The island is not finished. We’ve made headway! But its not all the way done. Here is the sitch.
We built the island and got it all prepared to have the stovetop plunked on top.
We realized late in the game (our fault) that the stovetop was 8″ tall.
We modified the cabinets to make it work.
The plumbers saw the stove and pivoted a little. Which makes sense because the thing is a total monster.
Gas inspector came and went through the manual. Decided what was needed to properly install the stove. The nicest inspector I’ve ever come across.
Everyone decided our lack of ventilation in here does not, in fact, grandfather over. Especially with a 16,000 BTU stove.
We’ve spent the last couple of days looking at range hoods in all different shapes and sizes. Flush mouth. Chimney. Ceiling. Island. Forget the wall mount and under cabinet options – those don’t work here. I had NO idea what CFMs were and how many a person needed and how many a person couldn’t have, but I sure know now! And finding a range hood that was large enough to cover our stove that did NOT have crazy high CFMs that didn’t cost 3K has been an enormous challenge.
And today, I do believe we finally got our range hood locked. We found one on a beautiful sale online that just so happens to be an appropriate size for our stove top. The CFMs were WAY too high, but being that it had different settings, the first and second settings are appropriate for the house and the current system we have, so it will just be installed in a way with the highest setting disabled. We ran it by our plumber, who approved it for the home. Its officially on order, and now we wait!
Once the thing comes, we can get it installed, and work on getting the rest of the ductwork. In the meantime, we have to find a way to enclose the open space at the back of the stove to accommodate combustible material clearance. Hoping to get a piece of stainless steel moulded to the right size and shape, and just stick it between there.
Ok. Whew! Thats the update! What I can tell you with confidence is that its already a really fun setup to cook supper in 🥰 I’ve finally uncovered the island top and started using it. I’ve cooked on the stovetop, and the burners heat SO fast and SO good!!! When I pull stuff out of the oven, I can set it on the stove just to put it somewhere, and I can keep cooking on the stove. Its just amazing. I have no regrets.
However, this might be our only renovation this year 😅 This definitely has gone far beyond some new cabinets and a stovetop…