# Outdoor Kitchen



## sammytx (Jun 17, 2004)

There have been a few of these threads that have helped me along the way to completing mine, so I thought I would share. 
I waited until I finished so I didn't get too much grief for going so slow.... With work and kids and sports it was really hard finding time to work on this project, but it was a fun one and I am really happy with the finished product.

After ordering the grill, burner, and doors I started building the framework in my garage. I used the metal studs from HD. I ordered the stuff first so I could be sure that the cutouts for everything were correct.



Then I moved the framing to the corner of my porch where the kitchen will go. The porch is actually on the side of a detached garage, so I have access to the inside of the wall for water, gas, electric.



in fact in this picture you can see the drain for the sink. The lowered section will be for the big crawfish/fryer burner.

Next I ran the gas lines for the grill and burner. Everything will be on natural gas so no more running out of propane. The yellow shutoff switch is accessible through the back which will have a door.


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## Hooked (Oct 15, 2004)

Like to metal stud framing.


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## sammytx (Jun 17, 2004)

Next step: hardibacker board. I predrilled all the holes and countersunk them, but I am not sure it was needed. I don't like how the backer boar will sometimes split on you when the screws pull down flush, so I was over cautious.



Then I worked on the stone facing. I found this at Floor and Decor.



I spaced the stone 3/4" up from the slab so that when I put the tile floors in (not decided on what yet) they will slide under and make a clean transition.
The stone work took MUCH longer than expected. They come in 24" x 6" panels, which would be great if you have a big uninterrupted space to cover. but with all the custom cutting and fitting, it was very tedious work. Might also be because I am somewhat OCD and wanted it all to fit together perfectly. The pencil lines around the cutouts show where the stone needs to end so that the flange of the doors will fit.



The external corners can be bought as special pieces which helps. The internal corner was a bear. It couldn't be mitered since the thickness of the stones varies, so I had to dissect the panels and "finger" the pieces together. Slow work, but it turned out nice.


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## DonChuy (Jul 17, 2012)

Man I've been wanting to do this for a while now. That looks great!


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## sammytx (Jun 17, 2004)

Another view of the stone facing.



On to the next part - before I could finish the stone facing, I needed to install the countertop section that the burner sits on. It's basically a "U" that fits in the lowered section. I put the burner lower so that it will be easier to deal with a large pot on it. It's a Fire Magic power burner. It was somewhat pricy but I "had" to have it.

I decided to build concrete countertops for this project. I have been wanting to try this for a while so this was a perfect excuse. I decided that since the "U" section was small it could be the test piece. If it was good I was all set, if I didn't like it I hadn't invested that much time and materials.
I chose to mold the countertops rather than the "pour in place" method. There is lots of info on this stuff on the web, and I used Cheng's book for reference.

first I built the mold out of melamine board, and caulked the inside edges to seal it and provide the rounded corners. You have to build the mold as the mirror image of the counter top, but in this case it was symmetric so it didn't matter. I made the mold for 2" thick countertops. In the internal corners I cut a 45 degree bevel so there isn't a sharp internal corner that might make it want to crack. I covered the exposed particle board with packing tape so that the concrete wouldn't stick.



Next I formed up some rebar and hogwire for support.



Then I mixed up the concrete. I used some glass fibers for strength, some dry tint to get it to a charcoal like color, and 50lbs of "maximizer" concrete mix. I also used "super plasticizer" which seems like snake oil but allegedly allows the concrete to slump more with less water so you end up with a stronger slab. I got some off ebay. It showed up in a 20 oz soda bottle with absolutely no labeling so who knows what it really is. Anyway, I mixed and filled the mold halfway up, and vibrated it to try to get the air bubbles out. I was really worried I would get it too soupy and that would make it less strong, so erred on the side of more "dry". I clamped the mold to a table with a shelf under it, and on the shelf I strapped down my air compressor and turned it on with the nozzle open so it would run continuously. I also took my sawzall with the blade removed and vibrated it as well.



I put in the reinforcement and filled i the rest of the way up. I didn't bother getting a great finish on it since that is the bottom of the countertop.


