Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
twgg_gw

Builder bumped out range hood cabinet, is this a mistake ?

twgg
12 years ago

Hi Everyone,

Long time lurker, rarely post. My new house is being built, and they finally put in the kitchen.

Everything looks good, except I noticed that they bumped out the range hood cabinet.

I have a Thermador 36" range hood: PH36CS

When I asked the builder, they said they bumped it out to accommodate the crown moldings on the cabinets that did not extend to the ceiling. They suggested I continue to install the range hood flush against the wall, thus I'll have the cabinet above the range hood stick out. By my measurements by about 4" (it's about 16" deep from the wall).

I've never seen this before so not sure if it will be an eye sore, with this type of range hood, you almost always want the top of the range hood to "meet" the cabinets...

thoughts ? It's not too late right now for me to go back to the builder to have this changed, as I still have another month before close.

Comments (29)

  • beekeeperswife
    12 years ago

    My eye would want to have that cabinet look like a "chimney cover", therefore have it be flush with the 12' part of the hood. If it sticks out over the hood, it might look odd.

    Can they hold it up there for you so you can see it? It might end up looking just fine.

  • User
    12 years ago

    Won't that create a steeply angled crevice formed between the underside of the cabinet and the slope of the hood? I would think that would be a cleaning problem.

  • Fori
    12 years ago

    Nope. No good. It won't work right with your hood. If you pull the hood out so that the flat part is lined up with the base of the cabinet like it ought to be, it'll stick waaaaay out into your kitchen. Okay for me because I'm short, but deadly for normal height people! (The cabinet does look really high though--maybe it's not so bad?)

    If you stick it in all the way like the builder plans, it'll look stupid. Don't do that.

    You do have a crown molding problem, but this fix isn't going to work.

  • PRO
    Dayspring Construction - Kitchen and Baths
    12 years ago

    Hope you have a ladder to turn on the hood, the hood is supposed to be 24" to 30' above the stove this will be very high (check your measurements) to fix it he needs to bring the cabinet down and make it the same hgt as the others and cut it back to the same depth as the others and continue the crown and soffit as the others. if he does this it will be as manufacture says, that the hgt hood should be over stove. It will look like the kitchen that you have posted below yours. dont leave this like it is, have it changed it is not correct

  • twgg
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    I can't seem to think of a fix for this issue, even if I go with a stainless steel cover like this:

    I will still have a crown molding issue...

    The kitchen is actually being designed by a big kitchener designer so I'm very surprised that this issue cropped up...

    The only thing I can think of, is to mount the hood fan away from the wall, so the top meets the top of the cabinet, but there will be a ~4" gap near the back...

    The hood fan is already 27" deep, so if I mount it 4" away from the wall, then its going to be about 31" away from a wall.

    The cabinet in the picture is actually wrong, they designed it so range hood is 36" higher than the cooktop, this is too high since my wife is 5'1" and I wanted it only 30" above the cooktop... this makes it about 66" from the ground or 5'6", so fine for me and my wife (I'm 5'7") but a potential problem for taller people...

    i'm kind of at a loss here...

  • Fori
    12 years ago

    Do you have drawings from your designer that you signed off on? This is the designer's fault, probably. And the builder's fault, for installing it when it's wrong...unless of course it was actually like this in the drawings, in which case, whoever approved the drawings gets the blame...

  • kaysd
    12 years ago

    If you are paying for a kitchen designer, call him/her and ask for a way to fix the problem. I have to admit, I don't understand what the problem is with the crown molding. Can't they install the above hood cabinet so it is the same depth and same height (at top) as the adjoining wall cabinets and then run crown molding straight across the tops of all the cabinets? They may need to order more molding to replace the pieces that were already cut, but you should not have to pay for that if there was a problem with the design or installation.

    I would not live with the cabinet sticking out past the hood, or a 31" deep hood.

  • kammererk
    12 years ago

    I was just reading a post earlier where someone intentionally bumped out his hood because of the depth of the pre-existing cabinet. His solution was to have a stainless steel filler strip behind it. Of course that wont fix the height issue (if there is one). Below is the link to where he (Posted by robj (My Page) on Wed, May 18, 11 at 21:58) posted his comment. A littler further down he tells where he had the strip fabricated.
    How frustrating to have to constantly check the work of the professionals you hire for their expertise.

    Here is a link that might be useful: stainless steel filler info

  • User
    12 years ago

    Where's the kitchen's designer in all this?

    That design and hood combo should have never left the drawing board and been sent to production.

  • twgg
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thanks kammererk, I actually recall that thread and just found it myself as well.

    To be honest, I've been dealing direct with the cabinet makers and have been keeping the builders in the loop.

    At this point, I think I will have the cabinet makers extend the cabinets down, so at least the range hood is 30" above the cooktop, but I will probably have to "bump" out the range hood. Since the hood is already 27" deep, it's probably going to be about 30" out.. which will be good for smoke capture I guess...

    Ya, the cabinet makers did not tell me they were going to bump out the cabinets nor did they follow my request to have rangehood 30" high.

  • twgg
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    I already have the hood unfortunately...

  • palimpsest
    12 years ago

    I think people will hit their head on it if it extends out 30" : 36" + 30" is 66" or 5'6". You are going to bang the top of your head on the edge of it, I guarantee. You Have to get this range hood back to 27" away from the wall.

    The problem with the moulding is that there is nothing for the lower moulding to die into. I would not have doors on the cabinet over the range hood (it will be essentially useless anyway), have it be a panel and figure out some way for the moulding of the lower cabinets to return into this panel. This may involve replacing the moulding with longer moulding that can be mitered and have a return on the face of the panel over the hood.

