Unusual kitchen range vent situation
Amanda Ehm
2 years ago
Featured Answer
Sort by:Oldest
Comments (13)
Verbo
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoRelated Discussions
A small kitchen with unusual layout
Comments (38)palimpest is right on the money about tripping hazard. We were invited to a dinner to a recently finished house done with a very 'famous' architect in the city. There was 1 step between the island seating and the living room in a very open way, just like yours. The LR was down from the island seating. My husband almost fell off the step. We were young and spry. So being old and frail was not our excuse. We weren't even drinking. Our house has 2 steps between the LR and DR,about 1 ft in height. No one trips there because there are enough steps so that people can see the transition. Angie, You also have a step down from the LR to the FR with a odd quarter circle landing. That looks really odd to me. I had something similar in my house years ago and I hated it! I spend alot of money to get rid of it and I am really glad that I did. Is it possible to raise the floor in that room. Raising the floor is cheap if the ceiling height can accomodate it and the window will height works. And if the exit to the outside can accomodate it. It usually is an issue with the exit because the landscaping is done with the current door sill height....See MorePlease speculate on this vent situation (pic attached)
Comments (24)The Minimizing Range Hood article repeats an error I have been preaching against for years here because it leads to misunderstanding of hood requirements. The article states, in part, in the portion titled In the ceiling. "Another option for above an island is to select a range hood or exhaust system that can be built in flush with the ceiling. These hoods are generally more expensive, as they need to be extremely powerful to suck up greasy air and odors from such a distance." Hoods that anyone could stand in a kitchen environment do not suck up the cooking plumes beyond a fraction of the hood's shortest base dimension. They utilize the cooking plume's upward velocity to get the effluent to them where they can collect it. Then they use their blower strength to get the effluent past the filter and expel it from the house. Otherwise the plume would mostly reflect off of the filter and flow back into the kitchen. This is why the size of the hood entry aperture is important. In a ceiling application, "extremely powerful" is still correct, but it is due to the large area where the air velocity has to be high enough to get the effluent past the filter area. The large area results from the expansion of the cooking plumes as they rise. What the ceiling application touts do not make note of is the effectiveness in the presence of inevitable cross drafts, and inconvenience of filter cleaning, particularly when the cooktop is Ceran, and the counters are stone, and concentrations of human weight put them at risk....See MoreTorn: hood vs. over-range microwave, no exterior vent. Help?
Comments (37)Wow, I'm very grateful to all of you who took the time to reply! Great to see your pictures, too. Some responses (if you're interested), now that I've finally been able to go through: Sammy and The Kitchen Place are correct that we could put it in the upper above the dishwasher — that's the only upper that is the right size that wouldn't block other cabinets. (Thanks for the pictures, The Kitchen Place!) I was intrigued by nidnay's idea of bumping into the bedroom closet, but that closet is filled with custom cabinetry so it would be a huge project to put the microwave there.If Icould put a Miele microwave (/speed oven) in an upper cabinet, I'd try for that, but of course our uppers are only 13" deep and the Miele opens down, so not workable. My better half is against mounting a "normal" microwave in an upper cabinet (he thinks in that case we might as well go OTR, and that it will pull away from the pretty stove/hood that's the whole reason for this conundrum). (ci_lantro questions the whole premise of opening the kitchen. Others in our building have done it and it makes a significant difference in the feeling of the whole unit—we're confident it's the right move, long term.) Helen, HU-41121833, Buehl, Interior Concept, RTHawk and others: Thanks for saying good things about the Sharp microwave drawer. nidnay, thanks for your criticisms of it, too! The slimline microwaves are attractive too! Unfortunately induction sounds great, but not in the cards for us. I do believe everybody who says we need something more powerful than a microwave fan — the Vent-A-Hood system does look quite good. kaseki, thanks for your hood comments. pittsburrito, I hear what you're saying about external ventilation. There is a small vent in the kitchen and windows in the living room, so we try to be careful. Thank you all! Still not sure what we'll do, but I'm grateful for all the advice on the Houzz forums....See MoreAt loggerheads about range hood vent cap!
Comments (17)On a side note, we are so blessed to know all our firefighter friends. These guys are all in different professions - both white & blue collar. We have nearly every trade represented on the FD! They’d be good friends regardless, but it is a relief to know these guys personally. This HVAC guy is now retired from both jobs, but he was the maintenance engineer at a major university here in Mpls, and his soldering skills are unmatched! He helped us take off all the old valves in the laundry room and half bath to make tiling easier and just to update them. Unfortunately, the caps they used didn’t come off when it came time to put the new valves on. Apparently they had some brass in them. IDK. So they had to cut them off and make the copper even shorter. The new floor was thicker and a couple of them were already really close. His plan was to put compression fitting on, but those two that were short were impossible. He finally decided to solder them, but he was working inside the tile! The hole was small and he was really concerned. We were dangerously close to having to rip out the basement ceiling. He managed to get them both on perfectly and there was a collective sigh of relief! He’s got skills! I think he deserves dessert when we take them out for dinner, ha!...See MoreAmanda Ehm
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoAmanda Ehm
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoAmanda Ehm
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoAmanda Ehm
2 years agoAmanda Ehm
2 years agoL A
2 years agoVerbo
2 years agolast modified: 2 years ago
Related Stories
KITCHEN DESIGNHow to Find the Right Range for Your Kitchen
Range style is mostly a matter of personal taste. This full course of possibilities can help you find the right appliance to match yours
Full StoryKITCHEN DESIGNKitchen of the Week: An Austin Galley Kitchen Opens Up
Pear-green cabinetry, unusual-size subway tile and a more open layout bring a 1950s Texas kitchen into the present
Full StoryKITCHEN DESIGNKitchen of the Week: A Wall Comes Down and This Kitchen Opens Up
A bump-out and a reconfigured layout create room for a large island, a walk-in pantry and a sun-filled breakfast area
Full StoryKITCHEN DESIGNKitchen Remodel Costs: 3 Budgets, 3 Kitchens
What you can expect from a kitchen remodel with a budget from $20,000 to $100,000
Full StoryKITCHEN DESIGNKitchen of the Week: A Dark Kitchen Brightens Up
A cooking space honors the past while embracing the present
Full StoryKITCHEN DESIGNCottage Kitchen’s Refresh Is a ‘Remodel Lite’
By keeping what worked just fine and spending where it counted, a couple saves enough money to remodel a bathroom
Full StoryKITCHEN DESIGNKitchen of the Week: Tile Sets the Tone in a Modern Farmhouse Kitchen
A boldly graphic wall and soft blue cabinets create a colorful focal point in this spacious new Washington, D.C.-area kitchen
Full StoryKITCHEN DESIGNKitchen of the Week: Red Energizes a Functional White Kitchen
A client’s roots in the Netherlands and desire for red countertops drive a unique design
Full StoryKITCHEN DESIGNKitchen of the Week: A Cottage-Chic Kitchen on a Budget
See how a designer transformed her vacation cottage kitchen with salvage materials, vintage accents, paint and a couple of splurges
Full StoryKITCHEN DESIGNKitchen of the Week: A Fresh Look for a Georgian Country Kitchen
Whitewash and understatement help turn the kitchen in this period home from a tricky-shaped room into a stylishly unified space
Full Story
Shannon_WI