Hardscape North America held a few workshop sessions throughout the day on Thursday. The 8 a.m. slot featured Carl Peterson discussing outdoor kitchen design and installation.
During the session, Peterson showed a slideshow of examples of outdoor kitchens and all the possibilities there are. He also discussed some of the dos and don’ts of designing and installing outdoor kitchens, especially from a safety standpoint.
One of the major things to consider, according to Peterson, is what type of fuel you want your outdoor kitchen to run on. There are a lot of factors, with the most important being – what does the client want out of the kitchen. Are they planning to host large parties, or simply small dinners with the immediate family? These different scenarios make for different cost and commitment factors for the kitchens.
Peterson said that the fuel options are propane, natural gas, wood and charcoal, and pros and cons should be considered ahead of time because that will affect the materials you can use for the walls and counters surrounding the kitchen. Heat transfers at different rates for different materials, and some fuel options heat differently than others, so it’s important to look at your options prior to designing.
Another important thing to consider during installation is whether inspections are required. Building codes vary by state, county and local governments, so it’s important to factor that in. Waiting for someone to come out and inspect your project can add a lot of unwanted time and change jobs from days to weeks.
A few of the most common inspections are construction, electrical, plumbing, fire, zoning and gas. Since some may not be required, it’s important to look at your design and plans, and try to decide if any of the inspections can somehow be eliminated from the project, just to speed time up.
Something Peterson mentioned which seemed to surprise a few attendees was that contractors have the ability to repo parts of the job if they’re not paid, just like other industries have. Make sure to list on the contract that all appliances are owned by your company until the kitchen installation is paid in full, and that if it’s not paid in full, you can come and repossess the appliances.
If your customer has already paid $6,000 for the nice grill, which their outdoor kitchen has been custom-built to fit around, they’re more likely to pay the remaining $3,000 of the job than have to buy another grill, especially since their options will be limited to the exact same grill.
“You may not want to do that, but it gets you leverage if you need it,” Peterson said.