I think this kind of thing could happen to anyone using any brand gas grill, so it's a good warning to check all connections carefully before grilling. I confess I only checked the tank to regulator and regulator hose for leaks prior to my first usage of the Virco. The manual did say to also check the gas control valves, but I couldn't figure out how to get to them. I guess I could see them from underneath if I lay on my back, so that's what I'll do next time. I also recall that propane is heavier than air, unlike natural gas, which is lighter than air. So the propane can settle in low places and collect and then explode. Also, as I have recently noticed, a new steel propane container may react with the odorant in the propane charge, and the result is that it can be harder to detect leaks. Lots of people are probably buying new propane tanks with OPD valves rather than retrofit their old ones, so perhaps some extra caution is needed for the first tankful or so. All this makes me wonder if perhaps I may be installing the natural gas conversion kit sooner than I expected...;-) Here is a link that might be useful: Propane safety

We are very interested to hear how your build-in project goes. We are considering doing the same. Are you expecting to have any major challenges? We've seen pictures of built-ins on the following website if you are looking for ideas www.thegrillstoreandmore.com Here is a link that might be useful: thgrillstoreandmore.com

Last year I did a search for built in projects and could never find any info. I've even posted on here acouple of times to see if anyone had done this before. To no avail, I couldn't get to one DIY project for grills. So, I hope that my completed project will be able to help others out there contemplating building there own built in brick grill. Memorial Day BBQ was great. I rotissereed two teriyaki injected chickens and they were great. We also grilled some pork ribs, rib-eyes, kabobs, and pork loins. Everything was superbs. The grill is better that I ever expected. I literally turned on the rotisseree and walked away until they were done. Couple of questions. I cleaned and oiled the covered but still have that browning problem othere have talked about. Whats the best way to clean the cover. Thanks for visiting.

Mini-review of Expo's Professional grill and a comparision to the Virco. After five or six years of frustration using my Weber (not enough heat) I decided to consider an upgrade. I really wanted the Weber to work, but I just couldn't get the temp over 450F. One day at Home Depot I saw the Straublestone (misspelled, I'm sure) and felt that was an upgrade at a reasonable price. So, before buying that I shopped around to be sure of my choice. One of the trips included a trip to Home Depot's Expo Center. This place is loaded with all the high-end grills, very painful to go in there because I want to buy ALL of them. ;-) But on this trip they had a new grill called the 'Professional'. It was priced at $1000 (actually $999 I think) and upon inspection it looked almost as good as the others that they had and a considerably lower price. I also strongly considered the $900 'Jenn-Air' which is really made by Vermont Castings. I choose the Pro over the Jenn-Air due to construction. It was almost all stainless where as the VC was not. So I coughed up my $1000 and went home a happy kid with his new toy. Well, about three months later I spot the Virco during a trip to Costco. Sheesh, two hundred dollars cheaper and ALL stainless. So I set out to sell the Pro (at a loss, of course) and buy a Virco. But I ended up with the MM Y0660 as explained earlier in this thread. The Pro grill is made by Charbroil for the Expo Center. They have also introduced a smaller, 45K BTU, 3-burner model for $800. Both grills has an unlimited warranty on the SS, a 10 year warranty on the burners and a 2 year warranty on any other part. Both grill come with a heavy-duty rotisserie standard and no side-burner. I don't know if this is an option, but I don't think that it is. The grill does not include a cover. It did come assembled at no additional charge. These grills arrived at the Expo unassembled and they sub-contract the assembly at their store. The Pro grill, while still a good product, seems to be overpriced when compared to the Virco. The Pro grill uses four 15K BTU cast iron burners for a 60K BTU total, same as the Virco. I was able to reach an indicated 550+ and I could tell that it was noticeably hotter than my old POS Weber. The pro's single biggest weak link is its drip tray design. First, it's fabricated out of epoxied or powder-coated steel, not stainless. Second, it is only accessable from the rear which makes it a bit of a pain to clean. and third, the dang thing is so poorly designed that it barely slides in it's slot. The tolerances are so poor that it wants to come out of its track and fall on one side or the other. It's hard to explain, but trust me, it sucks big time. I was so frustrated that I was in process of designing a new drip tray to be fabricated out of SS to replace that sorry design. I was quoted $100 by a local sheet-metal company. The Pro's rear IR burner is set in a black powder-coated steel panel wheras the Virco uses SS for the panel. The Pro's flame-tamers are make of regular steel and are black powder-coated. These will NOT last very long. They were starting to degrade during the three months that I owned my grill. They have a two-year warranty so you can probably get a set or two for free before the warranty expires. The cabinet on the Pro is inferior to the Virco. The cabinet is a single-walled wrap of stainless that has a two to three inch opening all the way around the top. So it does not offer any protection from the weather, it will get wet in there if the grill is uncovered. On the front are two single-wall doors, just folded SS sheetmetal. The Virco's cabinet is far superior. The Pro's lid is folded stainless sheet that is spot-welded on the sides. The Virco's is welded, ground and polished and as a result looks much nicer. The Pro did have a double wall lid but the gap is quite narrow. In spite of this, it did not discolor on the outside during my short ownership. The temperature gauge worked well and seems to be reasonably accurate but I never calibrated it to be sure. The handle on the lid looked like chrome plated steel, not solid SS as on the Virco. The handles on the sides of the cabinet were also chrome-plated, not SS. The Pro grill uses beautiful, cast & machined SS knobs. These really looks impressive, even better than the Vikings and DCSs. So there is absolutely nothing really wrong with the Pro except for it's price point. It served me very well and I was willing to deal with the non-SS parts as needed. But when compared to the Virco, it seems like it should be priced well under the $800 range. The Virco is truly unbeatable under $1000, at least for now. Who knows, maybe next year Virco will have some competition at that price point. -Terry