Outdoor kitchen Let us show you how to build the ideal outdoor kitchen for you

ALFRESCO

IN STYLE

How to build an outdoor kitchen

An outdoor kitchen takes cooking and eating outside to the next level. As opposed to a simple BBQ or pizza oven, with all the mess that comes with treks back and forth between the kitchen, why not embrace the ultimate outdoor cooking experience and build your own outdoor kitchen with worktops, a range of cooking abilities and a sink, all made stylish to impress friends and family.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

1. Cement backer board 2. Porcelain tiles for back and sides 3. Porcelain tiles for worktop 4. Treated timber 5. Heavy duty nails 6. Waterproof tile adhesive 7. Heavy duty screws 8. Waterproof grout 9. Waterproof tile adhesive 10. Spirit level 11. Drill 12. Grout float 13. Tile adhesive float

STEPS

1. Ensure you have a flat base, ideally concrete or a patio before starting your build. Then decide what is important to you. Is it a pizza oven, a BBQ, a smoker, or something else? Then design around your focal point. For this design we are using a homemade BBQ as the focal point with a pizza oven in the corner on the worktop.

2. Pick your tiles. Depending on what style you want, you may want a plain outdoor kitchen, alternatively, you may want a more Mediterranean feel. So, mosaic tiles for the worktops would look fantastic with some warm terracotta tiles on the walls and back.

3. Once you’ve picked your tiles, you now need to design and measure your kitchen. Do you want a U-shaped kitchen, an L-shaped kitchen or just a simple straight kitchen? A U-shaped or an L-shaped kitchen doesn’t make it any more difficult, just potentially a little more expensive because of the materials you need.

4. Once you have your design, now you need to measure to work out how much timber you need. To work this out, we have measured the homemade BBQ in the centre with two worktops/units on either side. For these worktops/units you will create a frame with the treated timber. The average, comfortable height for worktops is 90cm so use that as your height, and then measure the depth and length of the other timber you want.

Why not embrace the ultimate outdoor cooking experience and build your own outdoor kitchen with worktops and a range of cooking abilities.

5. Once you have picked up your timber and other tools and materials, now is the time to start the initial build. Screw the timbers together using heavy-duty, extra-long screws until it is sturdy. Put the frames into place and get the cement-backer board ready. You will need two people to put the cement backer board into place. One to hold the weight and another to seal it into place using a nail gun. You will be putting cement backer board on the top, sides and back, so keep going until you have a solid unit.

6. When you have a solid unit, apply waterproof tile adhesive using a tiling float to the sides of the units and start sticking your tiles on. Once you are happy with one side, move onto the back and ends and then leave to set as per the tiling adhesive instructions.

7. Now apply tiling adhesive to the worktop cement backer board and start applying the decorative tiles you have chosen. Again, leave to set before then going over all sides and the top with waterproof tiling grout.

8. Move the units into their final place either side of the handmade BBQ. These are your basic units and worktops for your outdoor BBQ.

A pergola makes a fantastic addition and aesthetically pleasing finish to any outdoor kitchen.

EXTRAS

- If you wish to add a sink, during step 5 cut-out a hole in the backerboard for a sink and put into place with sealant before tiling. You can plumb this up with running water simply from the mains using pipe, likewise, you can add a waste pipe to run into the drains.

- Likewise, if you want to add doors to the units, when you are building the base include a shelf at the bottom and the middle using MDF. Cut out a door hole from the cement backer board at the side and attach this to a piece of MDF which is the same size as the door cut-out using tile adhesive. Add a hinge to create the door. Close the door and continue tiling as per step 7.

- A pergola makes a fantastic addition and aesthetically pleasing finish to any outdoor kitchen. These are best to source from FB marketplace, eBay or from an outdoor shop as it will be easier to build.