Need help/advice ref outdoor counter top

jdMyers

In need of guidance.

I am in the process of building an out door grill station.  I wont call it a kitchen as there is no sink or water.  I call myself planning it to death and beating a dead horse until failure.

I planned a stamped patio, natural gas for a fire pit, natural gas for a gas grill, electric, lighting, drainage, etc.  I was able to complete the patio, a paver stone sitting wall, and a paver stone gas fire pit.  Put in a manifold at the gas meter and ran gas around the house to the back yard.  I went as far as designing an outdoor sound system with all the electronics out side, and a setup for out door movies.  All that is done and works.

I built, with help from neighbor, the grill station.  It's build out of paver wall stone to match the sitting wall and fire pit.  This sits on top of the stamped patio.  I put cement pillars in the ground under the patio for support and poured it thick.

My problem deals with the counter top.  I have access to a neighbor that owns a granite company and can get granite. installed.

The out door grill station is curved and kinda long.  There is no back splash however has two levels.  left side and right side of the center section of the curve are the same level, the curve is one layer of stone taller.  All lighting etc is done.

I have to make a TEMPLATE for the granite guys to "trace" and make the counter top.  I have it down to where the seams will be and have put in angle iron for the support.  do not know how to make the template and keep it clean, tight, and linear.

Does anyone have any experience of how to make an old fashion counter top template that can share the how to with me?  I tried cutting thin 4ftx8ft sheets of plywood but it's so non straight it isn't funny.  I need a two inch over hang and have no reference area to get a linear look.  But to get all the cut outs and curve for each section and have it "line up". 

I DON'T HAVE A CLUE.....Attached are some photos of different angles to see what I'm up against.   Left to right, bge over drawer, grill over double doors, a side burner.  raised section, counter top, under it, storage for firewood, right section counter top fridge underneath.

Thanks in advance

.

This is my goal

SonVolt

Most granite fabricators come out to your house to measure. Why are they asking you to provide the templates?

Mattman3969

This needs to be done with a digital template machine and truly cleaned up in cad.  You will have slightly varying overhang unless you laid out perfect arches when building but you want smooth arcs on the counter.   Not a big deal for a fab shop with digital equipment.  The most important step is the template and yours will take a little big to complete.  

jdMyers

issue #1.  If I use my neighbor for the granite the price is soo right.  Pay for the labor.  His company does not have a digital cnc machine to read the file if I have a digital laser template made. 

Issue #2, It's in Asian based company.  The installers dont do templates, and the english is lacking. 

So do I pay for laser template and top price for granite, or make a template and pay for installation only.

At first making a template seemed so easy. 

nolaegghead

Lay some cardboard or whatever on top and trace the sides of the brick work to the material.  Turn those upside down.  Draw the straight edges.  Estimate where you want the overhang.  Don't worry about trying to follow some arbitrary rule with x inches from it.  The top needs to flow on it's own.  You can buy or borrow a curve rule, which is a flexible ruler that bends in a curve.  You can also figure out the radius and use a string to draw arcs, or use an x-y grid and math to plot arcs.

jdMyers

Ill give it a shot thanks

fishlessman

get the "hardboard" at home depot and trace it like nola said, trace it larger and fine tune the curves before cutting. the tempered hardboard cuts nice. your neighbor might want to see where the seams are if you are trying to cut this from one large piece of granite. if the granite guys are installing, they may want some pieces cut larger so they can fit it in place tighter in the field

DoubleEgger

This has disaster written all over it. 

SonVolt

@jdMyers - How are you planning to ventilate that structure? It's hard to tell from the pics, so you may have already accounted for this, but I would not recommend having a gas grill inset into a hollow island without some form of ventilation for what I hope are obvious reasons.

Mattman3969

jdMyers said:

issue #1.  If I use my neighbor for the granite the price is soo right.  Pay for the labor.  His company does not have a digital cnc machine to read the file if I have a digital laser template made. 

Issue #2, It's in Asian based company.  The installers dont do templates, and the english is lacking. 

So do I pay for laser template and top price for granite, or make a template and pay for installation only.

At first making a template seemed so easy. 

Find a granite company that will do the whole process.  I know if you supplied me a template I wouldn’t install it.  With our company you measure you install.  I’ll cut you dimensions all day long but won’t take responsibility for the fit if I didn’t do the template.  

Another thing I would recommend checking is how flat your surface is that the stone will be resting on.  One high spot can screw up the entire install.  Low spots can be tuck pointed but high spots cause a teeter totter issue that is no bueno.  

jdMyers

SonVolt said:

@jdMyers - How are you planning to ventilate that structure? It's hard to tell from the pics, so you may have already accounted for this, but I would not recommend having a gas grill inset into a hollow island without some form of ventilation for what I hope are obvious reasons.