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## sammytx (Jun 17, 2004)

After a week I took the mold off. It came apart easily and the concrete really doesn't stick at all the the melamine surface. There were quite a lot of little voids on the surface, especially on the sides. Fortunately all the sides are almost completely covered once it is installed so I didn't worry much about that.



The surface was pretty smooth right out of the mold, but I wanted to expose some aggregate and get it to a nice sheen.



Here is the sander/polisher I used. It is from Harbor Freight. I attached the water nozzle on it and a section of 1/4" tubing that I adapted back to a hose fitting and attached to the end of my garden hose. The length of 1/4" hose made it easier to move around without dragging a hose. One thing I added after this picture was a "cone" to cover the vent slots at the back and keep the water how out. When water gets in the slots it can make troubles for the speed control (so I have heard  ). I duct taped it to the housing with the cone opening to the back to allow air flow.



I bought a set of diamond grinding pads online. The pads were from grit 60 all the way to 3000. Grinding this stuff is a slow and messy process. It slings concrete slurry everywhere. I bought a waterproof apron and wore knee high rubber boots. After some grinding with the coarser grits, there were lots of little holes exposed.



I mixed up a slurry by "straining" the cement mix with a paint filter cone, and then mixing in some tint and a little water. I tried a few methods to work the slurry into the holes, the best seemed to be using a rubber grout float.



I let is cure at least a day after filling the voids



Then I got back to grinding, and grinding some more. After I got it where I wanted it I put on 4 coats of water based sealer and let that dry, then compounded with automotive compound and a couple of coats of wax. It looked really nice. Too bad I am going to cover most of it up with the install.



I would call this a successful test of the method though, so after that I felt confident to tackle the larger sections. After finishing the stone of course....


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## TheSamarai (Jan 20, 2005)

awesome. my next project.


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## hog_down (Jan 11, 2010)

Beautiful!


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## sammytx (Jun 17, 2004)

Onward. In the meantime I had some accents made for the other countertops. I found a local shop that would laser cut some SS for me so I had these made. They are each about 4-5" across. The redfish was made by combining some stock images that I found on the web with a little extra tweaking to make it how I wanted it.



Next it was on to the countertop where the grill will sit. I will skip the gory details, but this one took two full 80lb sacks. I rented a mixer to help get consistent color, etc. It ended up not mixing well with both sacks in there so it took some shoveling and manual inervention to get it to mix properly. Just because it says it will hold two sacks doesn't mean it will mix them well. Anyway, this is what it looked like after the pour. I had a couple of friends help with this one, since between the mixing and shoveling and vibrating there was a lot going on all at once.



While it cured I finally finished the stonework. Did I mention it was tedious?



I flipped the countertop and then there was lots of hours of this. Safety note that I left out earlier - make sure to have a GFCI outlet to plug the grinder into. I would prefer pneumatic, but I don't have a compressor big enough to supply one.



After a few passes it started looking really nice. The compass rose came out great.



I was worried that it would crack when I moved it so I c-clamped a 2x6 to it across the gap where the grill fits. With some help I got it into place and put in the grill and the burner.


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## marshrunner757 (Apr 7, 2015)

That is top notch! Thanks for sharing! 

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## sammytx (Jun 17, 2004)

Next I ran the water line. I decided just to position a pot filler between the sink and the burner. It can serve both, especially since I won't have hot water anyway. It's a detached garage and I don't want to add a water heater just for this. If I ever do I could still add a wall mount faucet set since the area behind the sink is still open.



The burner is sweet. I boiled a couple of sacks of bugs just to make sure it all worked. Just because it isn't finished doesn't mean it's not usable.



Next I made the mold for the last remaining section of countertop. I got some laminate from a friend since I wanted to make some curved sections. I made is s-curve out for a little bar-top section. I don't have a lot of room since the porch is narrow but I want to make the most of it. It should be enough for two bar stools. The square is the sink cutout.



Repeated the mix-pour-vibrate fun. This piece took about 2.5, 80# sacks. This time I mixed in two batches which seemed to work better with the rented mixer.





