Using an island vent hood against wall or other ideas? (BS issue)

12 years ago

I need help figuring out how to deal with the backsplash ending behind a chimney style hood. The cabinets stop at 8' high, but the vaulted ceiling is about 10' high in the range area. The chimney for the range hood will go all the way to the ceiling, but I want the BS to stop in a horizontal line with the cabinet tops or perhaps a little lower at 7' (my designer recommends stopping at 7' high because there are other design elements on that wall that also stop at 7'). There will be 3-4" of space between the widest part of the hood and the adjacent wall cabinets. We have not decided yet whether the BS will be tile or a large sheet of back-painted glass. I like the idea of back-painted glass to avoid grout lines and for the modern look, but it may be too expensive.

I do not know what to do about the transition behind the chimney where the BS ends and it is just drywall. The BS will be at least 1/4" thick, so there will be a gap behind the chimney the rest of the way up the wall. When I asked my designer how to deal with it, she said we could tile around the hood (instead of behind it) to avoid the transition problem. Of course, that makes it difficult to replace the hood with a different model if I ever need to, and will not work if we use a sheet of glass.

I am wondering if it would work to tile the whole section of wall, and then use an island hood, because then only the lower edge of the hood would be against the wall and the chimney would be several inches away from the wall all the way up? Would that look stupid? I welcome any other solutions you might offer.

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Comments (5)

angie_diy
12 years ago
I don't think it would look stupid, but it would be an expensive solution!

If it were me, I would put a piece of 1/2" material behind the chimney, just the width of the chimney. Something like Durock or drywall or wood. Either tile behind the chimney at the lower heights and have the added material only above the tile, or do it the whole length of the chimney and tile up to it. You will never notice it.
kaysd
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks for the response, Angie. If I am understanding correctly, I would put drywall or something similar that is about the same thickness as the BS material behind the chimney only (probably just above where the tile ends) and then paint it to match the wall color so it blends in? That is an interesting idea. Since we will need a custom chimney piece because of the ceiling height, I had thought of asking the sheet metal company to contruct a flange so the metal meets the wall above the BS, but I was not sure it would work and figured it would be an expensive solution if it did.

