DIY Outdoor kitchen build with Before and After time lapse - Belgard

Stan: All right guys. We're going down to Ohio where Phil and I get together to build an outdoor kitchen. Now Belgard is sponsoring this instructional how to series because they've got a new product that I had never actually used before.

Stan: It's called the Tandem Modular Grid system. And what this does it, it entirely eliminates concrete. It eliminates masonry work. It eliminates everything that goes along with what you would typically think you would have to do to build an outdoor kitchen.

Stan: In fact if you know some general carpentry work and you can frame up a substructure, you're pretty much in business. Because all you have to do with this system is create the framework.

Stan: We screw on a grid system and then your stone veneer literally clips into place. No more mortar, no more mess. None of that.

Stan: A big thanks goes out to Belgard for sponsoring this, for bringing Phil and I down there so that we could put this how to series together for you guys. So what are we waiting for? Let's do this thing. All right so Tim and I are gonna be starting the Tandem Modular System. And Tim, is there anything specific you'd like to tell us about this before we actually dive into it?

Tim: Well I think the idea behind the Tandem Modular System is to increase design capabilities with a system. Most of the time if you're building with larger block, they're heavy, they're hard to work with. And with the Grid System it allows you to actually create the cool backyard elements and be able to tie it in to other systems, including putting veneer on the home and having all of the elements match materials and color and everything.

Stan: So what you guys are gonna see is that, the actual Tandem Modular System is going to be going on coinciding with the Silca Deck System and everything's gonna be flowing together.

Tim: Yes, correct.

Stan: What's the first steps we're working on here?

Tim: Well, for what we're building, and the bar island and the grill area, we're going to frame up basically a wood structure. Something for the grid to hang on. Okay and then once that grid is on the wood structure, then we have to prepare pieces for the veneer stones.

Stan: So what you guys are gonna see, is we're actually gonna be building a bar here, with a grill and everything else that goes on as part of this system. So that's why the concrete footing is in place is because there's more than just the Tandem Modular System going on for the deck.

Tim: Exactly.

Stan: It's just a typical concrete pour. We've got about a six inch pour, let me ask Professor Phil here.

Stan: Professor Phil, does that look like a six?

Phil: Well it looks like it's framed with a two by six which is probably gonna give you a little bit closer to five and a half inches.

Stan: Yeah.

Phil: But five and a half, six inches.

Stan: Now I have a question. When we did this same system, we didn't use concrete, we used compacted stone. But that was actually resting on it. Is this going to actually float over the top of this base material? Just the veneer system? I mean could it in theory, could it just hang off from the deck framing and never event touch the ground? Is that right or wrong?

Tim: It's sort of right, and sort of wrong. As it hangs off the deck it is advisable to have some sort of angle iron in or something to rest on at contact. The grid itself is not designed to take the weight of all the veneer.

Stan: Okay.

Tim: So if we were gonna just hang off of the deck itself we would have wanted to put in maybe a large angle iron that we would bolt onto the footing and the veneer can rest on the back.

Stan: Okay. So the ground actually takes the weight of the veneer.

Tim: Yeah.

Stan: It's not just resting solely on the deck.

Tim: Exactly. In our case it's gonna rest on the concrete that we have below it.

Tim: If we were gonna veneer a home with it, we'd put some sort of brick wedge on it just like we would with brick or anything else like that.

Stan: Yeah. Okay all right. And the reason I wanted to point that out is because you guys see this getting installed. What you're going to see is, we're gonna have a framework, then we're gonna have a metal frame, and I know some of you guys may be thinking, "Oh it just hangs off the deck." But it actually doesn't, it's actually attached to the deck. The weight of the system is resting on the ground beneath us.

Tim: Yes.

Stan: All right. Let's start installing stuff.

Tim: Okay.

Stan: All right so Tim's framing up the walls for the outdoor kitchen right now. He's also getting it laid out for the Tandem Modular System which is going to be the facade that covers it up. And Brent's supervising.

Stan: So as we frame this wall up, Tim are you doing anything different for the outdoor kitchen that you wouldn't do for a standard home construction?

Tim: So the frame, a little bit different as we're actually 14 inches on center to line up with the grid.

Stan: 14?

