Questions about current vent hood for planning reno

11 years ago

We have a vent hood that the previous owner put in the house. It looks really nice, was pretty expensive, but I'm not sure if we should keep it.

1) It vents into the basement. I'm guessing that's not so good??? We live in a two story house with a basement and the hood/stove is on an inside wall, so I think it's impossible to vent outdoors. Is there a way to vent it outdoors that I'm not aware of? What do people do when the hood is placed on an inside wall?

2) It's 30 inches high, which is the height of our current cabinet. If we got new 42" uppers, what do we do to make it look symmetrical with the taller cabs?

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Comments (4)

tracie.erin
11 years ago
1) No, that's not good. It's not good that it vents inside your home and it's also not as efficient because the hot air, oil, grease, steam etc. wants to go UP, not down, so most of it could be lingering in the existing ductwork :/ I would run a new duct upwards, into the ceiling, and either through the roof or out the side of your home. You don't even have to take most of the existing ductwork out.

2) This depends on what it looks like. Does it look like one of these?

If so, I would just pop a new cabinet on top of it (and that cabinet would hide your new ductwork) so that both together reach the appropriate height. If you can't fit a cabinet, try a flat piece of trim.

If it's more of a chimney style, I'd see if you can get a matching extension piece for the top or even put a cabinet or other surround around it to hide the whole hood. Younghouselove built a surround.

Here is a link that might be useful: younghouselove range hood surround
tracie.erin
11 years ago
Sorry, I missed that the stove was on an interior wall in a 2 story house. I would still take the ductwork into the ceiling and out the side of the house because you really need that venting out of the basement, it's a fire hazard. You may need to do a soffit.

Or, if there is an exterior wall in your kitchen, see if it makes sense to move the stove to that wall so you can just vent straight through the wall and outside - bypassing the ceiling. Since you have a basement, moving the gas line should not be expensive - I would get some quotes.

By the way, you are welcome to post a separate thread with your layout here for input. The forum is very helpful. I got some great input a few years ago when I posted mine.
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Molly Phillips
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks for the feedback. Any idea of what that would cost vs moving a gas line and adding the new duct work on an outside wall? Also, who does that work? We are our own GC.

My layout has been posted but no one knew about the venting...including me until I started reading some posts about others' problems.
taggie
11 years ago
If you are lucky and the joists go the right way, you can just run the vent up to the ceiling and then carry it out the side in a straight shot.

If you're not so lucky and the joists run the wrong way, you'll need to get it out the side below ceiling level, which would involve either hiding the ductwork behind a tall fascia/crown, or building a bulkhead, or both (if you also have to go by windows or doors, for example).

If you can post your layout here then people may be able to help with more specific suggestions.