I'm all about proper vent
Curious why did PO change out a more superior venting source to substandard down draft?
If the proposed "new" hood/exit is direct to exterior wall - and the older is not - on that alone I would hedge more towards the new option - Cutting a new hole to exterior should not incur significant cost. I would make sure that it is doable to cut the hole in the proposed spot before agreeing to it. Too many times there are "woops" posts where the contractor/homeowner did not verify things & then were trying to reformat plans

Thank you so much for saving my dream design! $240 I can do!!

I agree --planning that a vent can go somewhere, then drilling and discovering it can't-- AFTER your non-refundable custom cabinet order has gone in-- would be a problem. As long as you verify first, you should be fine.

Generally speaking, things that require a special license to work on (like electrical) are more expensive than they look. Things any GC can do (like drywall) tend to be easier for ordinary folks to eyeball. If it looks like a lot of construction work, then it is a lot and it will cost you. A hole for a vent looks like a small hole, a few feet of duct, and some patching up. It's probably not going to be that expensive in the grand scheme of a new kitchen.

Is it just me or is your current kitchen really nice as is? It looks like an "after" pic....

We had a slightly different kind of project than yours. But last year when we had a new vent hood installed (with a new vent cut to the outside and new electrical work for the vent) it cost $1,500. That felt like a lot of money. But the work took the better part of the day and we live in super expenisve NJ.

"Posted by dianalo (My Page) on Fri, Dec 24, 10 at 14:46
Is it just me or is your current kitchen really nice as is? It looks like an "after" pic...."

Frankly, I'm wondering the same thing.

Thanks cpartist and dianalo. The picture posted is five years old and the cabinets are Ikea circa 1986 or '92...somewhere in there. They are starting to slide off their hinges and showing wear. For DH and I the calculation went like this: if we are here 7 - 10 years more at least we'd rather enjoy a new kitchen vs. putting something in for resale. I know the ones I have won't make a good showing in a decade. We also have been returning many of the proper architectural details to the house so we are going for a more 1920's look to the kitchen (the house was built between late 1800's to early 1920's. Hence the inset cabinets and double-stacked "butler's pantry look".

I do like the current backsplash though it is not my style so will be sad to see that go.

Hoping to donate kitchen to Habitat for Humanity's resale shop. Hopefully if it looks good to all of you, it will to them!!

Francoise47. Wow. $1500 is a different story. I need to plant the $250 seed with my installer and see what he turns up.

Thanks to all who suggested we check out what's going on in the wall before placing the cabinet order. Hadn't thought to apply that extra piece of diligence and should have. Will have my contractor check. I've had him do that for other things--will add this on.

Not a mistake if it gives you better function -- usually more than worth it, but what it will cost will depend on so many things. You can't really know that without checking to see what's behind your walls. Mine was moved from a downdraft in the island to the interior wall where it went to the joists between the ceiling and second story roof and across to the roof on the opposite side of the kitchen. We did cut a hole or two in the ceiling to verify the placement and direction of the joists to make sure we could do what we thought we could. We were able to figure out where the studs were, but if we had guessed wrong on the joists, we would have either had the vent going out on the front porch (a longer run with a lot more cost factors) or had a couple of tight turns (if it was possible at all) and both would have had reduced efficiency on the vent. Definitely make sure you know where and how the vent will go in before making the decision. And enjoy the new kitchen!

Check into code. There can be surprises that have been inserted into code since first vent was installed. [This is sadder but wiser advice--because we now have sidewalks alongside house, we had to vent to roof to prevent asphyxiation of pedestrians, or something like that. Ironic because we have an electric range but I suppose my cooking might have toxic potential.]

If it's a straight through the wall vent, and there's nothing already in that wall (that's a big if!), it just costs the cutting of the hole and the collar and the cap that goes on the outside, and patching of the old hole if necessary. I can't give you a price, since mine was included in the whole job, but it really shouldn't cost much. As I described, it should only take a couple of hours. I had a slightly larger fee because my HVAC guy had to come and bend an a/c hose around the new opening.

Are you having any other structural work done? It'll cost the least if you do it together with something else. Do remember that you'll also have to move the electrical and/or gas. It shouldn't be a problem, but it needs to be done correctly.

LOL! Florantha, that's too funny! 'Course, I think they're really guarding against someone changing to gas down the road...

O.T. to Plllog, I wish I could laugh, and someday I might, but the whole kitchen was designed around that blinkin' vent exhausting out to the driveway area. And the irony was that the designer claimed to be totally familiar with local code, etc.etc.etc.

I wanted the vent to be on the front wall of the house (no sidewalk there) but he said it would ruin the look of the facade if it vented straight out and ruin the look of the roof if it went up. I said plant an arborvitae in front of it or something, no sweat. But DH and he ganged up on me and said no, move the range to the deepest end of the G of the kitchen and forego all your weird ideas, girl. My earliest dream for that wall crumbled right at that point, sigh. And now, I have a roof vent anyway! But at least my pedestrians are pretty safe from bacon odors.

(It was 3 days after the building inspector vetoed the driveway-sited vent that DH finally told me about it. With clenched teeth.)

We moved our venting when we remodeled. Our cooktop (and the old range) is on an interior wall, so a bit more work had to be done...we knew that going in. What we didn't expect was that our shower drain in the upstairs master bath was directly in the path!

Our GC wanted $4800 just to move the drain (& drain vent). I thought that was ridiculous and brought in two different Master Plumbers and received two estimates: $700 (including drywall repair) and $900 (not including drywall repair). We went with the "middle" estimate since we had worked with this plumber b/f and were very satisfied with their professionalism and honesty.

It only cost us the $900 b/c they did some snooping around and found a place to run the drain's vent up an empty space b/w the studs so no walls had to be broken into and no drywall repair needed!

Lessons Learned:

(1) Get multiple estimates and opinions for large jobs or if anything seems "fishy".

(2) Realize that if a tradesman does not want to do something they will sometimes jack the price up so high that either you'll say "no" or you'll say "yes" and they'll make a killing on it. [This is what I think our GC did since he kept insisting we should just get a recirculating hood and not do the extra work to vent externally...his comment was that they were "almost as good". Needless to say, his credibility plummeted tremendously in my opinion after that! He did give us a hard time about going "outside", but our KD supported us even though she had a business relationship w/the GC via EXPO (where she worked)...a plus in her favor, to me.]

Thanks all for the great xmas day advice.

Buehl, you are so right about prices getting hiked up to avoid trickier projects. The first cabinet company we spoke to with their warehouse near our home said inset cabinets would be about a 15% upcharge and then gently proceeded to try and talk us out of it. When I was confirming details before placing the order the final quote increased a whopping 90% as a result of the charge to do inset vs. overlay. It was so transparent I was angered beyond belief that they'd come up with that as a way to get rid of us vs. just expressing they were not in a position or did not want to take on an inset project. In my younger days in situations like this I would get worked up that people were offending my intelligence but, thankfully, I grew to recognize it as a reflection squarely on them. And it's a shame.

We have used our GC for years now and I have overruled some of his subs in favor of my own because of cost. The vigilance can never end.

Florantha, so sorry for the twist your kitchen design took. I hope you were able to infuse some design elements that you do love. I could live with my plan B. I keep reminding myself what a huge transformation this will be at all towards returning the home which I LOVE more than I can express--closer to her original bones after lots of bad surgery! I suppose having to design around issues like you describe is where true creativity and ingenuity come through in order to retain aspects of beauty so that things aren't only functional.