Post 33: Stove vent

Last week, we showed you our plans for a kitchen renovation.  Today, we're going over one of the first steps we took to make that happen!

We updated our stove top shortly after we moved in to our house.  We wanted to go for something with stainless steel on it to match the rest of our appliances, but we also were interested in a downdraft stove.  (That means the stove pulls the smoke and steam downwards instead of up into a vent hood.)  Click here to see that installation project.

Our reason for installing a downdraft cooktop was so we could remove the vent hood and open up that wall of cabinets to the breakfast area, creating a more open-concept feel.  Here is a picture with our plan to remove the dividing wall and cabinets:

Before we start removing the vent hood and tearing out the wall, though, we need to vent the stove out of the house.  (Right now, the stove vent will pull steam down, but there's not place for the steam to go except into the cabinet -- not good!  We have to install ducting that will lead the steam out  of the house.)  

Currently, the cabinet (and the bottom of the cooktop) looks like this:

Our vent will need to turn a 90-degree corner and then go straight through our cabinets and out of the house.  Below is an overview of the cabinetry and where the ducting will need to go.

Here's what we needed to get the project done:

• 6 inch hole saw
• Drill
• Drill Bits
• 6 inch elbow duct
• Pencil
• Measuring Tape
• Hole Saw Arbor
• Hole Saw Extension
• 6 inch x 5 foot metal duct pipe
• Duct clamps
• Damper wall vent
• Hammer
• Jigsaw
• 6 inch x 5 foot metal duct pipe
• Duct clamps
• Damper wall vent
• Hammer
• Reciprocating Saw (or Jigsaw if you don't have one)
• Dremmel

Once we had our supplies, we were ready to get started!

Step 1: Fit the elbow to the downdraft.

We did this so that we would be able to see how all of the ducting will line up within the cabinet.

Step 2: Measure where to cut the first hole.

Alan measured how far the elbow sat from the back and top of the cabinet and then marked this on the side of the cabinet where we would need to cut the hole.

Step 3: Cut the holes.

This step was the hardest part of the whole project.  It took the most time and was the most difficult (physically).

We started by drilling a pilot hole through the first cabinet wall in the middle of where the 6-inch hole would be drilled.  Below are a picture of the bit we used and where we drilled through the cabinet.

Next, Alan attached the hole saw to the drill and lined up the arbor with the pilot hole.  I will just be frank and say that this part was awful.  We didn't realize it, but there is a lot of torque/force going on when you use a hole saw, and drilling through a cabinet is extremely difficult.  Alan made the cut, but it took a lot of work I was a little scared for his fingers...  (He was very safe, but the torque made the drill rotate and hit the side of the cabinets and his hands were in between -- no fun!)

To get through the second piece of cabinet wall, Alan decided to use a hole saw extension.  This gave him more room to grip the drill while he made the cut.

The first full hole was cut, giving us an idea of how to line up the next hole that would go through the exterior wall.

The next hole that would go through the outer wall was on a corner.  We weren't sure exactly how to measure and line this hole up since it was on an angle.  Using the hole saw was so difficult already, but cutting with only one side of the saw touching the cabinet would have been nearly impossible.

We decided to cut it straight on and then widen the hole from there.

Alan drilled the pilot hole and started to drill using the hole saw, but progress was SO SLOW!!  We decided to drill more holes and work it out without the hole saw.

We ended up going in with a jigsaw to get most of the wood out and then using a hammer to knock the remaining pieces away.  (Halfway through this project, we bought a reciprocating saw and decided that was a little easier to use than the jigsaw.  We switched to that pretty quickly.)

Once the main part of the hole was drilled, we went back and used the ducting to see how much more we would need to cut out.  Fortunately, we had some extra ducting, so Alan cut down a piece to fit through the cabinet (from the right side) and we were able to draw where the hole would need to be.

We had lots of help from Gus on this project! ;)

Using the drill to make pilot holes and the reciprocating saw to do the rest, we cut out the rest of the hole in the cabinet to accommodate the ducting.

The next step was to cut through the exterior wall.  We used the small ducting to line up the hole again and then drilled a pilot hole all the way through the wall.  Here's a picture of where it came out on the outside of the house.

With the pilot hole drilled, Alan was able to line up his hole saw to drill through the wall.  

There was a layer of drywall, a layer of insulation, an insulation fabric, and then the siding of the house that we had to get through.

Using the pilot hole, Alan drilled out a 6-inch hole with the hole saw from outside of the house.

Next, he used the dremmel to fix the edges of the circle that didn't come out perfectly.

We removed the insulation fabric with a razor blade and our opening was complete!

Step 4: Secure the ducting.

Once our hole was made, it was time to secure the ducting.  We fitted the metal together to form a circle.

Next, we worked to fit it into the exterior opening and through the cabinet.  

This part took a little time because we had to made slight adjustments in the opening to fit the ducting.

Once the opening was cut to the right size, we fit a duct clamp to secure the 6-inch ducting to the elbow that was attached to the stove.

Step 5: Attach the damper wall vent.

We were almost done!  The final step was to secure the damper wall vent vent onto the ducting from the exterior wall and covered the edges of the hole.  The cover has a flap that only opens when air from the inside pushes it out, so it will keep out unwanted critters and dirt.  We screwed this into the wall and then it was secured.

After that, we were done installing the vent!  We are all set to remove the vent hood above the stove and open up the bar to the rest of the kitchen!  But first, dinner.

We have more kitchen projects on the way.  Stay tuned to see how we ripped out our furdowns!