Welcome to Week 4 in the Jeffrey Court Renovation Challenge! If you haven’t checked out last week’s blog, click here to read about what we completed during our kitchen renovation.
We have been breezing through this kitchen renovation challenge, up until the build of a custom vent hood cover. I knew we would experience some challenges because this is something neither myself or my husband did before. I am so grateful for my father-in-law because he was able to walk my husband through it over FACETIME!!!
Unfortunately, this will not be a tutorial blog post because we learned as we went with this project & it is still not complete, but I will share what we did to create this custom vent hood cover that works for our home. This was my husband’s project because I did nothing, but hand him tools that he needed. Here are the materials we used for this project:
Materials used:
- 2x2x8 Furring Strip Board:
- Kreg pocket hole Jig
- Pocket hole screws (2 1/2 inch)
- Miter saw
- 3/8in x 4ft x 8ft Drywall
- All Purpose Joint Compound
- Vinyl Corner Bead
Our house is not level all around, so this is what made this simple frame a bit more tedious. We started off by framing the vent cover, here is the one we purchased. Since we are replacing our microwave, this vent hood insert was great because it gave the ducted/ductless option and we needed the ductless vent hood insert. Our oven is standard size (30 inch), so we purchased the 30 inch vent hood insert.
Here’s what we did…
We marked where all of the studs were and started building the frame on the wall to ensure all wood pieces were level and attached to the studs. We couldn’t take the route of building the frame then attaching the wall because we had to align everything with the stove and the ceiling that is not level.
We went with the following dimensions: 35 H x 33 W x 12 D and it aligns perfectly with the stove. The recommended height about the stove burners is 24-30 inches and ours is about 33 inches above our burners. I opted to go a bit higher because we are adding wall shelving and I had to consider the placement of the shelves as well.
All 2×2 strips were secured to the studs and we used attached the strips together with pocket holes screws. My husband attached 3/8 drywall to cover up the frame and I am already loving how it looks in our kitchen.
Now that the vent hood cover is framed and drywall is up, we are going to use joint compound to smooth everything out. We didn’t install the vent hood insert yet because it was the recommendation of my father-in-law for insert to be installed last so when laying the joint compound it comes out smoothly and nearly perfect. I had doubts about this method, but I am trusting my husband and his father (lol).
Once the frame was up and Sheetrock was attached, my husband laid 3 coats of spackling to cover all screws, tape edges with drywall tape and vinyl corner bead.
Next, we plan to paint the same color as my walls, which is Sherwin Williams Alabaster and a thick wooden border for a more decorative finish on the vent hood cover.
Let’s paint…
While my husband tackled the vent hood cover, I did start priming the cabinets with Behr Pashmina (AF-100). We are using our Wagner Sprayer, which made the first coat of primer so EASY. What I love about this sprayer is that it has very little overspray! If you plan on painting cabinets, then I HIGHLY recommend purchasing a paint sprayer because it makes the process less challenging and time consuming.
Preparation is key!
I laid out all of the cabinet door fronts on my basement floor and used these pyramid stands to elevate the doors from the floor to make painting much easier. I use TSP cleaner to clean the doors and sanded them with 80 grit sandpaper block to prepare the surface for painting. Here are my some of my main tips when preparing to paint your cabinets:
- Clean all areas very well
- Sand with low grit sandpaper and clear dust with tack cloth
- Find an open area in your home (indoor or outdoors), so you can set up shop
- Do not rush the prepping process because it is the most important
For the cabinet frames, I also decided to use my Wagner Paint Sprayer to eliminate brush strokes that come from hand painting.
The longest part of this process was prepping our kitchen. I laid down brown construction paper on the floors using Frogtape and plastic to protect the inside of the cabinets – which can be found at your local Dollar Tree.
The actual spraying of the cabinet frames took about 10 minutes, whereas, the preparation process to use the sprayer took about an hour. Pick and choose your battle, but using paint sprayer is a MUST for a perfect finish.
Next week, we will be tiling, so make sure you head back to read all about the good, the bad, and the ugly!
If you haven’t already, head over to Jeffrey Court to check out the rest of the featured designers to see how their projects are going.
xoxo, Adrianna