Upcoming Outdoor Kitchen Build- Comments or Suggestions?

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Its a fair point. We are in Dallas so its easily useable 9 months out of the year. The floor will have radiant floor heating and then we also have 60" fireplace. I'm sure there will be days when its too cold, but not so many that we can't get the use we want to out of it. The eaves of the pavilion are almost 3 feet outside of the columns so even in all but the worst rain we'll be pretty protected.
 
Beautiful design. Very classic.

These are just some random thoughts I'll toss out there. I'm sure you've put a lot of thought into this given the design posted, so my intent is not to step on any of your ideas. Just to provide some talking points.

I am intrigued in particular by the outdoor radiant heating. I've never heard of its use outside for anything other than keeping ice/snow melted off of surfaces. I am curious how this would all work. My understanding is that it needs to run for long periods of time to be effective and that your benefit from it is really most in enclosed spaces because you ultimately are heating the air as well once the slab is up to temp so you end up with everything being a consistent temperature. Any thoughts on overhead radiant heating units?

This also looks like the perfect project to install retractable screens for bug and or sun protection.

If it's an option, I would run gas to the fireplace so you have a starter pipe. No messing with kindling if you are going to burn wood. Just throw three logs on and light the pipe and let it go for a while until it's got a good burn going. Leaves the possibility to also just go straight gas if the wood ever gets to be a hassle.

I see two fridges. Have you considered a guest facing fridge for beverage self service? Very convenient when you are focused on cooking so you don't have to keep grabbing a beer and it will keep people out of your way.

Is the dishwasher for dedicated outdoor plates and serveware? I see the shelves/pantry area so I am guessing yes. I assume that will be a well sealed door with weather stripping to keep bugs/dust out.

Any ceiling fans in the design? I am going to guess yes, I just didn't see them referenced. This is the perfect space for these:

http://www.fanimation.com/products/palmetto

It's so easy to spend other people's money LOL.

Anyway, like I said the design sketches and the plan look great and well thought out. Please post pics of it!!!!


-plat
 
platipus said:
Beautiful design. Very classic.

These are just some random thoughts I'll toss out there. I'm sure you've put a lot of thought into this given the design posted, so my intent is not to step on any of your ideas. Just to provide some talking points.

I am intrigued in particular by the outdoor radiant heating. I've never heard of its use outside for anything other than keeping ice/snow melted off of surfaces. I am curious how this would all work. My understanding is that it needs to run for long periods of time to be effective and that your benefit from it is really most in enclosed spaces because you ultimately are heating the air as well once the slab is up to temp so you end up with everything being a consistent temperature. Any thoughts on overhead radiant heating units?

This also looks like the perfect project to install retractable screens for bug and or sun protection.

If it's an option, I would run gas to the fireplace so you have a starter pipe. No messing with kindling if you are going to burn wood. Just throw three logs on and light the pipe and let it go for a while until it's got a good burn going. Leaves the possibility to also just go straight gas if the wood ever gets to be a hassle.

I see two fridges. Have you considered a guest facing fridge for beverage self service? Very convenient when you are focused on cooking so you don't have to keep grabbing a beer and it will keep people out of your way.

Is the dishwasher for dedicated outdoor plates and serveware? I see the shelves/pantry area so I am guessing yes. I assume that will be a well sealed door with weather stripping to keep bugs/dust out.

Any ceiling fans in the design? I am going to guess yes, I just didn't see them referenced. This is the perfect space for these:

http://www.fanimation.com/products/palmetto

It's so easy to spend other people's money LOL.

Anyway, like I said the design sketches and the plan look great and well thought out. Please post pics of it!!!!


-plat
Click to expand...

Thanks for these comments, they are very helpful.

Regarding the radiant floor heating, this is something that we are still toying with. Your point is a good one. We are talking with some folks to see if the outdoor use of the in floor heating will get us where we want to go. We know that it isn't going to get us there is very cold temperatures. The question for us is whether it will be sufficient to take the edge off. Say in temperatures of 50 and above. Stay tuned, we'll let you know what we sort out. The overhead raidiating units may ultimately be the way we go. However this structure has 12 foot ceilings and we are concerned that the distance from heater to living space may be too great to really provide the optimal warmth.

Retractable screens for sun is something we are kicking around. The price of the ones built into the structure is very rich and you would need those all the way around for the bug issue. My suspicion is that we will use some curtains or other roll down screen will be used for sun issues, particularly on the west side of the structure.

The gas will be piped to the fireplace.

The dishwasher is for outdoor serve ware. We are a walk from the main house and the idea is that the kitchen be fully self contained. There is will be a full size refrigerator in the pantry. And I agree with you on some sealed cabinetry.

