The term “summer kitchen” means exactly the same thing as the term “outdoor kitchen”. Summer kitchen is primarily used in placed that have more of a seasonal variation. In other words, you can only use the outdoor kitchen during the summer, so it is called, well, a summer kitchen. Makes perfect sense!

There are some things to think about if you live in one of those areas where this term is used, and these are things that people in warmer climates may not have to think about as they go about developing and implementing their outdoor kitchen plans. I am talking about the more extreme weather variations faced by those who live in cold climates. Imagine your built in grill buried under ice and snow for a few months. What would it be like when everything had thawed in the spring? A quality grill would be just fine, and that is one of the many reasons why I stress quality in all the topic on this website. If you are in a cold climate, you really need to think about the quality of each and every component of your summer kitchen.

Just like extreme weather will have a negative effect on the components in summer kitchens, the very base of the kitchen itself, the summer kitchen cabinets, will really be put to the test. If you have read through some of this site, you know I do not ever recommend using wood as a base material for your outdoor cabinets. It goes without saying that this is most true in the cold climates we are talking about here. In my opinion, some type of masonry cabinetry must be used in these situations. I recommend it in all situations, but in extremely cold regions there really is no choice unless you want to be rebuilding your outdoor kitchen cabinets every spring.

If your summer kitchen is in a cold zone, it brings in an entirely new set of concerns for everything, and that includes plumbing and electric. In warm climates you may be fine running water lines above ground as long as it is in keeping with the local building codes. But once you get into an area where there is a real winter, you just cannot get away with that unless you are prepared to do some serious winterizing before the first freeze. In all likelihood, running water lines above ground is against code in areas that deal with hard freezes, so that means you will be burying yours. Just be sure to bury them deep enough that they are safely below the freeze line and you should be fine.

A quality summer kitchen can be built in cold weather areas in such a way as to last as long as anywhere else these outdoor entertaining areas are found. You just have to make sure you look at summer kitchen designs that use materials that can withstand the extremes in weather, follow local building codes for structure, electrical, and plumbing, and develop your plans through the normal process I recommend and you will be just fine. The result will be a summer kitchen that will stand the test of time and be something you and your family can enjoy for many years to come.

Since this website is about outdoor kitchens, when I talk about an outdoor sink I am talking for the most part about outdoor sinks that will be used as part of your outdoor kitchen. Just as is the case with grills, there are so many varieties of sinks available that you could spend many hours trying to make a decision. In my experience this choice has been as difficult for some people as choosing the outdoor kitchen grill or any of the other outdoor kitchen appliances.

What you should really look at first is if you can even put an outdoor sink into your outdoor kitchen plan. I mean a couple of different things by that last statement. First, do you have water lines and a drain anywhere close to the planned location of the outdoor kitchen? I have visited a lot of customers who casually tell me they want a sink in their outdoor kitchen plan, and because they have a hose bib nearby they assume that this is no problem. This could not be further from the truth. Getting water lines into your outdoor kitchen cabinet is usually the least of your worries. Getting a proper drain is a far larger problem.

Think about the drains in your home for a moment. In most homes the water goes down the drain and there is no pump or any other mechanical device in place to assist this from happening. We don’t really think about it very much, it just happens this way, right? Well that is because most drain systems in our homes are simply gravity drains. that means when your house was being built the drain system was designed and put into place so that when water drains from any sink or toilet, it flows downhill until it eventually reaches the main drain from the house. Considering all of this it stands to reason that you just cannot expect to have a drain anywhere you might want to add a sink, especially an outdoor sink. Why especially an outdoor sink? Well, most of the drains are inside the walls of your home, so the chances of being able to get a proper drain installed in the place you want your outdoor kitchen are not very good.

