An outdoor kitchen is a permanent masonry structure built outside, typically with a grill and counter space set into brick, stone, or block cabinetry on a poured footing.
A masonry outdoor kitchen is built the same way any small structure is, framed in block or brick, faced in stone or veneer, and finished with a durable countertop material that can take weather year-round. It usually includes utility rough-in for gas, power, or plumbing run before the cabinetry closes up, and it sits on a patio or hardscape area that's already graded to drain away from the structure instead of toward it.
Because it's permanent and heavy, an outdoor kitchen needs a footing that goes below the local frost line just like a house foundation would, not a shallow pad poured for convenience. Skip that step and frost heave will crack the base and telegraph straight up through the block and veneer, which is a common failure point on outdoor kitchens built without proper footings in this climate.
More masonry vocabulary from the glossary.
The services where this term comes up.
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