Fire Up The Grill! New Ways To Entertain With An Old Favorite.
Curt Havens
Although I have lived in Arizona for over 20 years, I am still amazed every spring at the absolute perfect weather we have at this time of the year. There is hardly an evening that goes by when my family and I are not outside enjoying our yard. It is truly the most used space of our home. Families all over the valley are recognizing just how wonderful outdoor living can be and are creating valuable and useable new spaces to enhance their lifestyle. If you are thinking about any landscape or hardscape additions to your home, you could not find a better time to do it. If you are among the thousands of valley residence who are not operating in the grip of fear of our economy and are still spending…WOW…the bargains that can be found now are unlike anything I have ever seen in 30 years of contracting.
One of the most popular additions to any landscape remodel these days is the outdoor BBQ, or should I say, “Outdoor Kitchen”. The things people are creating around the BBQ have given outdoor grilling a whole new meaning. If you like to entertain, the outdoor kitchen and bar is one of the valley favorites. The uses and possibilities seem endless. Let’s see… we have a wide variety of grills, sideburners, refrigerators, kegerators, sinks, storage drawers, lights, electrical, plumbing, bistro tables, bar tops, even pizza ovens, just to name a few. Then we can use a variety of different materials to create hundreds of different looks. Flagstone, canterra, traveritines, tile, concrete, stucco, paint, faux stone are just a handful of materials being used to create these wonderful additions to your home.
Custom BBQ’s like the ones shown here have similar framework, but are simply finished with a variety of different materials to accomodate just about every need and budget. Prefabricated units found all over the valley are steel frame studded, use hardy backer board for sheathing and usually have some sort of a ceramic tile finish. They are made at a local factory and simply delivered and set where you want. Custom units on the other hand can be made any shape or length you wish and have a more solid frame made from CMU which stands for “Construction, Masonry Unit”, a fancy name for concrete block. A foundation is dug, sleeving for electrical and plumbing is prepared and installed, then the blockwork begins. It is first important to know the dimensions of every appliance you are planning to install, so you know how big each opening needs to be. It is always advisable to have a detailed sketch of the BBQ showing where everything is positioned which will give you an idea of how much counter or bar space you will have upon completion. The standard counter top height is 36” above finished deck. Bar tops and bistro tables finish off at a height or 42” which gives you ample room for bar stools with the legroom you need under the counter.
Now the big question…how much do these cost? Custom BBQ units, including a basic 3 burner stainless grill with a standard five gallon propane tank, start at about $4,000. Of course buying a grill is like buying a car. There are dozens of grill manufacturers all over the country. I have seen some grills alone costing over $6,000 which doesn’t include the cost of the cabinet; however, most people can find a good 4 burner stainless grill which handles all their needs for about $1,500. That is roughly the average cost of a decent grill. If you are looking for a BBQ that is more of an entertainment space as opposed to a simple cooking station, you can expect to pay anywhere between $6,000 and $9,000 which will include several of the bells and whistles I mentioned earlier. All this writing has made me a little hungry, so I think I will fire up my own grill and throw a few shrimp on the BARBI….sorry for the lame joke…couldn’t resist.
Feel free to e-mail me with questions, or to set up a free consultation and design for your BBQ or other landscape project. I can be reached at RCHAVENS@COX.NET Lots more pictures of BBQ’s on my website WWW.OUTSIDELIVINGCONCEPTS.COM
Good Luck!
