First of all, i have to say that this is a great site that you guys at TFP having going on here! I learned a lot about safety, asthetics, and construction here.

After reading and researching for a few months now, I think Im ready to jump in. I Just designed what I think my outdoor kitchen will look like using Google sketch, and i'm pretty happy with the look of everything.

I bought a FireMagic Echelon 660i with matching dual side burner, fridge, and 3 sets of doors to match. Got it out the door at BBQGalore for $6k (talked them down from $8k), unfortunately it has been sitting my garage for the last 9months collecting dust.

I started somewhat last year removing a huge planter box, laid some concrete, put up a pergola, ran electrical, water and 1" gas line from that I T'd off my pool heater line. I increased the pipe from 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 to allow for spa, fireplace, and some grilling to happen all at once since it's a fairly long run 70ft for gas

So here are my first pass the dimensions and layout, it's pretty much to scale, I live in California so backyards are fairly small. Let me know your thoughts. I'll post more pics as I progress.

My first question is how to handle the 1.5" slope. I've reading folks using Trex, Trex+ leveling feet, go with the slope.etc. I think i want it level, b/c when i'm in the pool I will see it is off and it will bug me. I figure it will be 36" on one end and 37 1/2 on the other to compensate for the slope. I'll be using multiple TREX pieces with composite shims for the middle. Sound right?

Also I see that some folks don't put backer board underneath, is that a personal preference, or dees it have some structual relevance. Thanks again!!

Wow, looks great however I would suggest putting some sort of solid cover so that you can enjoy when it is raining.

Thanks Brentr, i have a 80% sunscreen doubled up that i bought from Lowes, it works great to allow for some light and if it rains it keeps it somewhat to a minimum. Fully covered patios in Cali requires a permit and I wanted to be able to remove the shade if needed.

Any more progresss before winter sets in?? Curious to see how its coming along.

After coming to the realization that I just don't have the time to get this darn thing started with metal framing (My Son started to think it was a jungle gym. ) and hardy backer board etc, with only 1 day a week available to me. I returned everything back to Home Depot (After 18months)
I stumbled upon some precast concrete building blocks from Eldorado Stone while looking at some veneer stone for my pool. They were 25% off and I needed their fireplace because permanent fireplaces in my area require it to be 24" from the fence line which would seriously cut into my dinning space. This "portable fireplace" will be 1" from the fence giving me back precious real-estate. I bought 16’ of concrete cabinets for $2k and had them up in a few hours. Took longer to uncrate the **** things!
Got some pavers put in the last year, and now focusing on my pool remodel, but i'll post some more pics up when i really start cranking on this!!

It still need a lot of custom work done to the kitchen, e.g. back splash, bar, lighting, but for now, I feel like I can now get started and not worried about my kids getting into my work and hurting themselves doing the other way.

Here's a pic of my son now helping me level it. He's says "Thanks dad build buying me my new tunnels" .These things are freaking solid, took me a while to cut out 1 of the doors, but I figured out a way to make perfect shims using my table saw and trex board, cutting it long ways on the edge of the trex gives me perfect lengths and height I need. I'll post more pics as I wrap up the pool and paving work.