We need to find a way to build that fan but keep the cost down to 3500 max for the complete fan

A competent local artisan will charge at least as much as the established rangehood companies not less.

A local artisan does not have the overhead of Modern Aire or Rangecraft but also does not have the economies of scale.

"Local Artisans" don't sell on price but on quality, design, and customer service. Highly skilled people don't sell their labor cheap. Apprentices or people just starting out sell their labor at a discount to get experience and develop a customer base to give referrals.

I purchased a $4500 Independent Range Hood after that company went bankrupt off of ebay from a liquidator for $970 including shipping. I compromised on a slightly different style.

Looking on ebay, craigslist, local scratch'n dent, appliance liquidators is the only way to really save money without sacrificing quality.

That's a 10k "artisan" hood.

I DID warn you that island venting would be MUCH more expensive and difficult than perimeter venting. You aren't going to find something effective and attractive for your budget unless you DIY everything.

deeageaux,

Thanks for your tips and ideas and input on the artisan route. I will search to see what I can find on Kijiji etc. Good for you that you found a clearance item that suited you.

Hollysprings,

I appreciate your input. I know I was warned by you and others that island venting would be way more expensive. The expensive price does not change for a moment my decision to have the cooktop on an island. I can certainly get a decent stainless hood for my budget, especially considering the cooktop is electric and 30 inch so not requiring as many CFMs. However getting a hood as attractive as I posted may not be possible.

Everyone,

Has anyone tried to powder paint a stainless hood themselves to a different colour?

Does anyone have an ideas on what colour hood would look good?

Carol

I know absolutely nothing about vent fans for island (that is my disclaimer). What I do have for input is that we have an old coal stove we needed to exhaust out, which needed to take a very weird turn, but also was a prominent fixture in our main living space, so we wanted A really nice "pipe". Hubby also didn't want it in aluminum like most stove pipes and because of the space it was more like a fancy box with pipes coming out of it.

Anyway, we first went to the stove pipe companies and tried to get something that would work (and settle for aluminum), and by the time we were done building the piece we needed the cost was about five hundred, which was fine, but my stove stuck out into the room about a foot and a half. We then talked to a local metal worker and they made the piece for hubby in the heavier stainless steel he wanted for just under four hundred and the stove is 5" from the mantle where it should be.

My point is you won't know until you ask. You may find someone who needs this the business, or someone who can say I can't build you this, but I can build you that and give you another idea.

I don't think that having a hood professionally powdercoated would be too expensive--it would probably look better and hold up nicer than DIY.

But...if you're going to paint it, does it matter what the material is? Why not wood, painted whatever color, with metal trim?

(Do note that I have no idea that that would be less expensive than metal!)

While I'm not crazy about their "$agic lung" system (I have one myself) vent a hood does powder coat in many standard and also custom colors. I had them match an AGA range once.
They also offer assorted metal trims. A mfg will be the least expensive answer.

Kali,

I appreciate hearing about your experience. Very glad to know you had success finding local talent to build you an attractive space savings pipe. Given we are in Canada, some of the choices such as Modernaire and Rangecraft will cost us extra in duties, shipping, brokerage fees etc. So we may have some cost savings going local.

Fori,

Thanks for you comment. If we did get it powder coated, we would get that done for us (not spray it in our garage). However, stainless would need to be sand blasted to take any colour so we may not be further ahead. We could consider wood as well. I imagined steel would be easier to wash though.

Jakuvall,

I am glad to hear Vent-a-hood has an option for a powder coated. I will check them out and see what they offer. Thanks!

Carol

Ok, this is not incredibly helpful as I don't have names or links, but I have seen many options for colored and patterned sheet metal online. And it wasn't too hard to find, I took a quick look when Deedles was looking at copper for something and I went exploring options to have a look.

Getting some interesting sheet metal and putting it in a wood frame might be more affordable, it is probably easier to find someone that works with wood to enclose your metal.

That is a very creative idea, Williamsem! Thanks for your help. I will do some searching.

Carol

We took a design for a range hood that we like in glass & had a local metal fabricator give us a quote for stainless. Their design was beautiful, but more expensive than the glass so have decided to go a different way completely.

Thanks Flint for sharing your experience. Where did you end up getting your hood?

Everyone,

Does anyone have an opinion on what colour hood would look. good. Modern-aire will make us a much simplified version of the original picture. However, it will not include any of the metal bands on the sides or top. It will be one powder coated colour, and then the bottom lip will be in stainless. The shape will be similar, but shorter as our ceilings are far shorter than image. The price is within our budget. We will still ask a few metal workers in town how much it will be to add a few extra bands, but I suspect that won't come cheap.

But, the one question I have is what colour would look good for the hood? I would rather not do anything in the brown family. I don't suppose there is anyway to do something in a shade of blue or something with a hint of blue? The perimeter cabinets are to be cream and island is to be chocolate.

Carol