Patio and Outdoor Kitchen build

We started a major project to remodel the outside of our house at the beginning of the year. It's been a bad year for major builds with the prices up and the supplies short, but it was absolutely a great time to get a home equity loan. We're nearly 20 years into a 30 year mortgage, so we were able to bankroll the project and still be under market value of the house with both loans, so that's cool.

Anyway, our little house got fresh paint, a new roof, and gutters all around. The last big key was improving the back deck. We've talked about tearing off the worn out wood deck since the day we moved in 20 years ago, and yes, it was worn out then. I was starting to fall through in sections. Here's a couple before photos for kicks.

Front before:

After:

and the rear deck area, after paint but before teardown:

Note the deck portion on the right is non-treated machinery pallets that I salvaged from work and propped on cinder blocks, then treated and stained. Work great for a couple years but was returning to the earth with a quickness. The little fire pit is only there to keep people from stepping in the holes.

We decided years ago that we wanted poured concrete. The deck faces due west and Georgia summer sunsets beat the crap out of a deck. Although I'm sure we'll get some heat soak the lack of maintenance is worth it. First step was to draw out a plan:

Note the orange door in the photo is the swing door at the bottom left of the drawing. That goes into the attached garage.

I got several price quotes with pavers, dyed concrete, and plain concrete. The paver quotes were astronomical,and the dyed concrete was fat too high for what it was. Plain 'crete it is.  

My plan was to pay a company to take down a couple trees, tear off the old deck, build steps to both doors, set the posts for the kitchen, and pour the 'crete. I actually paid a licensed electrician to pull power out of the garage wall and run under the slab to the smoke shack area. I did this because I tried to do the right thing and get a building permit. It really hasn't been too bad but I probably wouldn't do it again.

I'm really writing this build thread about MY work on the smoke shack / kitchen, so I'll fast forward through the ALMOST FOUR MONTHS it took these fine gentlemen to do what they said they could do in a week. 

Hard to tell, but there was a 70' tall, 4' thick dead oak hanging over my neighbor's yard from mine. Took them 2 days to cut it down and haul it out:

Then the deck came off:

Then they dug down to slab level:

It rained some

When it dried out I ran some water pipe. This is just an extension from the hose bib in the house wall to the left, under the slab to provide 2 bibs beyond the slab in the planned flower beds. There's a low point drain beside the yellow bucket. The system connects to the hose bib with a flex hose so I can drop the flex connection, open the valve, and drain the system in the winter. This will provide timer-run drip systems for my plantings without a permanent hose across the patio.

Then, happy day, they set the 6x6 posts for my smoke shack. These are in 3+' of concrete footer. Not as solid as the power poles I sunk, but damn stout. Without the 'crete they were MONSTER tall.

The electrician put the outlet on the wrong side of the post the fist time despite my neon green "outlet goes here" label, so I got a free additional outlet becaus that was the easiest way for them to fix the issue:

Then it rained some more

Once dry again, they built the stone steps. (Please note, I've upped my skills since I installed that door and that godawful flashing)

Anyone notice an issue with this layout?

If you said the edge of the step is IN the only door that opens on that set, you'd be correct. Here's a better view.

Yeah, no. Not with a platter full of steaks in hand.

ok, that's more like it..

With the steps loose-set I could call the inspector and get the pre-pour done. Which we passed with no problem. Then the pour!

Next they busted the form boards, back filled the edges and removed the big pile of dirt.

And after a few days I was able to move the basic furniture back, put up my shade sail, and enjoy an adult beverage on the patio:

I was finally able to get the bedraggled remains of my cannas and elephant ears back in the ground too. They'll be happier over-wintering there than in the garage. This involved a lot more work than it looks like. Like everything else going on here.

Day before yesterday they finally finished out the steps. The landscape blocks are literally glued together and then the center is filled with concrete. Original plan was to surface all of it ion block but there are supply issues with block I guess? (notice I fixed the flashing. I'll paint that in the future.)

Now we finally get to my part in the project. Building out the smoke shack. I'm going to post this and come back to that starting a new post though. I've got a little work done to catch you up on, then we'll move forward in real time as I (hopefully) build a cool place to hang out, grill some food, and enjoy a beverage.

Okay, the actual building of things by my hands....

My goal is to have a covered place to cook food with fire and to hang out outside even when the weather is iffy. Cooking with fire could include grilling, smoking, working with dutch ovens, experimenting with South American campfire roasting, cooking a whole hog....who knows. I've got a propane flat top griddle too. This won't be a stone-veneer-and-stainless-gas-grill outdoor kitchen either. I want it to be a comfortable place to hang out in the shade on a hot day or next to a stove on a cold winter afternoon. The aesthetic will be some mutant cross between a beach bar and a BBQ shack with a focus on reusing old stuff. And possibly Police lights.

All this dreaming starts with a sketch, of course...