Here it is when I took it out of the mold and flipped it.



Now more of the same - grind, fill holes, grind more, grind more, polish, wax. Then put in place,





I found a big turnbuckle for a corner support because there was a lot of weight on that corner of the counter. I like the industrial look.



And finally done!


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## Hooked (Oct 15, 2004)

Beautiful work sir!! You sure put a lot of work into the tops which turned out great. I especially like the red fish and compass rose. Nice touch. 
Congrats on the new kitchen.


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## jtburf (May 26, 2004)

Very impressed, looks great.

John


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## shade (Aug 12, 2010)

*kitchen*

sammytx - what kind and size of screw did you use and also what was spacing. Thx


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## sammytx (Jun 17, 2004)

To attach the Hardiboard to the metal framing I used the Hardibacker screws - #10 X 1-1/4". I would say that the spacing averaged 10-12", depending on the layout of the framing in any particular area.
-Sammy


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## kodman1 (Sep 16, 2005)

that looks great


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## JFolm (Apr 22, 2012)

This kitchen turned out great. You should be proud of it.


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## GT11 (Jan 1, 2013)

That looks good and you used the same stone I used. How was it working with the metal studs? I also see how you recessed the doors and pull outs...it looks nice. I didn't think of doing it that way.


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## Outklassed (Jan 13, 2007)

Nice Work, your going to enjoy for many years to come.


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## Blacktip Shark (Mar 7, 2010)

That outdoor kitchen is awesome! Wish I can do work like that...


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## bearwhiz (Jan 30, 2011)

Beautiful job. I just wish I had your patience.


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## DSL_PWR (Jul 22, 2009)

That looks good. You're hired. I'll let you know when. HAHA..


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## sammytx (Jun 17, 2004)

Thanks for all the kind words. 
GT11 - The metal studs were pretty easy to work with. I have built cabinets before and this was a lot different because it is more like building walls. For working with the metal studs, I was going to buy a metal cutting blade for my chop saw but I read that you could just tin snip the sides, and then score the flat section with a utility knife a few times along a square and then bend it back and forth to break it. So that is what I did. It makes wicked sharp edges but they all get covered up so if you are careful while you are working with it it's not a big problem.


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## GT11 (Jan 1, 2013)

Great, thanks for the info.


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## chaco (Dec 24, 2010)

This really did come out looking fantastic. Lots of envy from me as well as the others here.

I'd like to ask about some of your considerations regarding how this unit sits in place against the outer wall of the garage building, please.

- Is the counter/cabinet structure attached to the floor slab in any way?

- Am I correct that there are no backing panels on the cabinetry you built? Thus, when you open a cabinet, you see the planking from your outside wall as the back of the inside of the cabinets?

- Is there any direct attachment of the cabinet unit to the outside wall of the garage?

- Did you make a seal between the rear of the countertop and the outer garage wall? If so, is it chalked, or some other scheme? 

I wanted to do this a long time ago, and asked a lot and learned from the great one that GT11 constructed and shared on 2cool. I still want to do it, and am still mentally thinking about how to do it. Between the two of you I now have excellent ideas. Only real issue holding up a project is the demise of energy jobs including mine, and no waiting to feel comfortable with non-critical expenses.


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## sammytx (Jun 17, 2004)

I didn't attach it to the floor slab. I was going to put one anchor at the end of the section that sticks out from the wall (where the grill is) but with the weight of everything I don't think it is going anywhere. I did screw the cabinet frames to the wall of the garage. There are no backs inside the cabinets that run along the garage wall, so yes under the sink you can look at the hardieboard on the garage wall. The back of the cabinet section with the grill has hardiboard for outside because I didn't want to spend the money for the stone back there since it isn't visible. I am going to paint it to match the garage wall.
I am going to caulk the seam at the back of the countertop, I just haven't done it yet. I will probably use clear silicone.
-sammy


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## CCinKT (Dec 9, 2015)

My friend there is no one, no way, that coulda done a finer job...congrats on yer OCD...M. aka Wake Up


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