Vent-a-hood (vah) mounting system + vent cover issue..

16 years ago

We just spend a rather painful weekend mounting a 54" ZTH (model ZTH-354) style Vent-a-hood in our kitchen.. We ran into several unexpected surprises and reengineered the mounting setup for the most part.. Some of the issues were logistical errors on my part. However, the others are all on VAH as far as I'm concerned. One of the things that bit us was the weak system they use to mount it to the wall.. They use a ~1" thick furring strip made of either pine or fir (my guess) which is a very soft wood. After a few trials of hanging it on the wall to check fit, we ripped out all of the screws and the entire hood almost fell on the floor! Luckily I was underneath and was able to catch the hood on my head (no pain no gain!).

Anyway, to make a long story short we bought a thinner strip of Oak (kiln dried) from Lowes and a steel bar that was just shorter than the furring strip (the bar was ~1/8" thick give or take). We sandwiched the two together which made them as thick as the original furring strip was. We then drilled 2 holes (and did a bit of counter-sinking on them to make sure the screws mounted flush) in the steel bar to attach to our studs in the wall. Once that was done we drilled 3 more holes to match the VAH mounting holes (we put one additional hole in as we felt 2 holes was insufficient for a 54" hood) and used a tap to put 18/32 threads in the holes so we could use 18/32 machine screws to attach the VAH to the steel bar. Ultimately we feel this mounting technique is far superior to the factory suggested mount.. I'm not sure how others are mounting their VAH's but I'd be a bit concerned about hanging such a large hood with only two screws into a 1" thick piece of fir/pine. They could at least provide Oak or some other hard wood species.

The last issue that got us was the upper venting cover that hides the piping to the outside. This was also a VAH part and when you screwed it in place, the cover would stick out in the rear sufficiently enough to ensure that the VAH would not properly mount on their own furring strip (it was popped out by 3/16")... We took pics of that oddity but have the hood installed regardless (without one of the other trim pieces installed) and were only able to install 2 of the 4 cover screws. Ideally, I believe this was likely an issue with the way they cut the metal for the cover -- the holes appear to be in the wrong spot to me..

I've popped a note to VAH about both of these issues (the poor mount + vent cover issue) and will see what they say (if anything).. I can live with what we've got and could use a Dremel tool to modify one of the parts to make the top-cover fit, but I don't believe I should have to do this for a vent that cost ~$3500 (including required vent cover, outside vent,etc)

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Comments (2)

sharon1
16 years ago
I don't know about that model ventahood, we put in a vah liner. First we installed a wooden frame then inserted the liner, it seemed fairly easy.

But I do remember my electrician having a hard time following the VAH instructions, they seemed to be a little confusing. I called the store and they gave me the vah rep in my area, who was able to explain what they meant (customer service couldn't). You may want to find out who the rep is in your area and see what he/she has to say.

I know it's frustrating when you spend high $$ and have to struggle with something.
velodoug
16 years ago
FWIW, the "stick" that came with our 18"H x 30"W x 27"D 300 CFM VAH was yellow pine - a very tough wood. We installed the hood with two screws through the "stick" into the wall studs, two screws through the back of the hood into the "stick" and two additional screws through the back of the hood into the studs. We removed the deflector, the air box and the blower from the hood, which significantly reduced the weight. I used two 2x4's with notches in the end running diagonally to the bese of the opposite cabinets to support the hood while we fastened it in place. We had no mishaps and no surprises.
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weird to add to this old thread, but i wanted to add som other data... @clinresga: i wish i had read your post when i was trying to sort this all out last year...but fortunately, i think i ended up in the right place. i'll be upfront before providing more info: i am happy with my Ventahood. if i had the option of a remote blower, there is no question, i would have considered it, but in replacing an under the cabinet, microwave combo unit, the Ventahood one because of it's quietness at realistic speeds. anyway, i wanted to add the numbers i had recorded from a previous email to a friend last year when i ran into the imfamous "sticking flap" problem. (i'd be happy to elaborate on that if people want to know more about it) what i found (when the flap problem was corrected), using my Radio Shack meter at cooking location in front of the hood: Fan1 low: 57db (150 cfm) Fan1 high: 65 db (300 cfm) Fan2 high: 64 db (300 cfm) Fan 1 and Fan 2 on high: 67 db (600 cfm) as you can see, my numbers aren't too far off what was previously reported except for the lowest fan speed which is much quieter. nevertheless, i have to say that i often run Fan2 not only because of it's slightly lower volume objectively, but my subjective preference for the "whiter noise" nature of that blower. in fact, without the sound level meter, i had first thought oddly that a full 600cfm on was quieter than the fan1 on full speed on its own. i looked into a few other units including a Kobe, a Broan, and a couple other powerful "chinese hoods" that was crazy quiet at low speeds, but much louder to my ears (in the showroom) than the Ventahood. in short, i think some of the disagreement in VAH comes down to: - subjectiveness - stuck flaps - inproper ducting. (ie, installing it on a 6" or smaller duct) btw, i don't buy the whole Magic Lung giving me 900 effective cfm necessarily, but this is true from experience: the 300 cfm (one fan on full) pulls out much odor than our supposed turboboosted microwave hood did at its 420 cfm rating...i would guess the Ventahood at 150cfm still bests it! not all cfm are created equal when specified by the manufacturer :)
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Vent-a-hood (vah) mounting system + vent cover issue..

Comments (2)

sharon1

velodoug

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