How to Build the Outdoor Kitchen of Your Dreams | Video

LESLIE: Well, outdoor living spaces have never been more popular and that includes outdoor kitchens.

TOM: Ah, yes. But cooking and dining outside require some special recipes of their own. Here with tips for designing an outdoor kitchen is Richard Trethewey, the plumbing-and-heating contractor on TV’s This Old House.

Hey, Richard.

RICHARD: Hey, guys. Glad to be back in the money pit.

TOM: Yes. And let’s get into the kitchen. Actually, let’s get out to the kitchen.

Designing an outdoor kitchen is a bit different than designing an indoor space, right?

RICHARD: Yeah. The kitchen – the indoor kitchen seems like there’s never enough counter space, there’s never enough place for cabinets and everything else. The outdoor, you’re limited to your acreage. Yeah, so…

LESLIE: And accessibility to all of your fuel sources and water sources. That’s a big to-do.

RICHARD: Right, right, right. But you start with sort of locations. “So, OK. Where am I going to put it?” And now you want to say, “Alright. Now, how do I get water and waste out there for a sink if I’m even going to have a sink?”

TOM: Right.

RICHARD: “How do I get fuel out there?” So that means that a lot of times, at least, it abuts the house or it’s attached to the house.

Then you’ve got to think about how it’s going to be used socially. So if you – yeah, you want to find a – boy, then you can have space where if you have a smoker or something like that, you don’t want the smoke blowing into people’s eyes and stuff like that. So you have to think about prevailing breeze. You have to get your …

LESLIE: Right.

TOM: Invariably, if you’re the host, you’re going to be making that trek to the real kitchen inside the house, back and forth and back and forth. So I think if you add up all of those very practical considerations, the kitchen will kind of self-locate.

RICHARD: Yeah, yeah. There’s four things you’ve got to get out there: water, as I mentioned – water; waste; a fuel for cooking, if you want gas; and electricity is always important to get out there for lighting and for all the appliances. Everybody needs to charge their phone, too, even when they’re outside.

TOM: Of course.

LESLIE: And I like the idea of having a refrigerator outside if you’re barbecuing.

RICHARD: That’s right.

LESLIE: This way you can keep, I don’t know, sauces, salads, things ready to go on the grill.

RICHARD: Yeah, yeah.

TOM: Beer.

LESLIE: Beer. So say that.

RICHARD: Yeah. So, the outdoor kitchen is not an important thing for me, particularly, since we live here in New England where we had 180 inches of snow last year.

TOM: Right.

RICHARD: So it’s a short-lived room.

TOM: Right. But for many people, they do really enjoy that outdoor space.

RICHARD: They do.

TOM: And it’s a step up, too.

So you mentioned water. Now, we obviously need to be able to get water out there in the warmer weather. But we need to be able to drain that pipe in the cooler weather. How do you position the plumbing so that becomes, you know, something you can do yourself, as opposed to having to sort of blow it out like you might a sprinkler system?

RICHARD: It requires just a little bit of thought and find a way where the hot and the cold come and – from a point where at the lowest point inside the house there are two drains so we can drain water out. Or it can be outside the house. But you have to find a way that – without any major worries. You can simply get the water out of the pipes so you’re not – every year, you’re not having to replace the pipes.

TOM: So it could pitch backwards into the house as long as it drains at the bottom or it could pitch downward towards the sink itself.

RICHARD: Correct. Right, right, right. Correct.

Now, the other thing is every fixture, if you’re going to make it legally plumbed, if it goes back into the house, it should be – it has to have a trap. And so the trap also has water in it. So you have to think about that. And so, a lot of times, if it’s – depends on the part of the world you’re in. Some people just let the kitchen sink drain to a dry well or something like that.

TOM: Drain outside or a dry well. Yeah.

RICHARD: Because it’s not going to be used for heavy-duty food prep. You’re going to do a lot of the food prep inside the main kitchen.

TOM: Right. It’s pretty much clean water that drains out of that.

RICHARD: Yeah. That’s right.

LESLIE: What about a cooking source? I mean ideally, you’d love to take your natural gas from inside the house and bring it outside. But how much of a challenge is that?

RICHARD: Gas pipes are pretty straightforward to run. They don’t need pitch and they’re relatively small. They can be run in steel or they can be run – in some parts of the country, you can use the stainless-steel, corrugated, flexible gas-supply piping. So that shouldn’t be too big of a deal to run it. A lot of people love to have wood grills and wood smokers outside so wood becomes part of the theater: you know, the equivalent of a Big Green Egg as sort of – as theater as the center of the space. But gas is what most people want to get.

