New BBQ Island Build...but question first

[leeatmg]

I am about to embark on an outdoor kitchen build to, as I said to my wife, "enhance our poolside experience." I have run into one structural question that I was hoping someone with more construction experience than I could chime in.

The grill unit I have will is designed for a 38 inch wide cutout. I have a door and drawer unit I would like to mount beneath the grill, but it is too wide to accommodate the usual support structure beneath the front of the grill. I am contemplating the grill being supported by vertical studs and have the horizontal support in front be unsupported underneath so there is room for the door/drawer unit, as seen in the photo below from the build of another in this forum. I would include the additional supports under the grill running front to back, as seen in the photo above. In essence, I would be doing almost exactly what has been done in the photo, with the exception of the mounting of a door/drawer unit directly underneath the grill.



Does anyone see an issue with that, or will the front horizontal support lack the strength to support the front of the grill? In case it matters, I have chosen the 39" wide Cal Flame Pro 5 burner grill. Thanks in advance if you can advise.

---Lee

 

[bdavis466]

Most of the built in BBQs are only supported by the rails on the sides of the unit. Is this the case with your BBQ? Mine doesn't even touch the bottom panel where it sits so the center "header" you are referring to bears no weight.

 

[leeatmg]

Most of the built in BBQs are only supported by the rails on the sides of the unit. Is this the case with your BBQ? Mine doesn't even touch the bottom panel where it sits so the center "header" you are referring to bears no weight.

Brian - I guess I'm not sure - the grill is en route and the specs and manual don't specify. I would think that even if it did rest on that front piece, the majority of the weight would still be on the edges of the countertop and not the lower brace, so my suspicion is that it's OK regardless. Might reinforce the inside of that cross piece with some galvanized tie plates just to give it a little extra sturdiness, and maybe double up that cross support or something too.

Thanks for the reply! Looking forward to starting a build thread soon...

---Lee