The guest facing fridge is a great idea, but, given that my bride has some aesthetic input we haven't found the right place to put it yet. It may be that, at least for the kids, the pantry fridge will be the best option.


I really like the look of those fans, but I am concerned about whether they can really generate a breeze. Its HOT in the summertime. We are considering some wall or column mounted oscillating fans like these: Fanimation Old Havana Rust Finish Wall Mount Fan - #26287-19155 | LampsPlus.com so that we generate real wind movement. Not completely set on that decision yet.

We've just gotten approval from our historic district and I expect construction of this (along with the pool) to begin in mid to late september. We'll certainly be posting pictures of the progress.

Thanks again for your kind and helpful thoughts.
 
I wish I would have know about the retractable screens when we were building our outdoor entertaining space. Then the tracks they ride in could have been incorporated into the design. No matter what your builder thinks they know about those have the screen company come out and work I. Parallel with them.

We are pushing 100,000 btus with the fireplace, grill, side burner, and beer/crawfish burner running all at once. Make sure you have all of your btus added up and then put the biggest main line off of your gas meter as possible. Don't skimp here, also think about using ng appliances ( I'm sure you will be)

Seems like the seating area would also make a great outdoor home theater. We used this in our design. An in ceiling 5.1 surround sound system. Hidden av equipment. And a big as s TV above the fireplace turned our seating area into a whole nother functional and fun living area. If you wanna go big look at projectors and the black diamond screens that create high contrast in lighted environments :)

Think about extending your roof line out a bit further than the normal slope. This and gutters will help with splash back the few times it does rain in our great state.

Stained and sealed concrete is a wonderful way to finish the floor if done correctly. Be sure to have glass beads or a rough trowl finish if going this route so your guests do not slip coming out of the pool.

Think about your electrical sub panel. A dedicated line for lighting. Kitchen appliances draw quite a few amps when they kick on. Put moreoutlets in the backsplash than you think you will need. Bathroom. Fans (we put in three and could use a fourth!). Recessed lighting that you can control by zones, (we have 4 as well as dimable lights on the three fans ) even with in the space. We hardly ever use the cans at full on. And it is nice to be able to have floodlights on a dimmer as well. Check out the digital non rocker Lutron dimmers...next level awesome lol. Old school gas burning craftsman lamps on the walls would be sweet.

Where's the dual tap kegerator? If beer isn't your thing check this out! SIDEBAR Beverage Systems

Not sure if you have seen werever cabinets but it's another look if you aren't going stone.

As you can tell we love our outdoor space/kitchen, use it year round. It was an 8 month process to get there last year but whoa this was one of the best summers yet....and mine pales in size to yours at only 860sqft. Can't wait to see updates!

Edit....if you want best of the best fully sealed cabinets, grills, outdoor refrigeration, etc look no further than Kalamazoo grills. If I had the jack to spend it would be one of everything they sell. Btw everything is customizable even down to the laser cut CNBC grill grates! Even have a pizza oven ha!

Custom Outdoor Kitchens for Gourmet Outdoor Cooking
 
Last edited:
Mike-

I've looked at the outdoor retractable and they are appealing for sure. They are just SOOO bloody expensive. I'm going to have our contractor price them, but I suspect we will reject them at the end of the day because of their price. I hear you on the gas meter. Our fireplace will be wood burning albeit with a gas starter. But the point is well taken.

Its interesting that you mention the theater idea. We are going to build a masonry wall immediately to the west the kitchen with a deck and fire pit in between the structure and the wall. We'll hang a projector from the eave and project onto the wall. There is a company that makes "screen paint" for masonry walls. We'll have about a 12 foot picture once its set up. Will be great for ballgames and kids (and the grown ups) movie nights. We'll also have the TV over the fireplace so there won't be any shortage of viewing seats.

We've consider the gas lanterns but they are just so bloody expensive. We'll see if it ends up in the budget. Your points about the electrical grid are very well taken.

Thanks for the tip on Kalamazoo. I'll have a look.
 

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I make no warranties, expressed, implied or otherwise as to this company and their product, but when we did our patio build, I found them after some searching and thought their pricing was reasonable when compared to some of the other screen manufacturers that were available at the time.

http://screenex.com/

We purchased a power supply from them and ran wiring as per their guidance so that we could add in screens at a later time when budgets permitted. We still haven't done it yet as it turned out that on one of our big openings we have palm fronds that hang into the patio space which we decided we really like and so any effective bug screening became problematic. Anyway, just an option to look at.


Regards,
plat-
 
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