TOM: Now how about running electricity out there? We have to be careful with those circuits because they’re more susceptible to getting a shock?

RICHARD: Yeah. You’re in a place where the rain can come. So you need ground-fault interrupted circuits, something that’ll have a breaker and a safety so that you don’t get electrocuted. And you should be able to completely kill that from outside so you’re not leaving power out there all – in the winter or in a heavy – in the bad weather.

LESLIE: And you probably need a specialized refrigerator/freezer for outside because we know that as temperature changes, it will ultimately not cool what’s in there.

RICHARD: Yeah. It’s quite an industry, though. There’s some unbelievably beautiful outdoor appliances and fixtures. It’s just crazy how that – it’s just additional living space and it’s theater.

TOM: Yeah. And I think, in a lot of parts in the country, it absolutely contributes to the home’s value, too.

RICHARD: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

TOM: Having that second kitchen outside is something that’s really going to turn on buyers.

RICHARD: Yeah, yeah. I wished I lived in a place that it could be viable.

TOM: Where you could enjoy it, right?

RICHARD: So, I’ve got to move.

TOM: That’s the solution.

Richard Trethewey, the plumbing-and-heating contractor on TV’s This Old House, thank you so much for helping us out with outdoor-kitchen design.

RICHARD: Great to be back.

LESLIE: Alright. You can catch the current season of This Old House and Ask This Old House on PBS. For local listings and step-by-step videos of many common home improvement projects, visit ThisOldHouse.com.

TOM: And This Old House is brought to you on PBS by Lumber Liquidators. Hardwood floors for less.

LESLIE: So on TV’s This Old House, we see some pretty tricked-out outdoor kitchens, like the one we just saw created for the homeowners of the Greek Revival row house in the 35th anniversary season in the Charlestown area of Boston.

TOM: That’s right. Outdoor kitchens can be a great addition to your backyard entertaining space but they don’t have to be as expensive or as extensive as the ones on TV to do the job. This Old House host Kevin O’Connor is here with some DIY and budget-friendly options.

Welcome, Kevin.

KEVIN: Hi, guys. Great to be here.

TOM: So, I’m sure you never saw a budget you didn’t like when it comes to these outdoor kitchens.

KEVIN: You know, they don’t have to be as extensive as ones we put on but you really want to do it.

TOM: Yeah. You really, really want that.

KEVIN: You guys saw that when we put it, he was like, “Oh.”

TOM: Oh, my God, it’s so amazing.

LESLIE: I mean they’re beautiful.

KEVIN: Yeah, it was really nice. They really are. And you want to just – when you see it, now all of a sudden you just want to live your entire life out there on your patio.

LESLIE: Oh, I know. But most of us cannot afford to spend $25,000 on an outdoor kitchen.

KEVIN: No, I guess that is true. But you don’t have to, which is the good point. And when you’re thinking about the outdoor kitchen, think about what you have in the indoor kitchen, right? There are basically three things that you need. You need a work surface to prepare your food, you need a place to clean up after you’re done cooking and then, obviously, you need the surface to cook on. So the grill …

LESLIE: And a pizza maker and a sink and a Kegerator. All sorts of things.

KEVIN: Did you say Kegerator?

LESLIE: I may have. I may have.

KEVIN: I’m all in.

TOM: On a budget.

KEVIN: On a budget.

TOM: That’ll be the next edition of Money Pit and This Old House.

KEVIN: Right. So when you get the grill, obviously the grill is the place where you go and do the cooking, so you can check that off the list. And some of these grills – a lot of them now, actually – come with a little side area where you can actually do some prep work or put some bowls down or platters while you’re doing the cooking. They’re probably not big enough or sturdy enough to do the hardcore prep work – the chopping and stuff like that – but that shouldn’t stop you from adding one.

TOM: Right.

KEVIN: And there a couple of things that you can do to add one. You can bring in sort of a rolling kitchen table, put it up next to the grill. You do that, you can have a better surface to work on. Think about the materials in that case; obviously, something that’s going to withstand the weather is going to be a good idea. So, protected wood or stainless steel even would be great. But then, if you want, if you’ve got some good carpentry skills, you can build your own.

You can think about a frame made out of wood and then also think about the material that you want to put on. There’s a stone top that will stand up to the weather. It will be a great thing.

