Wanted to add that my local appliance guy suggests I get the Viking VCWH4248S, and I'm considering that but wondered if there was something out there a tiny bit cheaper. We keep having to demo more plaster and add floor joists and window headers and such and it is all adding up!

Welcome to the reality of the kitchen demolition. In addition to the unplanned costs from issues that are discovered, there can be additional unplanned costs from gratuitous change orders. "Look how open it is with the ceiling ripped out; let's raise the ceiling joists and make the kitchen seem bigger."

One generalization that can be made about hoods is that you can at best have two out of three of economy, aesthetics, and effectiveness. Only you can decide the boundaries of acceptability in each of these dimensions.

kas

Thanks for the reply Kas. Fortunately my sense of aesthetics trends towards the severely utilitarian, which mostly (but *not* always) keeps costs lower. I hear you on realities of demolition. We have a c. 1875 farmhouse which at this point has only its siding, trim/casings, windows, foundation, chimney and rough framing left as original. All of which have needed repair. The change orders have all been more along the lines of "Look how you can see the roof rafters caving in now that the ceiling is ripped out; let's hurry and sister those up before the new roof collapses."

At any rate I purchased a Proline hood (minus blower, of course). I saw the poor reviews of this company here, but I'm hoping since it is in stock and doesn't have much in it to go wrong I'll be OK. And I can always refuse the charge if it doesn't show up. Now I need to figure out my ducting route. These old houses don't have tons of extra room for ducts. This forum has really great advice on how to competently install ductwork for remote blowers too. Can't say enough good things about Garden Web!

Good luck in the hood. Just wanted to comment that we can sympathize with you - floor joists, rim joists, additional foundation, new framing for all walls in kitchen, roof leak discovered, additional rafters. Umm yeah. . .

For truly utilitarian, check out commercial hoods at Greenheck's website.

kas