johnliu, I am trusting my GC on the ventilation issue. Since it is under a covered roof, code & sense requires it be vented. I have been so obsessively focused on the indoor stuff, that this has been on the back burner. I need to clarify with him about what this ventilation will look like. I trust his integrity and knowledge, but I hadn't thought about how it would look exactly. Good question! Upon further thought on this whole space, I think all I really need out there is the grill and the sink. Maybe a stainless steel cabinet under the sink, a set of drawers for grilling equipment and kebob sticks, and a cabinet for trash. I think most of the designers are talking about a true "outdoor" kitchen, which I don't need. I just need an outdoor grilling area with counter space. We are big homebodies and have small get togethers with friends and family, so I don't need all that extra stuff for my lifestyle. Thanks for the extra gas stub idea. I think that's an ideal solution!

Mrs. Pete, my kitchen is 18 feet long and just shy of 14 feet wide. I am one of the few U-shaped kitchen remodels of late. This kitchen suits our needs pretty darn well (I will not say perfectly) and we are a family of 5. I will post my link and some of the thought process we went through to help you visualize. Remodeling our kitchen really allowed me to design my storage much better and that has cleared off my counters, making my kitchen far more usable. So the good news for you is that if you had a rental home 20 years ago with a U and yo liked it, things have only gotten better. Your storage will be more efficient and you should be able to eliminate cabinets and yet store as much or more. Note that I did keep one cabinet in glass over part of my peninsula, but then we need a LOT of food storage with two teens and a near-teenager. As an example we have a cabinet strictly devoted to cereal storage. So if you took my kitchen and added two feet in length and one in width? The width answer is very simple: I would add a foot of walkway at the end of the peninsula and down the length. I hit all the minimums, but roomier would be nicer. Two more feet on the room's length would give you room to have bar stools and a table. But, do you really need bar stools at this point in life? With a large group you probably wouldn't be putting people at both the table and the counter to eat. Better to get a table with leaves in it for a larger crowd. Then that table can be folded back to a manageable size when it's just the two of you. Again, give yourself the elbow room. I might make the base of my U longer. As is commonly taught on GW, prep zone and clean-up zone run into each other when you only have one sink in your kitchen. A little more room might alleviate the crunch. I do like having a double-bowl sink, where the right sink is for dirty dishes and the left for prep work. But really, if you look at my kitchen, most people would say the stove should have moved to the back wall, removing the need for the island mount fan and opening up the space. And a large peninsula without a stove would be better for serving food buffet style. I tend to agree that if I were designing from scratch I would place the stove there. Another thing some posters here advocate is for moving your sink to the peninsula (or island). The reason to move the sink to the peninsula is that you will face your guests as you prep the food. On the other hand, most of the time, I don't have guests waching me cook, so the window is nice to look out. Hope this helps give some of the pros and cons to think about when planning your U shaped kitchen! Colorfast Here is a link that might be useful: Colorfast's nearly done U Shaped Kitchen

Absolutely you should have concerns. First is fire safety clearances to combustible materials. Open flames are a big contributor to house fires. Second is the ventilation that is required when attempting to cook under a roof. A grill will quickly smoke you out without some way of power ducting that elsewhere. You need somone local who can check specifications and clearances, and who is experienced in designing kitchens.

Ok so I just bought my first place. A little beach house (1200 sq ft) it has large setbacks on the property so expanding wont do a lot but I can build a separate covered patio/pavilion. We wanted to do something like 17 x 25 gabled roof with a outdoor kitchen and living dinning space. I can build the structure but was wondering if a slab or pavers was going to be the best way forward? Does anyone know if steel is the cheaper way now that timber is so expensive? I am out of the country so not sure what way will be more cost effective (I am a certified welder so wither material is fine for me) We are doing modern farmhouse inside white with black windows and was thinking white brick for the patio build.