Finished my outdoor kitchen today

Brother Matt said:

I'm curious on the details of this type of construction. Would you mind sharing, or maybe pointing me towards any links or references you found helpful? Mostly I'm wondering how you secure the stone to the durarock or whatever the substrate is. Also, that detail around the Primo and the gasser, are those tiles or stone, or something else?

Click to expand...

I was reluctant on how to secure everything together, because there are so many varying opinions on HOW to secure rock to hardibacker. After hours of reading horror stories and success stories, I came up with my method.

First, you can't use building stone, what I have is natural quarry rock, but it's called "thin select". It runs a bit more, but all the rock for this project was only $450. Understand that it comes DIRTY and nothing sticks to lose dirt. So here is my method of securing the stone to 1/2" hardibacker:

1. Pre-prime the hardi backer by rolling on concrete bonding adhesive. This does two things: first, it wets the backer board, which will prevent it from rapidly soaking all the moisture out of your mortar and two, it enhances the bond.
2. Using a 1/8" toothed trowel apply Premium grade Type S mortar (mix with water and acrylic modifier for a superior bond).
3. wipe the backside of rock clean with a wet sponge
4. Trowel Type S on to thin select rock
5. Place and press.

Bigger pieces may require a screw or two to hold it into place for the night.

Thank you everyone for the fantastic compliments. I'll tell you I'm no contractor, plumber, rock worker, etc. Just patient and willing to try it. Anyone can do this. The rock work SUCKS, but it isn't rocket science.

Build pics:

Lay it out:


Frame it (with help):


1/2" hardi (this adds all the stability):


Rock test:


Keep on working:

Doors and such:




Granite goes on:




Install glass tile on backsplash (sorry no install pics):

Details:

framing: 26 gauge galvanized 2.5" framing
backer: 1/2" hardi backer
stone: Oklahoma Thin Select
mortar: Premium Type S
Granite: 3cm Venetian Gold
Doors and Drawer: BBQ Guys
Grill: SWISS 36" - 6 burners, power sear and rotisserie
Smoker: Primo Oval XL
Power Burner: Fire Magic Echelon 60,000 BTU Dual Power Burner

If any of ya'll have questions, please PM me. These threads get so buried in such a fast moving forum.

Thanks for the compliments