DIY Outdoor kitchen build with Before and After time lapse sponsored by Belgard

What this does is it entirely eliminates concrete. It eliminates masonry work. It eliminates everything that goes along with what you would typically think you would have to do to build an outdoor kitchen. In fact, if you know some general carpentry work and you can frame up a substructure, you're pretty much in business. Cuz all you have to do with this system is create the framework. We screw on a grid system and then your stone veneer literally clips into place. No more mortar, no more mess, none of that. And a big thanks goes out to Belgard for sponsoring this, for bringing Phil and I down there so that we could put this how-to series together for you guys. So, what are we waiting for? Let's do this thing. All right, so Tim and I are going to be starting the tandem modular system. And Tim, is there anything specific you'd like to tell us about this before we actually dive into it? Well, I think the idea behind the tandem modular system is to increase design capabilities with a system. Most of the time, if you're building with larger block, um, they're heavy, they're hard to work with. And with the grid system, it allows you to actually create cool backyard elements and be able to tie it into other systems, including putting veneer on the home and having all of the elements match materials and color and everything. So, what you guys are going to see is that the actual tandem modular system is going to be going on coinciding with the Sila deck system and everything's going to be flowing together. Yes. Correct. What's the first steps we're working on? Well, for what we're building in the bar island and the grill area, we're we're going to frame up a uh basically a wood structure, something for the grid to hang on. And then once that grid is on the wood structure, then we have connector pieces for the veneer stones. So, what you guys are going to see is we're actually going to be building a bar here with a grill and everything else that goes on as part of this system. So that's why the concrete footing is in place is because there's more than just a tandem modular system going on for the deck. It's just your typical concrete pour. We've got about a 6-in pour. Let me let me ask now I have a question. When we did this same system we used we didn't use concrete. We used compacted stone. But that was actually resting on it. Is this going to actually float over the top of this base material? Just the veneer system. I mean, could in theory could it just hang off from the deck framing and never even touch the ground? Is that right or wrong? Uh, it's sort of right and sort of wrong. In in as it hangs off the deck, it is a it is advisable to have some sort of angle iron or something to rest on. The grid itself is not designed to take the weight of all the veneers. Okay. So, if we were going to just hang off of the deck itself, we would have wanted to put in maybe a a large angle iron that we would bolt onto the to the footing and then the veneer can rest on the deck. Okay. So, the ground actually takes the weight of the veneer. Yes. It's not just resting solely on the deck. Exactly. So, in our case, it's going to rest on the concrete that we have below it. If we were going to veneer a home with it, we'd put some sort of brick ledge on it just like we would with brick or stone or anything else. All right. And the reason I want to point that out is because as you guys see this getting installed, what you're going to see is we're going to have a framework. Then we're going to have a metal frame. I know some of you guys may be thinking, "Oh, it just hangs off the deck." But it actually doesn't. It's actually attached to the deck. The weight of the system is resting on the ground beneath it. All right, we'll start installing stuff. Okay. All right. So, Tim's framing up the walls for the outdoor kitchen right now, but he's also getting it laid out for the tandem modular system, which is going to be the facade that covers it up. And Brett's supervising. So, as we frame this wall up, Tim, are you doing anything different for the outdoor kitchen that you wouldn't do for a standard home construction? So, the frame a little bit different is we're actually 14 in on center to line up with the grid. 14. Yeah. Okay. So, is that a number that these guys need to remember if they're going to be using this system when they build their outdoor kitchen? I like to use this as a guide, the grid as a guide just to be safe. So now you've marked 14 in on center and you can just put your studs in place and that's going to be your support structure for the tandem modular system. Yep. Exactly. