutting the studs for the back wall and cutting a 2 x 4 piece of Trex into 4" strips to be placed under each stud. Then ended that day starting to frame in the recessed drop down burner.


That Sunday I got start working on the framing for the side burner with storage below and the grill itself. I was amazed how nice a straight the framing is working with metal studs and how square you can make everything if you just take your time.


At this point called it a day and sat back with a rum an coke to enjoy my progress while watching the sunset.

The following Saturday continued finishing the framing for the side burner and grill and was able to complete the framing for the doors as well.


FYI. My island will be both natural gas for the grill/side burner and propane for the recessed burner. I do alot of crawfish boils and use 80-100 quart pots for cooking so I need the presure of propane for boiling that much water.

Last Sunday I spent working on the bar hieght dimensions and how I wanted to handle the cantelever for the bar. I am planning on a 16" wide bar top elevated 6.5" above the counter. I ended up using "L" brackets and also boxing the top of the vertical stud to give it extra support. This is the backside of one.



A shot of one from the inside.


And a shot from the top showing the stud bent over the horizontal stud and riveted for added strength.


Once I figured out the dimensions I spend the rest of the day cutting and assembling the cantelevered studs for the bar. I needed 14 total so it did take a bit of time.

With the 10" "L" bracket in place and the boxed end on the vertical stud I am 100% confident that this bar would support me standing on it and I am a big guy. I have no concerns with people leaning heavily on the bar now. I continue to be amazed at how strong the metal studs become once put in place with rivets. I know it will become even stronger once I get the hardie board in place. I did you 20 gauge studs so that probably helps alot with the strength.

I am hoping with the upcoming 3 day weekend to complete the framing then start on the electical rough in and plumbing. I will continue to post my progress as I go.

Please let me know your thoughts on my progress thus far.

Thanks
Brad

Thanks for documenting the build. I'll be taking notes.

Wonderful pictures! You are moving right along.

Looks great, and what a view!!!!

Your cantilever construction will stand the test of time, no doubt!!!

Keep us updated! C-Ya!!

Excellent job so far. Nice job on the pictures too. They will no doubt help the next guy.

Is your paver deck level or sloped for drainage?

Thanks all for the positive words of encouragment. No problem posting pictures. I hope they help someone else take on the challenge and see that it is not so bad.

As for the slope of the pavers. The main flat area of the patio is 22' x 32' with a small step across the entire front of it from the yard. When they were installed a slope was put in. If I am not mistaking we used 1" of slope per 10' length making the slope overall from front to back about 2.25". In building the island I thought about how to handle it and wether or not to try to compensate for it. In the end I decided just to build with the slope to as to provide drainage for the counter tops as well. I did not want pooling water on them. We have an 8' outdoor dining table running with the slope and it is not been a problem with stuff sliding of etc so because of that I decided not to worry about it. I hope I do not regret that decision but I am sure it will be fine.

On the back side of the island is a more severe slope that can be seen in one of the pictures that functions as a ramp from the pavers to the yard. I wanted this to be able to get the lawn mower, wheel barrel etc. down without dealing with a step. It has worked great for that and as an unintended benefit the kids love riding large dump truck toys down it.

Brad

Looks like you are making excellant progress. Thanks for sharing the pictures. This helps others to get over the fear of starting this kind of project.

Looks great - can't wait to see more!

Hi All,

Made some progress this past weekend but not as much as I had hoped to. It ended up raining all day Saturday and most of Sunday so I really only got to work on it on Monday. After thinking about it more I decided to pull the Trex feet off and attach 1/2" Hardie board to the bottom to serve as a floor then put Trex feet back on to keep it elevated a little so water can flow under it. I did this for 2 reasons a) not be be blowing leaves/dirt into the island when blowing off the patio with the leaf blower b) reduce as much exposure as possilble for the metal studs to the salt air. Of course I will have vents for airflow so there will be some exposure but less this way.

Once I finished that I started the framing for the bar area. I was able to get the 3 walls of the bar completed by the end of the day.




Next on the list is to finish framing the front area to include a rollout trash bin, refridgerator and an access door in the angled portion next to the grill. Another good solid day of framing and I am hoping to be complete. I am looking forward to having this part done then moving on the electical and plumbing rough in.

Please let me know if you have any questions on what/why I have done or if you notice something missing that needs attention.

Thanks
Brad

You are doing an outstanding job so far. The Trex under the HB is the way I did mine. You might want to add 1 or 2 under any large areas where you might have to get into. I broke the floor on one of my compartments crawiling inside to service wiring. Had I thought of it before, I would have supported the center sections.

