Planning outdoor kitchen, have questions (of course)

[bpricedo]

I have been looking, reading, and planning. Hopefully will have something started and finished to use this summer. I have a couple questions.

First on the stainless doors. I visited a local outdoor kitchen store and was surprised how they had their door units installed. Hopefully I can explain this clearly. On a door unit like this that has a "boxed" type frame: http://www.wholesalepatiostore.com/?a=pInfo&pid=3918#
they had put the exterior material (rock) on the outside of the island and then installed the door unit so the frame was on top of the rock. I have seen pics where it appears people have mounted the doors where the frame is against the Hardiebacker and then rocked up to the frame like brick mould on a door or window. I figured the doors would come with an installation guide when purchased but I can't find anything online and my curiosity is killing me.

Second, where are you guys getting your vents? Are they weather and (most importantly) rodent proof?

Third, using the method of construction recommended here with metal stud frame, Hardiebacker bottom sitting on Trex blocks, will this be rodent proof? In other words, has anyone had rodents eat though the Hardiebacker bottom since they will be able to get under the structure with it raised on blocks?

I guess that's it for now. Thanks in advance for any answers. There'll be more questions shortly and eventually actual construction and pics. :-D

 

[jcowart]

I have done several for clients. The door you are looking at is an overlay frame. Yes it goes in after stone work. You will run into problems if you install it then stone over it. I have seen the hinges fail. They are the first to go and to change them out you have to remove the stone. What I used was inset door frames. Just like the overlay, the frame is stainless angle with one leg facing out to make the overlay. Inset doors are opposite that. The cut out has to be square and spot on for it to fit right. The ones I used are from pacific. Look for inset or retrofit doors and frames.
Second I never installed any vents.... Clients did not think they needed them.
Third. All mine have been on a slab. The sill was nailed down then it was normal construction after that. We did hardie inside and out. The hardie inside was just to make the inside flat on the bottom.

Proline hoods
I have never used the outdoor hoods but I do have a 48" insert hood in my kitchen from them. Very fast shipping but YMMV, I have only used them once.

 

[bpricedo]

I did not mean to lay the stone over the frame, just to have the frame installed before stone and then they would butt the stone up to the edge of the frame instead of laying the stone up to the edge of the cutout opening, then sliding the frame into the cutout so it rests on top of the stone.

The former would look more finished to me as the stone could be cut to form a tight joint against the frame. The other way, the frame is against the top of the stone, which is not uniform, so you can see the flange that goes inside of the cutout. It seems water could get in that way as well, though maybe it could be sealed.

I looked at PCMs website and it seems the frames are all the same but some series (like the one I linked) have doors that are flush with the frame and some the doors sit on top of the frame. Their website lacks in information in my opinion.

 

[bpricedo]

So, I actually called PCM and they said you can do it either way. Their only concern was if the stone was very thick, that the door would be recessed fairly far back in the stone if you did the butt method vs the overlay method. I don't think it would necessarily look bad if it was recessed that way but your door opening would be more limited. Another thought would be if you were using thick stone that the flange might not go deep enough to tie into your framing if you tried to do the overlay method.

Anyway, I think the butt method is going to look better and likely resist water intrusion better so I will go that route.

Anyone have info on the vent and rodent-proofing questions?

Again, thanks for any and all replies.

 

[Melt In The Sun]

I can't help with the doors...but I will say that if you have a gas grill mounted in the island, you absolutely need vents. Not having them can result in an explosion.

I doubt rodents will chew through the bottom...at least they haven't in mine. Maybe if you kept food in there, but why would you? Mine just gets full of crickets.

 

[jcowart]

My bad about the vents. Yes you need to install vents. All mine were hard piped and not run off bottles but I still put in vents. We have a West Marine and I got the louvered vents for like $5. I thought you were asking about hood vents. If it's under an inclosed roof then I would say it's a must have. I would not think rodents would get inside but I would not keep anything in the cabinets that they would want to eat.

 

[bpricedo]

I have a nice cart grill so I will just build an island "garage" to push the grill into so I may not need vents anyway. The rest of the island will be partitioned off from the garage and the cart has built in vents so propane would fall down from there and then vent out under the cart but I was still thinking about adding one behind the cart.