Choosing your fume hood early will save you money and time in the building of your custom home

If you want to make sure that your general contractor is able to install your kitchen in time in your new custom home then you should buy the fume hood for the stove early on.

If you take the time early on in the building of your custom home or even before it starts to pick out the appliances for your kitchen then you will be able to pick out the fume hood for the stove.

The fume hood for the stove in your new kitchen is one of the most important pieces of the kitchen when it comes to kitchen installations. It might not be that important to you, but to the builder it affects a lot of the things going on in the building process.

Here are some of the things that the fume hood in your new custom home will affect if you don’t purchase it in an appropriate time frame;

• Fume hood placement in a kitchen can affect the framing. If the exhaust for the fume hood is larger than anticipated costly reframing of constructed walls can have too take place.

• Siding installation. Without the proper piping through the wall the siding on one side of your new home cannot be completed.

• Insulation. Walls cannot be properly insulated without the proper piping placed through the wall. Installing the piping after the insulation has been installed takes more time and can make it more difficult to get a tight air seal.

• Electrical wiring. Depending on the model of the fume hood, you could require electrical lines on the inside of the building or the outside of the building. Some fume hoods have their electric motors mounted on the outside of the building and some are installed on the inside over the stove.

• Drywall. Without the fume hood piping no drywall can be done in that area. Also your drywall bulkheads cannot be installed over the kitchen because there needs to be proper clearance left for the piping. If you do not leave enough clearance for the piping it could interfere with the metal track that is used to build drywall bulkheads.

• Kitchen designers can have a difficult time finalizing a proper plan for you if they don’t know how much room to leave for the fume hood when it pertains to the upper cabinets. There are also a lot of design details that go with a fume hood. Depending on the size and shape of the hood, it will affect the finished look of the area around the stove.

• H-vac. The H-vac might have to be adjusted depending on the size and power of your fume hood. If you buy a fume hood that is too big then the h-vac installers have to make adjustments to the system to help balance the pressure in the home. This can cost you more money and can be as expensive as installing extra fans in the intake pipes to help balance the pressure.

So remember when you are planning out your new custom home makes sure that you make as many choices as possible before the building process starts. This will help your custom home build proceed more efficiently and in a timely manner. This will help you save money and time in the long run.

Rob Abbott
Operations Manager
Village Builders inc.