I posted these in another thread with some discussion on lumber dimensions and joint design, so the final plan got revised a little. Once the posts went up I could work off real dimensions and build a scale drawing in my software:

The posts got set closer to 12x13, so I used the plan above to make the header beams longer and match my beam joint placement to be directly over a knee brace. That gets me up to doubled 2"x10"x18' beams.

The rafters are 2x8x16s, and the purlins are 2x4. Everything but the purlins is treated wood, but I learned modern wood treatment rusts tin roofing in direct contact, so the purlins are pine. I could have lined each one with felt but...I'll risk it. 

Let me take a minute to talk about the design. The 4' overhang on the left will be over part of the poured patio to give a little more usable shade. I'm specifically using a shed roof design that's taller than it needs to be. My hope is that in the summer this allows air heated by sun on the tin to rise with convection and flow out the top. It also allows smoke from a grill to do the same. Airflow has been the driving force behind a lot of the design choices. We'll see how I did.

Now..lets build stuff.

Picked up 16' 2x10s on my 8' trailer. I'm only a couple neighborhood miles from the store, but this was still sketchy. Would've been much better if I hadn't grabbed the 1-7/8 ball for the 2" trailer, LOL.

Next I had to cut the posts to the correct height and notch the top for the beams to nest into.  I've had several people tell me not to worry about things like notching the beams, or going so big on lumber dimensions, or through bolting instead of just using lag screws. I like to overbuild stuff. We occasionally get tropical storm force winds here, we're only a couple hundred miles from the coast. I don't want to worry about this thing blowing over.

I splurged on a cheap laser level to get the same reference on all my posts. For $100 on Amazon I got a green laser that self levels and broadcasts a circle. I measured the shortest post and allowed for my beam height. This put a reference mark at 8'6" for the bottom onf my beam notch. I used the level to mark this on every post as a hard reference. I then cut of the post tops 9-1/2" above that and cut a 3" deep notch. The tall posts are notched at 11'6", which will give me roughly a 3/12 roof slope. Cuts were started with a skill saw and finished with a sawzall.

This was probably the most nerve-wracking part so far. Cutting beams that are already set in a new patio means NO SCREW UPS. (I did cut the height on a short post 1/2" short, but that's ok.)

Next it was time to build beams. I altered my split dimensions slightly on one of them to work with the abysmal quality lumber Lowes sold me, but it worked out. These are doubled, glued with Liquid Nails HD and then screwed together with 3" deck screws. 

Dear God I made a monster...

These things are probably around 150lbs each. I can pick up one end with out leaving any bits of myself on the patio, but damn. I should point out here, I'm working by myself. I came up with a brilliant plan to use my tall A-Frame ladder as a hoist frame with a harbor freight block and tackle sold for deer skinning and "capable of lifting 400lbs" in order to get the beam up to the notches. Lets just say it didn't work, and that hoist goes on the don't buy list. My wife finally said "can I help you lift it up there?" If you knew my wife, you'd be as surprised as I was. But we managed to lift one end at a time and set it in the notch, then secure it and lift the other. I used 2x4 scraps screwed to the outer post surface to hold the beam in the notch while I fine tuned position. (ignore the bungee cord)

Then it was lots of drilling with forstner bits and stupid-long 3/8" drill bits so I could get the bolts in

The inner side is countersunk because the 4x6 cross beams mount to that surface so the bottoms of both beams are even

I used heavy duty angle brackets on the posts so I could set the 4x6s up by myself. I wasn't sure I'd have room to run lag screws though the posts given the bolts on the low beam, but it turns out I did. So the side beams have brackets under them and (2) 8"x3/8" lag screws though the posts into the ends. These will be supplemented by 4x4 (or maybe 4x6) knee braces on all corners. Like I said, overkill 

Last, I built the beam for the high side. I've got a buddy coming over this weekend to help me set it. I think the wife and I might get it done, but 11'6" is a long way up.

Glamour shot:

Yesterday I borrowed a buddy's car trailer and bought the rest of the wood for rafters, rafter blocking and purlins. He's nice enough to let me keep the trailer a few weeks so I can work off it onto the sawhorses when I start. Still gotta set the rafters and knee braces first though.

I've got some fun things in store for this place. My grandad's iron box stove. Opening walls. A small bar. An Argentine Parilla style grill.  Stay tuned!

Looking forward to this. It's looking like it's going to be a really nice space.

What's the expected lifespan of the posts set in concrete?

In reply to Keith Tanner :

ehh...6x6 ground contact treated in concrete?  Longer than I want to think about?

Seriously, I don't really know. The treated fence posts they put up around the house in the late 90s are still solid with no care but the fence slats are shot. And those weren't covered.

Second beam went up yesterday. It wasn't too bad. I used a laser to (hopefully) align the two beams so my rafters will be close to square. The posts are all off just a little, so getting the rafters square to the beams has me a little worried. It's easier to run tin roofing with a square starting point. 