Having said all of that, there are ways to make it work, it just depends on how much money you can afford to spend and how important it is to you that your outdoor kitchen has an outdoor sink. There are pumps a plumber can install under your sink that will send the water to the main drain. The distance to the main drain will determine how much pipe needs to be buried in your yard or run through your house wall, and will also determine how powerful the pump needs to be. The combination of all those things will ultimately determine the price you have to pay to get a proper drain run to your outdoor sink. It could cost a couple of hundred dollars all the way up to three or four thousand dollars.

Once you have determined that you can have a sink in your outdoor kitchen, you can get on with the business of choosing the right one for your overall plan. Again, some people think about this decision way to hard. In general, I would advise you to look at your overall plan and choose an outdoor sink that fits in with everything around it. If you have a lot of stainless steel components, it makes perfect sense for you to choose a stainless steel sink. If you have a lock of darker colors and stonework, you might want to think about a dark sink. Granite composite sinks are very sharp, and when added to an outdoor kitchen with similar colors, really look good.The most important thing with an outdoor sink is to make sure the material from which your is made is meant to stand up to the weather conditions it will face.

There are many shapes and sizes of sinks available, and the right size for you will depend on what you expect to use it for. Most people want a sink that is capable of washing dishes, even if they may not plan to do that very often. If you opt for a small bar type of sink you might find yourself limited and wished you had gone for something larger.

Like every other aspect of your outdoor kitchen plans, choosing the sink is just a matter of thinking it through just like you did for every other part of the plan. Handling this planning stage properly can be the difference between a mediocre finished outdoor kitchen and one that is the talk of the neighborhood.

When people find out I am an outdoor kitchen contractor, what do you think the first thing they want to know is? You probably guessed right. They want to know how to build an outdoor kitchen, of course! And I usually let out a little laugh, and then ask them a couple of questions to see just how large the scope of their design might be. I usually find out rather quickly that they don’t have any idea of the scope because they don’t have any idea of their design yet! And that brings me to the point I want to drive home with this article. If you want a cool new grill, go ahead and get one. But if you want an outdoor kitchen, you have to think on the same level you would if you were renovating a bathroom or kitchen. This is a serious home improvement, and if it handled in the right way it will add serious value to your home. If handled the wring way, well, you just have a shoddy looking grill area.

OK, so now that I have made my point and hopefully have you thinking about this in the right way, we get back to the question of how to build an outdoor kitchen. In the vast majority of cases, the only way to do it right is to use a professional contractor. I know that may not be what you were looking to hear, but it is the truth. There are some people who are more than handy who can handle most home improvements, and if you are that type and want to give it a go, then go for it. But a true outdoor kitchen requires structural, plumbing and electrical knowledge, and those are things taken pretty seriously by most local code enforcement people. if you ever sell your home, you want your outdoor kitchen to be something that added money to your bottom line, not something that cost you a sale because it contains work that is not up to code.

But, since the title of this article is “How To Build An Outdoor Kitchen”, and you asked, I am going to give you a clue as to what it takes to get this job accomplished. If you want a complete blueprint on how to get this process started and completed the right way, I urge you to spend $9.99 on my e-book, “The Outdoor Kitchen Guide“. That book will save you many times more than it’s cost, and that is not sales pitch. After dealing with hundreds of customers over the years there is one thing I know without a doubt. And that one thing is the right way to go about building an outdoor kitchen.

The first thing you have to do is establish a budget. Over the years it has truly amazed me how many people have absolutely no idea what it costs to build and outdoor kitchen. I have actually visited people who wanted to talk about building an outdoor kitchen with all the bells and whistles, only to draw up a good plan and itemize a proposal and find out they are shocked that their project would cost more than their $3,000 budget! Approximately half of the grills I am used of dealing with cost more than that, yet there are many people who think they can get the whole project done for that price. It really is amazing, but it also drove home to me years ago that part of my job is to educate people on this process. That is the purpose of this website. So, doing a little homework and develop a budget for your project is step one. You may not have any idea what electrical work or plumbing work costs, but at least you can go into it with some understanding of prices for the things you have in mind. Which leads me to my second shameless plug. I recently completed my second e-book, “Choosing The Right Grill For Your Outdoor Kitchen”. That one also sells for $9.99, and it is the only place I know of where you can get all the information you need in one place for almost 50 built in grills. Most people end up taking me up on the special offer price of $14.99 for both books, and I can promise you that if you read both of them and then refer to them as you go through this process, you can potentially save hundreds of dollars. Check out the information on the home page.