Has anyone else encountered this issue?
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Thank you chac mool and breezygirl for your responses. I have heard what you say about the hood recommendation for islands. I have considered going with the 36" hood but there are some issues with that that I have not yet resolved. Maybe if I explain more the web wisdom will be able to help. I didn't give much info about the kitchen design and the ventilation specialists do not consider the application an island because you cannot walk all around it (which is what perturbs the airflow). On the left side is cabinetry that looks like a hutch but goes floor to ceiling with a stone countertop. On the right is a stainless steel countertop and lower cabinets that span 3-4 ft and then take a 90 degree turn where the sink and dishwasher are located. Behind the range is a 13" ledge and then a hallway. The 30" hood would be centered over the 30" range so that the stone counter ends then the stove then the stainless steel counter. If I get the 36" hood for the 30" stove then if the hood is centered it creates the need for a 3" stainless steel countertop between the stone and the range. My thinking was that this would not look good or be useful. I don't know if this all makes sense in words. tomorrow I will try to post the layout and hopefully get additional feedback on how to get the best fit with appliances given the design constraints. Anywhohow, thanks for your comments. I try to tell myself that some day soon my mental energy will be freed up again and I will spend it on cooking instead of researching appliances......that day cannot come soon enough!
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Gol darn it! Got a whole post written and it's lost now. UHHh! Anyway, Thanks for the nice comments and suggestion eclectic: I love your vintage fridge! That kind of tile backsplash isn't for me, though. I'm WAY too much of a mess and really don't want big grout lines. Your kitchen is very charming, though. This thin brick is a big possibility, though! Mayflowers: I haven't heard back from the tile dude in a couple days so who knows. I do love that kind of tile... artistic with just enough whimsy to make me smile when I look at it. I think I could love it forever (however long THAT is, lol) I did mock it up without the tile... I'll have to look at it awhile to see which I like better. Maybe I don't need the tile after all. DH would be happier if he didn't have to set tile in the middle of a copper sheet, that's for sure... local: you're invited! Come in summer and we'll float or come in winter and show me how to cross country ski :) YA... I can't wait to see the floor installed, either. Piles of boxes just sitting there waiting....September or October for the flooring. November for the kitchen cabinets. Looking to move after Christmas and get our current house on the market and sold by early summer. Ok, getting ahead of myself a bit here... Seems the pale green behind the stove works the best to me, too. I hope the fireclay sample is a good color... EAM44: it is a great fit IF the color works. Gotta get a sample on the way tomorrow. I did an internet search for prices and couldn't even find it that way! 25.00 sq/ft isn't a deal breaker.. If I did a 6" BS around the whole L I'd need maybe 21 sq. feet. I can just hear DH now ... "what happened to the 3.00 a sq. ft white tile from Lowes?". Poor guy, he has a hard time keeping up with the changes :). Anyway, here is the tile or no-tile copper backsplash:
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Thanks you for all the suggestions. I am trying to avoid having just a sheet rocked box above the cabinet above the vent. I think I am leaning towards having just a decor type vent cover. Something like this: So Just getting rid of the cabinet above the vent altogether. We will have no crown molding on the cabinets or the ceiling. With having something like this being the only thing going all the way to the ceiling Would it look odd?
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There are myriad posts about it here. Search on "kaseki" and "MUA" to find some in the Appliance forum. (The Kitchen forum is for marble vs. granite vs. soapstone, inter alia.) Here is a link to and image from a 2012 thread. There are earlier ones. http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/appl/msg0711051415510.html For a better understanding of what is going on with kitchen ventilation, I also recommend reading the first dozen of so pages of the Greenheck Guide: http://www.greenheck.com/media/pdf/otherinfo/KVSApplDesign_catalog.pdf We can start at some basic principles. One is that no air goes up the vent hood without getting into the house to begin with. Hence there is always make-up air, but it might be insufficient to meet all requirements. Another principle is that if moving air up the vent hood reduces the pressure in the house relative to outdoors, several undesirable things happen: - You may back\-draft combustion appliances (hot water heaters, fireplaces, etc.) and cause a safety hazard from carbon monoxide - You may pull outside air moisture into the walls - You may unbalance your heating system, if moving air based - You certainly will reduce the flow rate you are getting from the hood blower. I would prefer not to address your MUA options in the context of your architecture and hood until you have become familiarized with the issues and selected a hood and blower that meet your ventilation requirements. As to "why?" there wasn't information put in front of you, it may be that the people who should be advising you are ignorant of basic HVAC issues, quasi-informed but too lazy to delve more deeply to fully learn their trade, or not in the business of selling MUA system components.
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angie_diy
12 years ago
Yes, that is exactly what I am suggesting. I ran into a very similar problem because I had to mount my hood on a 3/4" thick piece of wood, after cutting out a piece of the 1/2" drywall. Thus, there was a 1/4" thick edge of the wood sticking "proud of" the drywall. Because it was aligned with the edge of the chimney, it is very hard to see.

Having said that, if you are having a custom chimney built anyway, I cannot imagine it would cost much extra to accommodate the extra thickness the way you suggested.
pektel
12 years ago
I ran glass tile all the way up to teh ceiling, and trimmed it with some pecil rails. I don't think it looks out of place, and it added probably 4 square feet of tile:
Cloud Swift
12 years ago
A custom duct cover is probably less expensive than getting an island hood to solve your problem. (The "chimney" on the hood is really a cover for a duct that the air flows through.) Because an island hood has to be finished on all 4 sides and has to support its weight from the ceiling, it normally costs more than a wall hood which normally has 3 finished sides and is supported from the wall. About the smallest price difference I've seen between the wall and island models of the same hood was $500 and it can be over $1000.

The custom duct cover for our hood cost about $500. That was to get a duct cover made with trapezoidal sides because there was a sistered joist in the way of where we wanted to hang our island hood. Since it was for an island hood, that was for something strong enough to support the hood.

That is a lot more weird request then getting a "flange" on a wall duct cover. A wall duct cover usually has 3 sides with just flanges at the back for screws. So what you want might be more like a small step or notch in the sides of the duct cover so that the sides are 1/4 inch deeper above the backsplash. I'd expect that to add much less than $500 to the duct cover cost.

To ensure that you get exactly what you want, you should draw up a sketch with dimensions showing it. Independent, who made our duct cover, required a sketch from us before they would quote.

There might be some practical problems with an island hood against a wall. If it is installed tight to the wall (so that its rear edge touches the backsplash, there might be noise from vibration since it won't be screwed to the wall like a wall hood would. If it isn't tight to the wall, it might be difficult to clean behind and some grease and steam laden air might flow behind it.

If your backsplash goes behind the hood, screws will need to go through it that attach the hood to the wall.

Using an island vent hood against wall or other ideas? (BS issue)

Comments (5)

angie_diy

kaysd
Original Author

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Using an island vent hood against wall or other ideas? (BS issue)

Comments (5)

angie_diy

kaysdOriginal Author

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kaysd
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