Or you can build these things up. There’s a lot of pavers out there right now, a lot of these do-it-yourself kits where you can build these out of masonry products. It can be a great look, you can do it yourself and you can create yourself a good-looking outdoor kitchen with that prep area.

LESLIE: Yeah. And it can kind of look like it’s built-in, so that’s really neat, too.

KEVIN: Absolutely. And you can buy grills that are made to be built-in. Or you can build it around an existing grill just to at least have that feel of the built-in look.

TOM: Now, one of the challenges is really the plumbing part of this. You do need water for cleanup. It’s darn convenient if you have it outside. What are some inexpensive ways to create that in your outdoor kitchen?

KEVIN: To be honest with you, I think you’ve got to think long and hard about whether or not you want to add water to this. Because where I live, all of that stuff has to be shut down in the off-season. It is great to have but it’s a whole ‘nother level of thinking in terms of the off-season.

However, if you want to go for it, chances are you’ve already got an outdoor hose spigot in the backyard and that can be modified so that you can bring some water over to the grilling area for cleanup. There are actually some manually powered sinks available that can hook up via hose and then you can use a pump with your foot for water flow. And then the sink drain can also be diverted away with a hose to avoid any puddles at your feet.

And then they’ve got the old-fashioned sort of potting sinks that you would use for gardening. You can get those at a garden-supply center. I think about using one of those next to the grill. But for me, I just bring the dirty dishes inside and tell the kids to start scrubbing.

LESLIE: I think another luxury – which really isn’t a luxury when you’re thinking about cooking outdoors; it’s almost a necessity – is refrigeration. Because a lot of times you’re sort of staggering the cooking process to keep things at the ready. Or if you’re entertaining for a long period of time, can you do an outdoor refrigerator in there?

KEVIN: You certainly can. It is probably a luxury, like you say. But if you’ve got power out there, you can bring in a small refrigerator. And they actually make refrigerators that are rated to be outdoors and so you want to think about that. Again, anytime you’re talking about those outdoor kitchens, no matter what you add out there, think about the weather. Do you want it to be able to live out there through the rain, the snow, the heat and all that type of stuff? And there are small refrigerators rated to do that and that could be a nice option. Keep the drinks going, keep the side salads cold while you’re cooking the burgers and such.

TOM: What’s great about this advice, Kevin, is that you really can approach it in a modular basis. You can start small with, say, just a good grill with some cooking surface and then build on from there. You can add the rolling cart, you could add some cabinetry, you could add the outdoor refrigerator and kind of, over time, create this kitchen.

KEVIN: And I think when you’re working outdoors, the projects, I think they’re just a lot more forgiving, right? It’s not always finished carpentry and fancy moldings.

TOM: Yeah.

KEVIN: I’m doing just that: building a side table for my grill. It’s got a little wood frame and a big, solid, 4-inch-thick wooden top. It’s just – it’s not that complicated and it doesn’t have to look so refined. It is the outdoors after all.

TOM: Let us know when it’s ready. We’ll be by for steaks.

KEVIN: You got it.

TOM: Kevin O’Connor from TV’s This Old House, thank you so much for stopping by The Money Pit.

KEVIN: Always a pleasure to be here, guys. Thank you.

LESLIE: Alright. Catch the current season of This Old House and Ask This Old House on PBS. For local listings and step-by-step videos of many common home improvement projects, visit ThisOldHouse.com.

TOM: Cooking outside is the hottest trend in yards and gardens, and more affordable than you think. Here are some tips to creating an outdoor kitchen at your home. Hi, I’m Tom Kraeutler.

LESLIE: And I’m Leslie Segrete with today’s Money Pit Home Improvement Minute.

TOM: To start, rolling kitchen islands are perfect for outdoor cooking prep. Or, for a more professional look, add a granite or tile surface to block pavers. Aim for a work surface that’s 36 inches high: the standard height for comfortable food prep.

LESLIE: A wood-fired stove lets you grill without the hassle of propane or gas. Smokers are another popular outdoor cooking method.

TOM: You’ll need easy water access, not just for prep, but for cleaning up as well. Consider a hose-powered sink that can serve all season long but be easily disabled for winter.

LESLIE: Finally, an outdoor rated small refrigerator keeps those salads and sides cool, and keeps you from running back and forth between your house and your yard. Creating an outdoor kitchen also saves time on cleanup.