Square kitchen on old hottub slab. Ideas?

[pfennigthecat]

Hi all, jumping in headlong after I started thinking about WFOs...

I am removing an old hot-tub. It is on an ugly but functional concrete slab in the middle of my nice flagstone patio area. So I figure I need something in that space to cover the slab rather than trying to remove it .

SO..... a 7'8" by 8'0" square to work with. Divide it into approximate quarters:
Front left corner: pizza oven (igloo style)
Front right corner: propane fire pit
back two corners: propane grill and countertop (fridge optional)

Anyone seen anything like this before? Alternate ideas that might work better with my area (trying to attach pic)?

[Tscarborough]

Re: Square kitchen on old hottub slab. Ideas?

A 36" oven needs about 60"x70", so probably just counters.

[deejayoh]

Re: Square kitchen on old hottub slab. Ideas?

I'd look at a corner oven in an L-shaped layout. - maybe even push the oven back a bit to get longer counters on each side.

firepit right next to the oven doesnt seem very enjoyable. My experience is that they are best sat around.

[pfennigthecat]

Re: Square kitchen on old hottub slab. Ideas?

A 36" oven needs about 60"x70", so probably just counters.

This surprised me, perhaps I haven't been picturing it right.

If I plan for say a 36" interior diameter oven, the walls will be:
cut firebrick (4"?)
1" refractory mortar
4" insulating concrete
1" stucco
--------
10" thick walls, so need a 56" wide hearth slab at a minimum.... Hm, didn't realize it was adding up that fast :-(.

What kind of compromises would get it to 48" wide, other than a 26" dome? Just less insulation, perhaps allowing pizza cooking but less extended cooking? I was originally planning on a 30 or 32 inch (interior diameter) dome on a 48" hearth slab, hence 9" or 8" thick walls. Not possible? Not advisable?

I don't want the pizza oven to overpower the spot it has to go in, didn't want to go with a fully enclosed house or a very large dome either. Neither the pizza oven nor the grill nor the firepit would be used every week, so the multi-functional approach appealed to me -- just a pizza oven with counters less so.

[pfennigthecat]

Re: Square kitchen on old hottub slab. Ideas?

I'd look at a corner oven in an L-shaped layout. - maybe even push the oven back a bit to get longer counters on each side.

deejayoh, I'm not sure I follow your suggestion, other than that an L with a corner oven is a good general layout. If you look at my pic attached to the first post you can see the area I have to work with. The lot is set into a hill, so there's a steep retaining wall at the patio end of the yard. I don't think I can successfully put a countertop or oven against that wall -- there is a large amount of runoff when it rains, everything would get soaked even if I put a roof on. And it wouldn't help cover up the existing hottub slab, which is not attractive and doesn't match the rest of the surface.

The only way I see to put an L on the slab would be to put the oven on the slab and extend contertops towards the wall and to the right. You could then step behind the counter and look over the yard, but I think it would eat into too much usable patio space -- the 'kitchen' would be too big. My original layout still allows you to step behind the grill and look over the yard, but doesn't take any space other than the ugly-slab.

I appreciate the feedback though, I don't mean to be dismissive! Bring all ideas! I'm trying to think outside the box but may have convinced myself too early that one particular box is the right one.

[deejayoh]

Re: Square kitchen on old hottub slab. Ideas?

I'm not sure I understand your layout then. Would be nice if you could augment the sketchup with a photo of the site.

But what I was thinking was that you could build the counters within the area of the slab, leaving the rest as open workspace. I don't see how this would mean building it into the hillside any more than you would be with your existing design, but perhaps I am missing something

Anyway, 8 x 8 seems plenty big for an outside kitchen with an oven and a grill - you would just need a bit more space at the corner to install the oven. This quick mockup is a 36" oven

[pfennigthecat]

Re: Square kitchen on old hottub slab. Ideas?

Well, I'm starting!

I'm sticking essentially with my original square plan, with all the components (pizza oven, propane fire pit, propane grill) inside the square left by the old hot-tub.

The L shaped counter would have fit inside the hot-tub slab, but then the slab would have been the unattractive floor between the counters. And the pizza oven would be sticking off the back, which wouldn't work well with my available space.

Yesterday I worked on 'squaring' the slab by filling in mortar mix on top of the paving stones surrounding the slab itself -- no more than ~3" on any one side, but the original slab was far from square ;-). I don't forsee any structural problems from this, all the cinder blocks will be 70% on the slab at least.
Today I lay out the first course of cinder blocks to see where everything fit (e.g. where the hot-tub's 240v line comes in, where posts for possible roof would need to be anchored, etc).

Probably a slow project in some ways though -- need to borrow some tools from family (dad has the hammer drill, auntie has the cement mixer) and need to get the grill in-hand to make sure I leave the opening the right size before I pour concrete down the holes. Etc etc.

Biggest problem will be doing cement work for the pizza oven structural and then insulating slab, then for concrete counters, in the Texas summer. I'm stocked up on sunscreen, but will welcome advise from the concrete experts on how to avoid problems (tarps & frequent wetting I assume, but details...)

I'll post pictures etc soon.

[pfennigthecat]

Re: Square kitchen on old hottub slab. Ideas?

Short update, my build thread showing the outdoor kitchen is here:
http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f6/3...-tx-19256.html

Grill and counters have been in place and used for a while now, and I'm very pleased with the overall layout still.

My pompeii oven is built but yet to be fire-cured, insulated, and stucco'd. After that's done then I'll work on the finishing details of the kitchen, such as stone veneer and firepit.

Future updates will go on the other thread.