Setting up an outdoor kitchen can take a long time. You need to plan everything from start to finish and ensure everything works together, otherwise, you’ll be left with something that costs a lot of money but doesn’t work the way you want.
Part of this involves the usual planning, like how much you want to spend and the features you want. But you should also consider the layout and the design – the physical space you have to work in.
The purpose of this guide is to help you install an outdoor kitchen and understand everything that’s involved. While it can be a long process, it is also often an enjoyable one, and something that will continue rewarding you for years to come, especially when you start entertaining guests at your home.
So, what does it take to install an outdoor kitchen properly?
Following Regulations And Permits
If you want to install an outdoor kitchen, it is a good idea to check the regulations and permits first. You want to ensure that you contact your local municipality and ensure that there aren’t any zoning restrictions in your area. While prohibitions against outdoor kitchens are rare, they do exist.
At the same time, you should also check that your housing development allows you to build additional outdoor kitchens. While it might seem like a great idea at the time, there’s always a risk that it doesn’t work out, simply because of HOA rules or local regulations that only apply to the development you’re a part of.
If you aren’t sure what rules apply to you, discuss the problem with professionals. See what they say you need to do to ensure compliance.
Select Durable Materials
Next, ensure you get your material selection process right. You want to make sure that you choose options like stainless steel and granite for the workbenches, or concrete for the countertops and flooring. The more robust it is, the better off you’ll be.
Robustness matters for indoor kitchens, but it is particularly critical for those you set up outdoors. You need something that can withstand the weather and survive the harshest rainstorms or heatwaves. Only a select few materials will actually do that, with others prone to rot, weathering, or UV damage.
Fortunately, the best materials are often also the lowest maintenance. Many, like stone or composite decking, hardly require any upkeep, simply because they’ve been designed with the outdoors in mind. Layering these materials in the right order is often the best way to ensure that your outdoor kitchen survives long-term and continues to thrive, just like the other rooms in your home.
Prepare The Site
Once you’ve done that, you should prepare the site. You need somewhere solid and stable to accept the new kitchen.
They might be called “outdoor kitchens” but they actually require quite a bit of building work (which is one of the reasons only a small percentage of people have them on their properties). You want to ensure that you have a stable concrete base with pavers or decking. This base should be solid enough not to move or shift, so ensure you flank it with appropriate retaining walls.
You also want to ensure that you have proper utility access to the site, since outdoor kitchens require electricity, gas, and water (usually). Therefore, get in touch with local electrical services and plumbing professionals. If you want a gas range or grill, you’ll also need to work with an engineer who can ensure safety. The last thing you want is the whole thing exploding, especially if someone is nearby.
Once you have the lines installed, it’s also a good idea to invite professionals back to the kitchen to check all the lines. Gas leaks aren’t just costly, but also dangerous, especially if your outdoor kitchen has any naked flames.
You should also check the water and electric lines. These should be sealed off from the environment and protected from the weather, regardless of the form it takes.
Add Shade
While you’re preparing the site, you should also add some shade. Erecting a gazebo or an awning allows you to protect the kitchen installation from the sun and the rain. Usually, you’d do this step once all the formwork and concrete foundations are in place.
High winds can be a problem at this stage, so you’ll want something sturdy and robust. You’ll need to prevent the rain from getting into all the technical and tricky parts of the kitchen, or damaging your appliances. You also need it to protect yourself from the sun and weather if you are planning on constructing parts of the outdoor kitchen as a DIY project.
Add The Kitchen Components
With all that out of the way, you’re finally ready to install the kitchen components, like the cabinets, frames, and other features. You want to ensure you anchor these properly and keep them in place.
You should only buy components that are designed for outdoor use. Don’t get into a situation where you’ve ordered a bunch of cabinets, but they are meant for indoor use only.
Fortunately, you can purchase complete outdoor kitchen sets these days. These are ideal if you just want a quick solution and something that will function immediately, without you having to put a great deal of effort into it.
The appliance installation part is usually the most complex. This involves you placing the grill, oven, and microwave into their allotted slots.
Manufacturers will provide you with instructions on how to do this. However, you may still need assistance connecting the gas lines (unless you’re using simple butane tanks), which is usually the easiest option.
Once the appliances are in the right place, the next step is to add the countertops. For premium installations, stone is usually the best option, simply because it tends to last a long time when left outside. Other materials, especially any wood-based products, are more prone to warping and bending.
Backsplashes and tile finishes are also important. Sometimes, polished concrete isn’t the best option, and adding porcelain works better. If you think that a design like that will better suit your setup, that can also work.
You may also want to place tiles behind the sink backsplash. Again, these help you to reduce damage to the kitchen and provide an easy-to-clean surface.
The assembly portion of the work usually takes two to three weeks, so you’ll want to set some time aside for it. The most complicated part is to ensure that all the items work together as planned. You don’t want a situation where only some of the items are working and others aren’t, because that’s where costs can start to explode.
Add The Finishing Touches
With all the major elements in place, you can then add the finishing touches to your outdoor kitchen. These are the components that will bring it to life and make you want to spend time in it.
Obviously, this is also the most creative part of the process. You can choose whatever theme you want.
Starting with the décor, ask whether you want to include outdoor rugs or weatherproof seating. You can add artwork to the shaded parts of the walls or lounge furniture nearby if you are planning on having guests over. Plants and lighting are also nice additions that make a big difference in how the space feels.
Usually, when you first complete the basics of an outdoor kitchen, it can feel quite bare. There doesn’t seem to be enough going on to keep you visually interested. But once you start adding all of these extras, your perspective changes almost instantly.
Bringing in an interior designer (ironically) can also help with this process. They can arrange whatever surfaces or spaces you have, adding ornaments or ambient features that change how it feels.
Test Your Kitchen
Finally, you need to test your outdoor kitchen and make sure everything is working as you want. Don’t get into a situation where you’ve installed everything, but you aren’t using it because you don’t have guests.
Obviously, you need to check that all the appliances are working first before you have guests over or throw a party. Installers should do this for you, but if you have a DIY installation, try them out for yourself.
Test your appliances for at least 60 minutes before concluding that everything is okay. See if they work, whether they do what you want them to do, and if there are any leaks or error messages.
If the building work for your outdoor kitchen was messy, you’ll also need to spend a bit of time just cleaning the space. Sealing countertops and washing surfaces down is often necessary if there is a lot of dust around.
Finally, you should think about how you will winterize your outdoor kitchen. The last thing you want is an installation that costs you a lot of money, only for water to freeze in the pipes and burst them, or cold weather to cause more damage to your units.