Thanks Dave. I was worried about busting through the floor under the sink in the future so I took your advice and ripped some long Trex feet that I slid under that section. There are now 4 peices about 30" long each under that part to support the large span. I now can walk on it and not bust through the floor.

Looking forward to trying to finish the framing this weekend and post more pics Sunday night of the progress.

Brad

Hi All,

I was able to make quite a bit of progress Sunday. I was able to get the framing in place for the trash bin, refridgerater, counter top and access door under the sink. Here are some pics of the progress.





I have a little framing left to add some support for the counter top in the sink area (large open span in corner) and make sure I have enough studs in the correct location for the hardie board. I figure a couple hours left on that part then on the plumbing and electrical.

Started getting pricing on granite counter tops today as well. Price are not as good as I had hoped but not terrible. This will be the most expensive part of the build by far. I am hoping to be ready to template for it early next week.

I also ordered the faucets this week so hopfully they will arrive soon as I will need them prior to templating for the granite.

As always let me know if I can answer any questions.

Brad

Looks really good! I never though of using light gauge, but it's working out well for you and will last a lifetime. I've seen a lot of light gauge construction by people who do it for a living that doesn't look this good -- great job!

Steve

Thanks for posting and keeping this thread updated. I'm following it closely for ideas and help. Thanks!

John

Hi All,

Spent the first few hours Saturday morning finishing up the framing. I added supports for the granite counter tops in the sink area since it was a rather large opening and added deadmen to have something to screw the hardie board to in a few locations. I am glad to say the framing is finally finished. Ended up putting in 238' in studs and 180' of track using 998 rivets. No I did not count the rivets but I bought a box of 1000 stainless rivets for the project and when I finished I had 2 left. I tend to over build and probably went a little overboard on installing them however I kept telling myself better to take a little more time installing rivets now than to try to fix something later because there where not enough originally. Prior to starting the project I bought a 29.00 air rivet gun off of ebay. Boy was that a great investment. I would have forearms like Popeye if not for that, plus since one pull of the trigger set the rivet adding a few extra here and there for insurance was not a big deal.

Once the rain came it was off to the the hardware store for plumbing, electrical and gas piping supplies.

I started with the plumbing rough in first. Installed a shutoff valve for the water and routed it into the stud locations as shown in the picture below. Also this picture shows the piping for the natural gas with a shutoff (behind water pipe just not visible in the picture) and quick disconnect plug. My grill came with a 12' flex hose that will easily reach to this location.


I then mounted the on-demand tankless water heater and made the connections for it. I have stainless braided hoses connected to the top of it for the sink faucet so once they are installed should be an easy connection.


Then ran the water lines (PVC for cold water and CPVC for hot water) to other faucet location to fill large 100 quart pots for the drop down recessed burner and added a silcock to the outside of the island to attach a water hose to just incase I ever want a temporary hose there.


Again used stainless braided hoses for the faucet connection. Capped the lines and tested for leaks. One small drip in one of the water heater connections and after tightening it up had no leaks. Also tested the gas piping for leaks with soapy water and all was good there as well.

Called it a day and cleaned up.

On Sunday got a late start because a cold front blew through and with the wind blowing 35 to 40 mph it was just to cold to work in and made it miserable. Once it warmed up a bit I went out and got started on the electrical rough in. Started by installing the sub panel and making the connections for the incoming service line.


Then moved on to add a circuit for use inside the island for items such as refridgerator, lighting, disposal etc.



and finally one for the water heater. I did not make the connect to the water heater permanent as I did disconnect it and took it in so it would not get wet if it rains. Once I get the counters in I can quickly make the connection.


The last picture is also a good shot of the backside of the water heater connections.

One more circuit to install for the exterior outlets on the counter. This will be a GFCI circuit since these outlets will be in a wet location. Hopefully this will not take to long then it will be on to installing hardie board and vents.

As always please let me know if you have questions and feel free to point out any errors or items that I may have missed.

Brad

That on demand hot water is a great idea. What is it's output and electrical requirments?

The water heater is made by a company called Eemax http://www.eemax.com They make several models in both 120 and 240v with various amp draws that provide various water temps..

The model I bought is the SP35. It is a 240v 3.5kw unit drawing 14.6 amps that produces a continuous 48 degree rise in water temp from the incoming line. My cold water in the winter is 62 degrees so this unit should provide me with 110 degree water at the sink. This should be more than enough to wash hand, dishes etc as needed given that my whole house heater is set at 115 degrees for safety purposes as I have small children.

Here is a link to the spec sheet that covers all the single point models. http://www.eemax.com/images/singleptspec.pdf

I bought the unit online and I think it was around $160.00. If I recall correctly the 110v units were a little cheaper but had twice the draw on amps as the 240v units.

Enjoy.

Brad