    This is one of those 3-D issues that comes up with staggered cabinets that people often forget about.

  • Fori
    12 years ago

    It'll stick out 4" more than intended, right? And it's not a nice soft corner.

    On the bright side, everything looks nice...

    What about dumping the cabinet over the hood and putting a chimney on it? Finish the sides of the neighbor cabs if needed, wrap the molding around them and into the wall. The chimney could be stuccoed or tiled or stainless.

  • twgg
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    The chimney for this brand of range hood extends the entire wide of it, so we would have the same problems.

    I sent the cabinet makers a note saying that I expect them to fix the cabinet to allow a 30" height range hood over the cooktop, and also told them to look at doing this instead:

    {{!gwi}}

    Will let you know how it turns out. Other than that, yes, I love how the rest of my kitchen turned out.

  • sombreuil_mongrel
    12 years ago

    This style of hood is so heavy that it really needs to be bolted to the studs; hanging it off of some _ad hoc_ falsework ain't gonna cut it.
    I have the same hood in the 42" width. It's a beast.
    Casey

  • twgg
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    I have an external blower so hopefully it wouldn't be that heavy, but I did plan on mounting it to the wall studs anyway. Thanks for the tip.

  • User
    12 years ago

    Really, the whole thing should have been planned from the beginning without the yo-yo height look and all of the crown molding should have been taken to the ceiling. There wouldn't have been an issue with the cabinet staggered depth meeting up with the hood at all. Spilt milk, now, and you've gotta deal with the fallout from that decision on your part.

    The solution that I would choose would be to re-order the two cabinets next to the range 3" smaller an use a chimney for your range hood. That will give the molding enough room for a return, and will look better with your type of hood anyway. Yes, it will mean re-ordering the cabinets and molding plus the duct cover. But you'll end up with a much nicer installation. You'd have to re-order the cabinet above the range and molding anyway if you kept a cabinet above the hood, so this way, you are only re-ordering one extra cabinet and the duct cover.

  • cluelessincolorado
    12 years ago

    Hi twgg. We have a Zephyr hood that is 27" deep. I couldn't imagine having it come 3" more into the room. It's 32.5' above the range and although I just miss it, my 6' DH has whacked his head on it a few times as he moves from prepping something to get it cooking. Now we don't have to talk about learning curves here :-) but if you have a choice to keep it at 27" I would recommend it.

  • kammererk
    12 years ago

    I like the picture that you found and think that's the best option. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

  • twgg
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Its my first time working w kitchen designers on a kitchen that we had so much options, so I never realized the inherent issues. If I were to do it all over again, I'd probably just extend the cabinets all the way up. One of the reasons we didn't was we have upper valence lighting on our current home and we love how much brighter it makes the kitchen.

    Anyway, I spoke to the kitchen makers and they seem to be willing to accomodate any change. I'm meeting with them onsite in a few days to go over the specifics. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

    Really appreciate all the feedback.

    I wouldve hoped that the cabinet makers would have told me the consequences before they made the cabinets...

  • twgg
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Its my first time working w kitchen designers on a kitchen that we had so much options, so I never realized the inherent issues. If I were to do it all over again, I'd probably just extend the cabinets all the way up. One of the reasons we didn't was we have upper valence lighting on our current home and we love how much brighter it makes the kitchen.

    Anyway, I spoke to the kitchen makers and they seem to be willing to accomodate any change. I'm meeting with them onsite in a few days to go over the specifics. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

    Really appreciate all the feedback.

    I wouldve hoped that the cabinet makers would have told me the consequences before they made the cabinets...

  • kellyja58
    12 years ago

    Take a look at this thread, towards the bottom. I had my range hood cabinet bumped out by choice, used a 12' deep hood and put a stainless steel filler behind it to fill the gap. I love it. I followed the steps that Robj used in the post I am referring to. Let me know if you want a picture of mine.
    http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/appl/msg111925161131.html

    Here is a link that might be useful: That home site

  • Fori
    12 years ago

    They probably just aren't used to serious hoods like that. :)

    It's great that they're going to fix it without a fight. It's going to be good!

  • twgg
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Kelly, if you have some pictures, that would be great.

    How deep is your range hood to begin with ? Mine is 27" already so bumping it out will make it close to 30"... though I do like the staggered/bumped out look.

  • twgg
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Its my first time working w kitchen designers on a kitchen that we had so much options, so I never realized the inherent issues. If I were to do it all over again, I'd probably just extend the cabinets all the way up. One of the reasons we didn't was we have upper valence lighting on our current home and we love how much brighter it makes the kitchen.

    Anyway, I spoke to the kitchen makers and they seem to be willing to accomodate any change. I'm meeting with them onsite in a few days to go over the specifics. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

    Really appreciate all the feedback.

    I wouldve hoped that the cabinet makers would have told me the consequences before they made the cabinets...

  • twgg
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    I don't know why there are multiple posts from me, can't figure a way to delete them, but if MOD is here, please delete the duplicates. Thanks.

  • bill_cabinetmaker
    12 years ago

    I think it will look good. Instead of a large slab of cabinets the bump out gives it character. It will draw your eye to the hood which is the focal point of the kitchen.

  • badgergal
    12 years ago

    Just curious if your base cabinets are deeper than than normal. Even at 27 inches deep your hood will stick out past the lower cabinets. Bumped out 4 more inches will have it in your walkway. My hood is 24 inches deep so it sticks out past the standard uppers by 12 inches but at least it doesn't extend past the lower cabinets. Here is how mine looks
    {{!gwi}}

Sponsored
A.I.S. Renovations Ltd.
Average rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars15 Reviews
Custom Craftsmanship & Construction Solutions in Franklin County