Tim: Yeah.

Stan: Okay, so is that a number that these guys needs to remember if they're gonna be using this system when they build their outdoor kitchen?

Tim: I like to use the grid as a guide just to be safe.

Stan: So now you have marked 14 inches on center and you can just put your studs in place. And that's gonna be your support structure for the tandem modular system.

Tim: Yup, exactly.

Stan: So we're building the framing for the outdoor kitchen, using Canadian measurements but it's still working. And I say Canadian, it's metric because the actual Grid System is in metric. So we're going 14 inches on center. Just something to make a note of as you do it.

Stan: So while I'm helping the guys lay the tile out Phil and Tim are getting the actual framework for the kitchen put together. Anything we need to know about this so far?

Phil: Dimensionally we just want to get everything correct. So you know it's transferring the measurements which are happening over there at the build to over here in the driveway. Because sometimes when you're working on the site, it's not always convenient to work right next to your work.

Phil: Otherwise these two trades, the guys laying the tile and the guys building the backdrop are gonna step all over each other. So we had to set up over here in the driveway. So it's critical that you've got somebody helping you, so that we can go back and forth, taking measurements, transferring them to the saw. So we can get all the assembly done here. Carrying it over to where the work is taking place.

Stan: Now this is going to be the flower box that's part of the outdoor kitchen. It's obviously got to be lines so that it can contain the soil, but at least we got the framework up, put in place.  And then we're gonna put the outside fascia on. And then we can plant it.

Stan: We're actually putting the dimensions together for the actual countertop for the bar area. We've got ten foot dimensional lumber, but we've got 153 inch gap. We're gonna create, one section ten foot long, so we can utilize the full length of the lumber and then create a smaller section. Toenail them together, and that way we're gonna then cover everything up with the Tandem Modular System. We're gonna build the countertop in two separate sections, instead of trying to struggle building it all in one section.

Stan: We're gonna lift it in, put it together. It's gonna be the easiest way to do it. Plus it's gonna make the best use of the lumber that we have on site.

Stan: What we're gonna do for the actual dimensions is, we went to a bar and we measured the bar countertop. We also measured how far over the bar stuck from where you're sitting. And we're gonna use the typical dimensions that you'd find in any bar. It's as easy as that.

Stan: Phil, I wanna stop you.

Phil: Yes sir.

Stan: What dimensions did you come up with?

Phil: All right, so what we came up with is this area between where this countertop ends and the next one begins is a little bit more than 13 feet. We're working with ten foot lumber. So what we've decided to do is rather than build a complete 13 foot and some odd measurement section, we're gonna build a ten foot section. And then we're gonna measure that last and final section perfectly.

Phil: We're going to leave about a 12 and a half inch bump out. So where bar stools are sitting, that's gonna allow room for people to put their knees. So this portion of the countertops gonna look a little bit different than what you already see back here. It's actually gonna be bar height countertop.

Phil: So I'm gonna go make those cuts now, and then you're gonna see us all bringing that piece in. And once we get it set in place, you're gonna get a really good idea of how this bar is gonna be coming together.

Stan: And while you're doing that, I'm gonna start installing the façade over the grill area here. And we're gonna be using a mesh system with Tandem Modular System. Why don't you get going, so I can get going on this section.

Phil: I'm out of here.

Stan: So that step in the build process is to actually attach the grid to the framework, and then the modular system will actually hang off from the grid. Now you'll see that this grid is bigger than what we need. And that's not gonna be a problem. We're gonna cut it. If you guys have to cut it. We always put the cut side up, you want the solid side down. Another thing that I want to point out when you're hanging the grid, you got to have it as tight to the framework as possible. The grid has actually got two dimensions to it. And so you don't want it sticking off from the framework. You want it in as tight as possible. The grid work comes with a clipping system. And you wanna have ten clips per grid. It's as easy as that.

Stan: Now one of the things to remember when you're installing the grid system it's just like hanging Sheetrock. You want the end of the grid to always line up on a stud so you've got a solid connection. Let me show you something that's wrong with this situation. You can't have it dangling in the air. You don't have any support behind it.

Stan: So in this case, we're gonna move this one over, just one notch so that we can always end on a stud. We'll stub this part in, but that will give us full sheets for the majority of this build.

