Best Structure Material Seattle

[Mtnbkr]

Building outdoor kitchen in Seattle area. What would be the best framing material - Wood, concrete blocks, metal studs and why?. Will be no roof over it

Anyone local have guidance or experience or anyone else in pnw or wet climate have recommendations

thanks in advance

[JRPizza]

You might want to be a little more specific. Most of the builds here are masonry and will hold up well against the elements, with most builders in very wet climates putting a roof over their dome or using a dog house type enclosure. There's a few builds from the PNW (I'm up in Lynnwood) and folks in the UK have similar weather to us. Do some exploring here on the forum and you will see how others have dealt with the weather depending on the look they wanted to end up with.

[Mtnbkr]

Thank you! I’m in Kirkland - I updated the post, I saw you did concrete but I’m assuming that was Bc of weight of pizza oven. It’s strange how expensive prefab kitchen islands are and there seems to be lack of blogs/posts like yours on DIY builds

[deejayoh]

I'll weigh in as well. I'm in seattle proper. My oven's in a doghouse, and it has been up for 8 years with no water issues. While I love the look of an igloo - I think its better to be safe than sorry. Masonry isn't waterproof, tile isn't water proof, and even if they can be made so, you need to be very careful making certain all water will drain away from the base of the oven... Oh, and the oven gets to 900 degrees, not exactly friendly for a shower membrane.

if you want an igloo here, I think you're looking at some sort of roof over it.

As for the framing material - assume you mean the oven stand? Cinder blocks are the way to go. Metal studs won't be up to the task. Maybe you could get timbers that would be - but it's more expensive, and you always have to worry about rot. I built the rest of my outdoor kitchen using metal studs and concrete backer board - as well as the doghouse. But the oven itself weighs maybe 3-4k lbs by the time its done. Those studs would buckle like toothpicks!

[Mtnbkr]

I'll weigh in as well. I'm in seattle proper. My oven's in a doghouse, and it has been up for 8 years with no water issues. While I love the look of an igloo - I think its better to be safe than sorry. Masonry isn't waterproof, tile isn't water proof, and even if they can be made so, you need to be very careful making certain all water will drain away from the base of the oven... Oh, and the oven gets to 900 degrees, not exactly friendly for a shower membrane.

if you want an igloo here, I think you're looking at some sort of roof over it.

As for the framing material - assume you mean the oven stand? Cinder blocks are the way to go. Metal studs won't be up to the task. Maybe you could get timbers that would be - but it's more expensive, and you always have to worry about rot. I built the rest of my outdoor kitchen using metal studs and concrete backer board - as well as the doghouse. But the oven itself weighs maybe 3-4k lbs by the time its done. Those studs would buckle like toothpicks!

Thank you so. Much, loved looking through your build! For the outdoor kitchen part - could you have done wood studs w our weather here? If so why did you chose metal over wood? And last question - what gauge of metal did you use - can you get at Home Depot? Thanks again, 50 Steps!!

[deejayoh]

I laid down a piece of trex at the base of the kitchen, so I *maybe* could have used wood - but I had already started with the metal studs on the oven housing and found them super easy to work with, so I figured it was a no brainer. Looking back, I think it was the right decision as I do get some water leaking in around the BBQ and from my not-quite-as-level-as-I'd-like concrete counters! I bought the heavier gauge studs at Dunn Lumber (for us locals!). Can't remember the exact gauge but they're the way to go. The whole thing will still feel a bit flimsy until you get the durrock on- and then it's solid as a rock.

[Joe D P]

I'll weigh in as well. I'm in seattle proper. My oven's in a doghouse, and it has been up for 8 years with no water issues. While I love the look of an igloo - I think its better to be safe than sorry. Masonry isn't waterproof, tile isn't water proof, and even if they can be made so, you need to be very careful making certain all water will drain away from the base of the oven... Oh, and the oven gets to 900 degrees, not exactly friendly for a shower membrane.

if you want an igloo here, I think you're looking at some sort of roof over it.

As for the framing material - assume you mean the oven stand? Cinder blocks are the way to go. Metal studs won't be up to the task. Maybe you could get timbers that would be - but it's more expensive, and you always have to worry about rot. I built the rest of my outdoor kitchen using metal studs and concrete backer board - as well as the doghouse. But the oven itself weighs maybe 3-4k lbs by the time its done. Those studs would buckle like toothpicks!

Thanks for the information