OK, you have a budget, or at least a starting point. Now, develop your outdoor kitchen plans. This simply means take a look at your outdoor spaces and decide where you want your outdoor kitchen and what shape you want it to take.In many cases this is very obvious. Some homes are actually built with a future outdoor kitchen in mind. If you don’t have an obvious spot for yours, you may have to think outside the box a little. Consider electrical and plumbing, and how far away they are.

Once you have a clue as to where your kitchen will be and what shape it might take, think about the outdoor kitchen appliances you want and do a little math to determine if they will fit in the area you have identified. This is only a starting point, but it is important you get at least close to the right plan on paper so you can finalize your budget. You might find out later that you really cannot fit the things you thought for reasons you never considered, but at least you will be closer than you are now.

This article was not really intended to teach you how to build an outdoor kitchen in the literal sense. I cannot give you specific plans for yours because every home is different. I did not intend to tell you exactly which grill or outdoor kitchen cabinet type to choose, those are decisions only the home owner can make. I guess the real title maybe should have been, “how to plan for an outdoor kitchen”. But according to Google, not very many people search for that phrase, and as I said, my goal is to help as many people as I can. I hope I have given you some things to think about seriously as you get ready for this particular home improvement. If you

approach it the right way you will be very happy with your new outdoor space, both when you are using it and when it adds money to your bank account when you sell your home.

And with all that in mind, my 4th and final shameless plug. I have fun with this stuff, and I hope that comes through at least a little in my writing. but I wrote 2 e-books that I know will both help people and save them a lot of money if they listen to what I tell them. Let me help you avoid all the pitfall I have seen so many people fall into over the years. Go to the home page of this site and take a look at my e-books. If you buy them and read them for 30 days and don’t feel like you got your money’s worth, I will refund your money. No questions asked. If you buy them and find them helpful, or think of something that might be useful in the next editions, I would love to hear from you at MikeO@outdoorkitchensguide.com

The popularity of outdoor kitchens in recent years has put adding one at the top of the list for home owners who are planning home improvement projects. If you live in a new home, particularly one in a warm climate, your house might have come with an outdoor kitchen already included. Or perhaps you paid the builder to stub out the plumbing and electrical so you can add the rest of the kitchen later. This has become very popular and there are entire neighborhoods of newer homes that have everything in place and are just waiting for the budget to allow the addition.

Even if you are living in an older home, don’t despair. There is no reason you cannot add an outdoor kitchen area to any home. If you do not have the plumbing and electric on place, or at least close by, it may cost you more than the same kitchen would cost someone who already had those things in place. It comes down to your budget, and your decision whether to scale down the project or wait until you can have everything you want.

When it comes to outdoor kitchen designs, pretty much anything goes. There is no such thing as a standard design, but if you had to say what most people consider a basic outdoor kitchen it would be include some arrangement of a grill, refrigerator, and sink. But if you are limited on space, there is nothing wrong with having just one or two of those items. This is your outdoor kitchen plan so there is no right or wrong. Some people go absolutely crazy and have things like kegerators, wine coolers, icemakers, and enough bar space for several pieces of outdoor kitchen furniture. There is nothing wrong with that either. But most outdoor kitchen plans fall somewhere in between.