Stan: This grid is what actually supports the rest of the framework for the stone veneer. And you can see that I've actually got the bottom is flush with the concrete. This is one important step. You want to make sure that you have your cut on the top, not on the bottom.

Stan: Its always good to get that one that gets screwed up on film.

Stan: All right guys. I don't probably have to point this out to everybody. But some of you might be interested to know that we don't have to do a stone veneer on the inside, because of course, you're not going to see it. So we'll just be putting the veneer on the complete outside of this project build. Some of you are probably going duh. But some of you may be new to this.

Stan: Now these use a square bit head. They don't use a torque head, Phillip's head. This is your typical square bit head and they come with the system.

Stan: So we split the gap, this gives us space so we can put the next mesh system in. And Phil's phone is going off.

Stan: You could have multiple orientations of the grid, the most important thing you can do is to make surer that you understand that the grid has to be tight right here. I want you to take a look at this. This is right. Now I'll show you wrong. Okay. This is wrong. So you want to have your vertical prods tight against your framework and supported. It's as simple as that.

Stan: Now when you do this, you can orient the grids this way, or you can orient it this way. We're gonna orient it this way, that way we're just making one solid cut along the top.

Stan: All right guys, so we got excess. You can cut it a number of different ways, but good old bolt cutters is one way. Grinders another way. Concrete saw is actually the best way. The important thing to remember is we cut it just a little bit below and we're gonna repeat the lesson that we started. The cut side is up. We'll actually end up reusing this section of the mesh to fill in this gap.

Stan: All right Phil and Tim just wrapped up the rough framing for the countertop bar installation. And this gets put into place. We're using a torque head screw bit.

Stan: Now one of the things that I want to point out is none of this structure is actually attached to the house. Even the deck is not attached to the house. Because that would actually change the code requirement. So here's the thing, I'm not gonna tell you right, wrong, or in between, but what I am gonna tell you is to check your local area. Every area has different requirements. You may be in Canada watching this. You could be in New Zealand watching this. Or you could be in New York, it doesn't make a difference. You still should check what the requirements are in your area.

Stan: We're just trying to give you a general guideline.

Stan: So when you're installing the outdoor kitchen, you need a brick wedge.

Phil: The weight of this stone can't be hung off from the deck, or hung off from the structure, it needs to rest on [inaudible 00:15:00]. We've got it resting on concrete.

Stan: You could put a piece of galvanized steel under there, you could do a lot of different things.

Phil: Anything that will support this. Because the weight of this unsupported will actually just droop and fall down.

Stan: It won't work.

Phil: Nope.

Stan: You've got to support it.

Phil: So because we want to overlap, you can see how we're overlapping each corner. What we're doing is we're thinking ahead, what's the best place to start. Should this be my next piece. I feel that the corner should be the next piece because it's a fixed point.

Stan: Yeah. I think so.

Phil: Guarantee not matter what, we have to have one full piece here. So from here, I can better plan out where my joints are gonna be. My options are gonna be, ideally if I had a piece this size I'd put one piece in. But I don't think our longest piece is quite that long. So I'm gonna try to plan my joint to fall right in the middle here, and then our next piece will be here. We're gonna likely put a full piece here and have to put another cut piece right on this side. But there's a little bit of artistry to it, so you just have to take your time, slow down for a minute and just think it out.

Stan: All right guys, we got the outside corner done. We've got an inside corner, we don't have to be quite as picky because we can hide it with the butt joints. We've got another inside corner going on here. And then we're gonna be laying these blocks out with a finished edge to wrap this project up.

Stan: All right guys, well we weren't able to wrap up our outdoor kitchen entirely in this video. But that doesn't mean we're not going back to check it out. I want to make sure that you guys got all the information you need. So I'm going to be looking for you for questions in the comments down below. Because if I can make my way back to Ohio, I want to make sure that I address any questions that you have. And if there's anything that I can answer right away, I will. So your questions down below, if this video's helped you out, give me a big thumbs up. And a big thanks goes out to Belgard because without their help, this video would not have been possible.

Stan: I hope it's helped you guys out. God bless you guys. Go make your own projects great. God bless, go get them.