Building an outdoor kitchen on sloped pavers

[Mleads310]

First time building an out door kitchen, but I'm in general construction work. My pavers are sloped for drainage. In the area that the kitchen is going it's sloped in 2 different directions (south and east let's say) because it's in a corner area. My question is, should I lay down a bed of leveling concrete for the frame to be built on? This would eliminate trying to level the frame with a ground having 2 different directions of slope.

 

[Bperry]

First time building an out door kitchen, but I'm in general construction work. My pavers are sloped for drainage. In the area that the kitchen is going it's sloped in 2 different directions (south and east let's say) because it's in a corner area. My question is, should I lay down a bed of leveling concrete for the frame to be built on? This would eliminate trying to level the frame with a ground having 2 different directions of slope.

Assuming your pulling up the pavers under the “BBQ” counter area, I’d definitely get the sand out from under the area where that’s built and put down either concrete or stone. If it’s a steel frame counter could probably be fine with blocks on well compacted soil/stone supporting it.

 

[Mleads310]

The pavers are newly put down and I'm not pulling them up for this project. The pavers are locked in and are sitting on a 3inch bed of concrete.my thinking is to build a small form (the same size of what my kitchen frame lay out would be) and pour self leveling concrete about a half inch thick (some spots 1/4" and some spots 1/2" depending on slope of pavers underneath). Once that's poured I can now build my frame for the kitchen on top of that. Fyi it's steel frame .

What do you think?

 

[Bperry]

The pavers are newly put down and I'm not pulling them up for this project. The pavers are locked in and are sitting on a 3inch bed of concrete.my thinking is to build a small form (the same size of what my kitchen frame lay out would be) and pour self leveling concrete about a half inch thick (some spots 1/4" and some spots 1/2" depending on slope of pavers underneath). Once that's poured I can now build my frame for the kitchen on top of that. Fyi it's steel frame .

What do you think?

The pavers are “glued” down in concrete or just sitting on top of it?

Assuming they’re locked in place, I’m not sure 1/4” concrete will be very stable at such thin amount. If the frame is steel, can you just add some leveling screws or other type shims at the major corners to accommodate the slope? That’s what they do with indoor kitchen cabinets/counters.

 

[Mleads310]

I didn't lay the pavers but they are sitting on a 3 inch concrete pad (not set into the concrete, just laid in top of) , and are locked into place with the sand/epoxy...don't recall the name of it.

I thought about shims, but because of the various angles of the pavers from this corner I wasn't sure if that would give me more trouble than what it's worth.... especially with steel (track/stud)

I didn't even think of leveling screws for this because of it being a steel frame (track/stud). But I think this may be a good approach. I can use leveling screws to get level and then use shims to fill the gaps along the track.

I appreciate the input. It always helps to bounce ideas off others when approaching a 1st time project.

 

[jark87]

My question is, should I lay down a bed of leveling concrete for the frame to be built on?

We just had our outdoor kitchen rebuilt and that’s what our builder did. Our foundation was already concrete, but was sloped perfectly for drainage. Prior to our pool build, we had some significant drainage problems, so we paid close attention to this portion. We declined the builder’s suggestion of demo’ing the existing concrete because of the drainage problems we’d had in the past.

Our kitchen frame was cinder block vs steel, so I don’t know if that’s a factor in the decision for a layer of concrete.

Good luck!

 

[Bperry]

We just had our outdoor kitchen rebuilt and that’s what our builder did. Our foundation was already concrete, but was sloped perfectly for drainage. Prior to our pool build, we had some significant drainage problems, so we paid close attention to this portion. We declined the builder’s suggestion of demo’ing the existing concrete because of the drainage problems we’d had in the past.

Our kitchen frame was cinder block vs steel, so I don’t know if that’s a factor in the decision for a layer of concrete.

Good luck!

I’d imagine that with a cinder block base you need a mortar bed for the cinderblock to sit on so that would be pretty easy to level out over a small slope like that. I just wouldn’t build anything on top of loose pavers.

 

[Matt F 1]

Mleads310,
Sounds like you already have a good foundation to support the weight of the kitchen. Go for it.

m