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] So, we're building the framing for the outdoor kitchen using Canadian measurements, but it's still working. When I say Canadian, it's metric because the actual grid system is in metric. So, we're do going 14 in on center. Uh, it's just something to make a note of as you do it. So while I'm Now, this is going to be the flower box as part of the outdoor kitchen. It's obviously got to be lined so that it can contain the soil. At least we got the framework up, put in place, and then we're going to put the outside fascia on. And then we can plant it. We're actually putting the dimensions together for the actual countertop for the bar area. We've got 10ft dimensional lumber, but we've got a 153 in gap. We're going to create one section 10 foot long so we can utilize the full length of the lumber and then create a smaller section, toenail them together, and that way we're going to then cover everything up with the tandem modular system. We're going to build the countertop in two separate sections instead of trying to struggle building it all in one section. We're going to lift it in, put it together. It's going to be the easiest way to do it. Plus, it's going to make the best use of the lumber that we have on site. What we're going to do for the actual dimensions is we went to a bar [Music] and we measured the bar countertop. We also measured how far over the bar stuck from where you're sitting and we're going to use the typical dimensions that you'd find in any bar. Next step in the build process is to actually attach the grid to the framework and then the modular system will actually hang off from the grid. Now, you'll see that this grid is bigger than what we need, and that's not going to be a problem. We're going to cut it. If you guys have to cut it, you always put the cut side up. You want the solid side down. Another thing that I want to point out, when you're hanging the grid, you got to have it as tight to the framework as possible. The grid is actually got two dimensions to it. And so, you don't want it sticking off of the framework. You want it in as tight as possible. The grid work comes with a clipping system and you want to have 10 clips per grid. It's as easy as that. Now, one of the things to remember when you're installing the grid system, it's just like hanging sheetrock. You want the end of the grid to always line up on a stud so you've got a solid connection. Let me show you something that's wrong with this situation. You can't have it dangling in the air. You don't have any support behind it. So, in this case, we're going to move this one over just one notch so that we can always end on a stud. We'll stub this part in, but that'll give us full sheets for the majority of this build. Guys, I don't probably have to point this out to everybody, but some of you might be interested to know that we don't have to do a stone veneer on the inside, cuz of course, you're not going to see it. So, we'll just be uh putting the veneer on the complete outside of this project build. Some of you are probably going, "Duh." But some of you may be new to this. [Music] Now, these use a square bit head. They don't use a torque head, Phillips head. This is your typical square bit head. And they come with the system. So, we split the gap. This gives us space that we can put the next mesh system in. And Phil's phone is going off. You got multiple orientations of the grid. The most important thing you can do is to make sure that you understand that the grid has to be tight right here. I want you to take a look at this. This is right. Now, I'll show you wrong. Okay, this is this is wrong. So, you want to have your vertical rods tight against your framework and supported. It's as simple as that. Now, when you do this, you can orient the grits this way, or you can orient it this way. We're going to orient it this way. That way, we're just making one solid cut along the top. All right, guys. So, we got excess. We cut it a number of different ways, but a good old bolt cutters is one way. Thanks for letting me. I'm glad. Grinder is another way. The concrete saw is the actually the best way. Important thing to remember is we cut it just a little bit below and we're going to repeat the lesson that we started. The cut side is up. We'll actually end up reusing this section of the mesh to fill in this gap. All right, Phil and Tim just wrapped up the rough framing for the uh countertop bar installation. And this gets put into place. We're using a torque head screw bit. Now, one of the things that I want to point out is none of this structure is actually attached to the house. Even the deck is not attached to the house because that would actually change the code requirements. So, here's the thing. I'm not going to tell you right, wrong, or in between. But what I am going to tell you is to check your local area. Every area has different requirements. You may be in Canada watching this. You could be in New Zealand watching this. or you could be in Europe. It doesn't make a difference. You still should check what the requirements are in your area. We're just trying to give you a general guideline. So, when you're installing the outdoor kitchen, you need a brick ledge. The weight of this stone can't be hung off from the deck or hung off from the structure. It needs to rest on something that we've got it resting on concrete. Corner done. We've got an inside corner. We don't have to be quite as picky because we can hide it with the butt joints. We've got another inside corner going on here. And then