Outdoor kitchen masonry in Salinas CA - a grill island built to fit your appliances

Most people who call us have a grill picked out, or a corner of the patio they keep picturing, and want to know what it'll take. The price mostly moves with the size and shape of the island, how many appliances need openings, which facing you choose and whether the slab under it is ready or needs work first. The schedule turns on things outside the block, like the countertop fabricator and whoever runs the gas, water and power, and one estimating guide says to choose your appliances before the block layout is final because building around the wrong sizes means costly rework. When I come out, I write down the work, the materials and the reason for each, so you can compare it fairly with other bids.

Before we lay any block, I ask for the sizes of your grill and every other appliance going in, so the openings come out right the first time instead of getting cut down or filled in later. If your grill calls for an insulation jacket, the insulated sleeve that wraps the grill body, we plan the opening around it from the start. We check that the slab is sound and level, then our crew lays up the concrete block shell and checks the openings against your appliance sizes as each course goes on. Once the block is done, the gas, water and power lines get run to each opening, which one estimating guide says should happen after the block and before the stone, since pulling lines through finished veneer means tearing it back off. Then we set the stone or brick facing, prep the top for your countertop installer and clean up the yard.

An outdoor kitchen usually needs a good way to get to it, so we often pair the island with walkway construction from the back door. If you'd like a low wall or a seat wall around the cooking area, our brick wall installation work can follow the same lines as the island.

The Salinas Permit Center is the city office that reviews, issues and inspects building permits, and it takes building permits and stand-alone electrical and plumbing permits through its online portal. Whether your outdoor kitchen needs one isn't something I'll guess at, so I check with them for your layout before we start. When a job needs a permit, we handle the application and the inspections with the city or county office that covers your property, and we keep you posted on where it stands.

Plenty of Salinas backyards already have a patio slab, and I look it over for cracks and settling before we put block and stone on it, since that's far easier to fix first. We do the same check on jobs in Prunedale and Monterey, and if your city isn't on our list, call and ask.