About the same time I was shopping on craigslist for kitchen appliances, I found a 30″ gas cooktop for sale. The owner wanted to wait until it was taken out for their remodel, so we waited until just last week to pick up our new cooktop. It has a griddle/grill on one side and two burners on the other. Another “down-sized” appliance for our cabin kitchen.
I also bought a neat log side table for the cooktop, but the downdraft “box” was too wide to fit between the front and back logs, so my daughter gave us a vanity that they were going to use to remodel the bath in the house they sold. The drawers were in the way of the plumbing though, so they bought another one. This vanity is the exact size of the cooktop and is a nice natural oak that blends well with the pine. Nice daughter! (I think I can use the table as a bar sink stand across from the kitchen bar area instead. UPDATE–now the plan is to use it as the family room bathroom vanity.)
Jenn Air Gas Cooktop
The installer put in a tee and capped the gas line that was intended for the eventual cooktop install. Too bad I had not thought to ask him for a shutoff at that point, instead we had to shut off the gas to the whole house and remove the cap. I decided it would make more sense to move the gas dryer line to the vertical and then extend the other pipe to within range of the cooktop.
New gas line from old
The installer pointed the pipe toward the dryer, but there was not room to install the shutoff and still have the dryer against the wall, so we turned the pipe upward instead.The new gas line uses some of the old pipe that was removed–including a shutoff. The pipe extends to the rear of the vanity cabinet and a flexible pipe connects to the stove’s regulator.
Rear view of cooktop
The stove has a downdraft vent system that we will “recirculate” instead using a high quality charcoal vent filter. Downdraft systems can be purchased with what is essentially a metal box that contains a charcoal filter. So I improvised with a higher quality charcoal filter from Amazon. The filter should last 18 months or more and can be refilled with new charcoal instead of replacing the whole thing.
Downdraft vent
Cooking side of kitchen
So the “cooking” side of the kitchen is now complete, if you don’t count the lack of a wall.
True confessions–we had a bit of a gas leak that really stunk up the house. Thank goodness the gas is treated with smelly stuff as a warning. I used gas leak detector on the pipes I installed but the leak was at the dryer connection where I had forgotten to test–I had also forgotten to tighten the pipe before I pushed the dryer back into place. Then I turned on the gas to the dryer–thinking all was good. The smell got pretty bad before I pulled the dryer out again and tested it. The leak was quickly remedied and the smell dissipated with open windows and fans.