Making Holes in The House - Range Hood Project
As many of you know, I enjoy to cook. Well, with cooking comes a lot of kitchen smells - some good, some bad, some strong. Being that our house has a very open floor layout, the smells go everywhere, and we really don't want to smell curry or garlic for days in the house! So began the exploration of addressing the range hood problem.
We looked at 2 options:
1) Converting the current range hood from a recirculating hood to a exhaust range hood
2) Replace the current over-the-stove microwave range hood with a over the stove range hood to exhaust outside
After doing much reading online, reviews on Consumer Report, and weighing the pro's and con's of replacing the current range hood (better exhaust, loss of microwave and potentially counter space, etc.), we opted to do the conversion.
I will first say that this project was not particularly difficult, but it required significant planning because of a few things:
1) I was about to make a permanent hole in my house. No do-over on that!
2) There conveniently was a 2x4 right where I wanted to cut out the holes
3) The air duct cap was not going to be flush with the outside vinyl siding
4) Required me manufacturing a custom air duct system
5) I was about to make a permanent hole in my house. Yeah, I said it twice
The project took the weekend, over a course of 2 days. I could have completed it one day, but I didn't start until the Saturday afternoon and work had to cease after it got dark. I would say, all in all, trips to Lowes and all, it probably took me 9 - 10 hours. I spent the majority of the time on manufacturing the air duct, making trips back and forth to Lowes, and planning. The actual 'work' part didn't take that long - perhaps 2 - 3 hours in all.
I was quite proud with my custom work on the air duct. Unfortunately, I did not think of taking pictures of the project until Sunday, so you don't see the whole construction of the air duct, but trust me, damn Case engineering education at work there.
Enjoy!
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| 2008.02.09 - Range Hood Venting Project |