You have to not only look at your space and see what you can fit, you have to think about what you need and will actually use. How much of your view are you willing to have blocked, if any? Is your space under your roof line, or under a waterproof gazebo, or out in the open? What is the maximum budget for this project? these questions will get you heading in the right direction with your plans. Some people don’t even put a grill into their outdoor kitchen cabinet. Perhaps they just want a food service area or a sink to wash glasses. Remember, there is no right or wrong. Having said that, as you develop your outdoor kitchen design plans, you might also want to consider what you are adding to the resale value of your home. A complete outdoor kitchen will add real value that you will get paid back when you sell your home. Something short of a complete outdoor kitchen may not give you back that value. If you are not planning on moving, this does not matter at all though so just go with what you want and don’t worry about future residents.

Outdoor kitchens have seen a huge rise in popularity in recent years. Adding an outdoor kitchen to your home adds a whole new entertaining area and gathering place for your family and guests, and it also separates your home from others in the neighborhood when it comes time to sell. A properly built, well thought out outdoor kitchen adds real value to your home that you can recoup if you ever sell the house.

Like most other things in your home, this project is something that will take shape based on your tastes, budget, and available space. Outdoor kitchen designs vary from very simple cabinets with nothing but a grill or even just a sink, all the way up to very large designs that include even more features than the kitchen inside your home. But most designs fall somewhere in between those two extremes.

The first thing you have to do is decide on a budget. but how do you do that if you have never had an outdoor kitchen built before? Well, this will require some research. the good news is you don’t have to go anywhere to do this research because all the information you need is available right here online. Think about how large a grill you need, as well as what features you need in the grill. Do you need lights inside the grill? A rotisserie, smoker, searing burner, etc? All these things impact the price of a grill. I strongly recommend going with a quality grill when building an outdoor kitchen. It makes no sense to build an outdoor kitchen and include a grill that will not last more than a couple of years. A quality grill made from 304 stainless steel will never rust and will last many years. There is a wide price range when it comes to these grills. Figure a low end of around $1000 and a high end of $5000. Yes, that is a large range. The truth is your food will not taste any different from one grill to the next, but there are real differences in options and quality between those two extremes of grills so spend some time researching grills.

The next thing to think about is whether or not you need a vent hood over your grill. This will depend almost entirely on the location of the grill. If you are out from under the roof line, there is no need for a vent hood. Even if you are  under the roof line you might not need a hood. Think about the overall layout. If there is going to be a bar nearby, you don’t want smoke blowing into your guest’s faces so if you are on the fence you might need to get the hood. Outdoor vent hoods are not cheap, but a good idea may be to wait until the rest of the project is finished and see if you need a hood. It will not cost any more to add the hood after the fact than it would to include it with the rest of the project so if you are running up against your budget limits it is perfectly alright to take a wait and see attitude on the hood.

Beyond the grill there are many other things you can add to the payout. Things like an outdoor refrigerator, ice maker, kegerator, wine cooler, a lot of other outdoor kitchen appliances. Again, it comes down to space and budget. Keep all these things in mind as you make your outdoor kitchen plans, do the research on each item and make your decision. In this way your plan will come together over time and you will be in control of the budget.

When you think you have your outdoor kitchen planned, bring in a couple of different contractors. Let them see your plan and have them draw up a proposal for you. Do not tell them your budget! Wait for their proposal and see how it compares to your research and the resulting budget. You may find one is a lot higher than the other, and it may mean you need to bring in a third contractor to see where their price falls. Keep an open mind and consider that it might save you a bit of money if you order some equipment yourself. Also keep in mind that if you do that you should expect to still have to pay an installation fee. After all the contractor still has to unpack and install the unit and get rid of the garbage. Treat your contractor fairly and the entire project is more likely to go smoothly.

Many people get unduly confused when they start looking at outdoor kitchens. One of the big questions they ask is, how is an outdoor kitchen grill different from other outdoor grills? The answer is, the grill itself is really no different at all. If you think about it, most grills we have come attached to carts that may or may not be on wheels to make it easier to move them around. Picture the same grill, but with no cart, or legs, and you have a grill that can be used as an outdoor kitchen grill.

