>>It's interesting that there's crown molding on the columns and a lot of detail on the wall, but no crown in the kitchen. Is there crown molding elsewhere in the house?Oh my, have you hit on a sore subject. Crown molding was only included in the formal areas and master bedroom. They also crowned no sloped ceilings. Adding crown to other areas was $250 per "room". $250 now, not so much. 20yrs ago when we're building a house and running out out money, it was. Crowning just that hallway and the adjoining family room cost $500 because it counted as 2 "rooms" even though it was only as much crown as a bedroom; the exterior wall is sloped so the family room is really only 1/2 crowned (one wall not crowned and open on one side). I didn't crown the kitchen because the only wall that would have received crown is that single wall (because again, the outside wall is sloped), and it would have cost me $250. Don't think so. I did the crown in my office myself (come on -- a box) along with the sloped ceilings in the formal living room. If *I* can do it, why in the heck couldn't a carpenter? New cabinets will go up to the ceiling in the kitchen. They put tile crown where I cared in the master bath when it was remodeled. What I should have done was made them crown the hallway to the bedrooms just to punish them. It has so many compound angles it would make any carpenter cry.

My favorite hood is this one below. Modernaire I am wishing and dreaming planning to buy this one below. And here are some other amazing ones. ~boxer KitchenandBathDesigner WoodwiseCountryCraft FallsChurchReno Homes Ken Mason DHW Kitchen Dial Brook Giannetti Ready to hang SS backs Scrap Book Blogs

Thanks so much, Breezygirl! And, please know I'll be watching to see your final decisions on finishes for your special, unique kitchen, too. :)

Yeah, I think you've got potential problems if the vent stack that contains your kitchen duct runs in the same chimney chase that is also used for a fireplace below, or even just other peoples' vented stuff. Couple of issues: the air inside a fireplace stack is really hot - and needs to be in order for it to draft. Perhaps that's not for the fireplace, but for another kitchen exhaust stack? Another kitchen vent stack would be the least worrying because of what is carried up by a kitchen fan: cooking heat, steam, odors and some grease, annoyances but not really dangerous. Any burning appliance or fireplace vented to the stack would be a major worry for me. However if it is a fireplace stack (and except for woodstoves, or fake gas-fired fireplaces) the chimney on a wood-burning fireplace is pretty big, perhaps 15 X 15 inches square. The other issue is that the exhaust from the chimney (or from any other combustion appliance) could be sucked back down into your kitchen under certain atmospheric and draft circumstances, which depending on what is being ventilated could be dangerous or fatal to you. You really need to investigate what's being sent up in the other flues! Espcially dangerous is a vent stack from a gas or oil-fired water heater, furnace or boiler. Leaks among the vent stacks are a small issue, the main issue would be backdrafting which could be drawing stuff from one stack back down into the living space of another unit. That's scary. Do you know the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning? It's colorless, odorless, and deadly. The early warning of slight, persistent carbon monoxide poisoning is a feeling of malaise, tiredness, sometimes with cracking headaches that disappear pretty promptly when you leave the building. And with higher levels a bright red coloration to your face, like you get when you're out of doors in really cold weather. You can get a carbon monoxide detector where smoke detectors are sold. Now about your own venting: can you get the vent to the exterior of the building and just vent to a wall? Your tile roof doesn't preclude having the exhaust there. I have a slate roof and with proper installation of the roof jack, with careful flashing, etc., there should be no problems with it. You will need a skilled and competent tile-roof worker doing that part of the job (opening the roof, installing the roof jack, flashing like a maniac around the opening and re-installing the tile field around it.) I would only trust a tile roof expert with that part because tile is so different from regular asphalt or shingle roofs. The ducting itself could be done by an HVAC guy, but probably the guy who installs the fan will be able to do that part. As for how they work on the non-step roof surface - that's easy - they use roof ladder brackets that hook the ladder over peaks. Then they only step on the ladders which avoids breaking the tiles. I do all my own slate roof repairs and that's how I do it. If the roof is particularly high and challenging, they will bring in a bucket platform truck to work from. That's a pricier option. The roof may not be as daunting as it appears to someone who doesn't do roof work regularly. I work on my three story tall hay barn, using only roof ladders, and a fall-arrest safety harness, of course. Howver, as noted the MUA (make up air) may be more of a problem than the exhaust stack pathway. It can be done - solving these issues is what the GC does to earns his whack. Since you're keeping that part in your bank account, you'll have to find the right guys yourself. But don't skip figuring out what's running through that chase from other units, even if you decide to vent through the roof. HTH L.