 

we also threw one of the rafter boards up temporarily to get a feel for how it's going to look. 

I'm thinking I may be happier paying someone else to put the tin on. We'll see. 

I don't think I'd want to be doing tin solo if there was even the slightest breath of wind. Seems to me that's the sort of job that would be much easier with a helper or two. 

Agreed, and I've never installed tin before. I'll have to get a quote on just having it done. It shouldn't be much. Single pitch, no caps or fittings, 16x20 give or take. For an experienced couple guys it's a mornings work at most. 

My outdoor kitchen build 

so far taken me 2 weeks 

counter snd cut out for sink today 

should finish this weekend 

Noice. I've been stalled for a couple weeks due to weather and holidays. Hoping to be cutting and installing knee braces this weekend, and then starting the rafters before Christmas. I talked to the guy that did our new house roof and he's going to give me a quote on handling the tin. If I get a good bonus this year I suspect I'll let  him handle it. 

Knee braces went up today. Well, I still have to sink the last lag screws tomorrow, but they're all hung anyway. 

4x4 lumber, 2' on center. Cut it on my shiny new HF miter saw. 

Looking good 

hope You feel better soon ! 

Got all the knee braces bolted down today and lofted the first rafter. The bird's mouth on the high side was a little short but not too bad for the first rafter I ever laid out and cut. The beams are sitting fully on the flats of both bird's mouth cuts, which I gather is the important part. 

 

only 14 more to go. And blocking. And purlins. Sigh. 

one man rafter operation. It's a slow process. 
 

made a pattern for the short end. Hopefully this results in at least one square side. 
 

top ends were individually measured to length to adjust for the non-square post set. 
 

All rafters set. Next will be blocking them over each beam and in the center. 

If your smoking skills are half as good as what I'm seeing here, I'd eat there.

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Thanks!

Get this....I don't even own a smoker, lol. of course it's the first time I've built a building too. 
 

but I do grill a LOT, so this is a space to build a better, real wood-fired grill plus start teaching myself how to smoke stuff too. Oh, and to get better with cast iron Dutch ovens. Maybe try out an asado cross over a campfire or whole hog in a Mexican style box. All the many ways to cook good food using burning wood. 
 

That is looking good!

thanks! Getting the rafters up is the last heavy-lifting step, I'm glad to have it done. I'm really starting to get an idea how the place will feel when done, and I'm getting excited about it. I think it's going to be a great place to hang out. Going to be lots of parties once the pandemic gets under control.

This looks incredible!  Keep it moving.

For a first time build this is beyond good

Thanks guys!

This space is screaming for a DIY pizza oven too... just saying! 

Great job thus far! 

In reply to golfduke :

I'm not ruling it out!

ultraclyde (Forum Supporter) said:

Now..lets build stuff.

Picked up 16' 2x10s on my 8' trailer. I'm only a couple neighborhood miles from the store, but this was still sketchy. Would've been much better if I hadn't grabbed the 1-7/8 ball for the 2" trailer, LOL.

Question about the trailer setup you have there, did you modify the trailer to have a shorter ramp/gate in order to fit wood in at an angle (the shoter wood pieces)?  Seems like a great idea in order to fit long pieces on a utility trailer, I run into that issue with our 5x8 utility trailer with long boards.

Killer patio build by the way. I think you need a smoker in addition to the pizza oven!

In reply to engiekev :

That set up is totally chance , lol. I got that trailer in a trade from a friend who built it with help from another guy. It's...almost sketchy but not quite. It's built on the rear axle of a Dodge minivan so it sits LOW. like the bar for the axle cross brace is maybe 3" off the pavement. This means the deck height is really low, which is great for loading mowers and stuff. The ramp is however they built it - but I suspect it's short because the trailer sits so low. The hinges also rusted off so now it sits on a couple pieces of scrap angle slag welded to the rear frame and is held on by the bolts at the top. It's more a removable panel than a "ramp."

BUT - because the trailer's so low it runs on an angle when it's hitched up. I just happened to luck out that the running angle means the front edge of the trailer and the top of the ramp are dang near level when it's on the hitch of my pickup. The shorter boards thrown in the side were more about lack of ratchet straps than any real plan.

Hey, I'd rather be lucky than good ANY day!

If you were trying to build something similar I'd consider cutting a window in the ramp and reinforcing the edges with apiece of angle all the way across. Then make a drop-in panel for the window so you could still us it as a ramp.

I cut all the rafter blocking today and got the first run nailed in. Only spent about 2 hours on it, so good progress. 

i also had my roof guy stop by.  We talked about what I want, 26ga galvalume master rib tin.  The quote he gave me to install the 2x4 purlins I already have and install the tin was about what it was going to cost me to buy the tin from Home Depot. so I told him to put me on the schedule lol. 
 

Which means I've got about 2 weeks to get the rest of the blocks up and then it gets a roof!