That is probably oversimplifying things, but that is the general idea as to what these grills are. The thing that complicates things is the fact that you have made a decision to add an outdoor kitchen to your home, and that means you are looking to upgrade. In most cases, that same old grill from your local home improvement store will simply not do when it comes to an outdoor kitchen gas grill. Some people choose things like electric grills, but most people who build an outdoor kitchen want to go with a stainless steel bbq, and these are more expensive than those cheaper grills we tend to purchase and use until they start to fall apart from rust.

An outdoor kitchen can cost you anywhere from a few thousand all the way up to $30 thousand dollars. The grill is typically the center of attraction when it comes to the outdoor kitchen and grill, so it does not seem to make any sense at all to go cheap when you are making a major upgrade to the outside of your home. In the vast majority of cases, you get what you pay for when it comes to grills.

If you spend money on a quality built in grill, you will be able to use that grill for many years. This is important when dealing with a built in grill, because your cabinetry will be made to fit a specific grill. if that grill is not of high enough quality to last more than a couple of years, you could be facing having to renovate your cabinetry to fit a new grill. This is because different brands of grills are different sizes, even if they are referred to as the same size. For example, a 27″ Kitchen Aid built in grill is not the same width or depth as other brands, like Fire Magic grills. On top of that, every couple of years manufacturers upgrade their lines of grills and in many cases they make changes to the footprint of the grills. In other words, you may not be able to find the same grill to replace your old one. If that happens, modifications to your cabinetry will be needed to fit another grill.

Having said all of that, if you purchase a quality grill from a good brand and that grill is made from 304 stainless steel, you will not have to worry about anything for a long time. Your grill will last as is for many years, and even then the only thing you might end up replacing is the internal burners. Do not underestimate the huge difference between a regular old grill and a quality built in grill. They are simply not the same thing.

When you are considering all the different options for outdoor kitchens, one type you should seriously consider are those that fall into the category of outdoor kitchen islands. These are typically prefabricated outdoor kitchen islands that can be made to your exact specifications. There are different construction methods used by different companies who market these islands, and the materials used and the construction method will in large part determine your cost.

Some of the more basic versions of these islands are available at your local home improvement store. These are usually very basic units, with a grill and perhaps a refrigerator. The interior framing might be aluminum or some other kind of light weight metal, and you can just load the island up in your truck and be grilling that same evening! Well, maybe it will have to be delivered for you, but the point is these islands are a very easy way to go about getting an outdoor kitchen.

It is important to remember when considering outdoor kitchen plans that there are differences in outdoor kitchens islands and an actual outdoor kitchen. While you can still grill and entertain around a portable island, you are not creating a permanent outdoor entertaining area that will add value to your home. It really comes down to thinking about what is more important to you. Your food will not taste any different on an island grill versus an outdoor kitchen built onto your home. It just comes down to value over time, and that means the potential added value to your home as well as the question about how long on eof these portable outdoor kitchen islands will last.

If you want an affordable grill in a relatively inexpensive island, there are many versions that will suit you fine. There are islands available in all levels of quality, just like anything else. I am talking about the quality level of the grill as well as the island itself. Better quality almost always equates to a higher price, but it also equates to a product that will last longer than a cheaper version.

At some point along the price line of outdoor kitchen islands you reach a point where it may not make sense to purchase something portable or prefabricated. If you can have a custom outdoor kitchen built for a similar price, it is an easy decision to go with the more permanent kitchen. Keep location in mind when making these decisions. Will the island be sheltered from rain, or exposed to it directly? Some materials will deteriorate pretty quickly if exposed to mother nature. Again, it is a balance between budget and quality.

There is no right or wrong when making your decisions on which type of kitchen to add to the outside of your home. If you are reading this then you are on the path to becoming educated to the point where you can make the best decision for your home and family.