SonVolt, thanks, I was meaning to ask about that also.  The entire structure is open.  So the center section with the square hole, around the fridge is over sized, The grill and burner are front vented, and theres vent holes above the gas line on the back side, as well as drilled weep holes thru out for water and vent.  Would that be considered enuff?  Its open all the way around on the inside.  Its natural gas not propane if that makes a diff?

fishlessman

natural gas floats so you need low intake vents, and vents at the highest point, and you need a valve thats easy to see and turn off exterior to the setup and at the appliance. gasoila soft set pipe dope for the threaded joints. does the building inspector in your area allow a homeowner to run their own gas lines

jdMyers

fishlessman, I ran all the lines and had the AEP, ohio gas inspector himself hook up everything on a weekend.  As far as all the lines, tie ins, etc Im ok there.  There is a shut off right inside the double doors, at the meter, and under the grill, and under the burner individually.  Overly done I would say.  Same on the fire pit.  shut off on the pit, and at the meter. 

My question is with all the openings around the kitchen portion do I still need  separate vents.  I can knee crawl completely from the grill to the refridg.

fishlessman

jdMyers said:

fishlessman, I ran all the lines and had the AEP, ohio gas inspector himself hook up everything on a weekend.  As far as all the lines, tie ins, etc Im ok there.  There is a shut off right inside the double doors, at the meter, and under the grill, and under the burner individually.  Overly done I would say.  Same on the fire pit.  shut off on the pit, and at the meter. 

My question is with all the openings around the kitchen portion do I still need  separate vents.  I can knee crawl completely from the grill to the refridg.

having seen a house on natural gas explode i would say its good to play things safe. i watched a roof top fly maybe 300 yards across a city once. a bout 1.5 years ago columbia gas blew up a bunch of houses and lines in the three cities around me one afternoon, repairs are still getting done. i would atleast make sure the main shutoff is kept off after use and when lighting make sure to give it the sniff test on one of the upper vents

SonVolt

jdMyers said:

fishlessman, I ran all the lines and had the AEP, ohio gas inspector himself hook up everything on a weekend.  As far as all the lines, tie ins, etc Im ok there.  There is a shut off right inside the double doors, at the meter, and under the grill, and under the burner individually.  Overly done I would say.  Same on the fire pit.  shut off on the pit, and at the meter. 

My question is with all the openings around the kitchen portion do I still need  separate vents.  I can knee crawl completely from the grill to the refridg.

If there's openings I think you'll be fine. I just couldn't tell from the pics as I thought those openings would be filled with drawers and/or storage (which are super convenient btw). 

jdMyers

Thanks for the tips.  I have to admit i get nervous each time.  My gas guy says treat it like the stove in the house.  But id rather shut off the main each time.  Ive considered a small pc fan just to keep air moving.

SonVolt

The perk of having a built in grill hooked to a gas line is push-button convenience. I would rather not have to shut the main valve on/off each time. 

jdMyers

in my case, the main is right under the grill, with a reach in.  Same for the burner.  very easy access.  but I agree. 

jdMyers

thanks for the pointers

nolaegghead

Good news is if it blows up it will happen outside rather than inside your house.  Sleep easy, man.

jdMyers

Hey guys.  Updates.  Finished.  Added small plastic all weather rail fans that i wired to the grill lights power button.  I make a habit of turning on the pwr button when the gas is on.  Knobs glow red.  Fans blow air out.  Because of the replys.  Added a gas detector and carbon monoxide detector placed under the grill nearest the gas.  I sleep better knowing if i see the red lights the gas didnt get shut off and the fans ventilate.   

jdMyers

CPARKTX2

Sharp looking, should get lots of good cooks out there

SonVolt

That looks really, really well executed. 

dbCooper

jdMyers said:

@jdMyers Looks excellent.  Near the fire pit, what is the glass/metal pyramid shaped device? 

jdMyers

A 90 inch tall glass outdoor propane heater.  The burner sends the flame straight up a glass 4ft tube to disperse out the top.  Does well but looks great too

nolaegghead

Well done with all that work.  I'm impressed.

jdMyers

Thanks.  Im most happiest as this is definitely not my trade.  Learned a lot from a lot of people.  The challenge was the layout at first then making the granite template as everyone wanted ridiculous amounts of money.  This was my solution if it helps anyone.

Chloroplast 8ft plastic sheets.  Like they use for cheap roofing yard signs on coat hangers pushed into the ground. Just cut 2in and 4in strips, And tons of hot glue.  Just kept overlaping and jot glue until i had every aspect.  Be dayumed it worked.

jdMyers

And this was before.  

johnmitchell

Stunning 

JustBuggin

Looks amazing! So the pieces you used to form the the top layout in your next to last pics was just to get the shape? Did you then bring those to someone to cut the shapes for your or how was that done?

Also how did you keep the stones on the side in place? Just normal mortar?