Now looking up we come to the range hood and vent.
But it didn't always look like this. Yesterday I posted in "Structure and New Wood" how I had worked on the exterior framing
including the vent and had built from the outside, the replacement rough opening.
I wasn't feeling extremely satisfied with the result. So I came inside and tried to think this through. What I needed to do was install this hood and vent from the inside and make certain the exterior hole was in the right place. That was at least as important as locating it correctly to the hole in the siding!
I had found that the original installer of the whole hood had done a poor job. So after holding components in place and evaluating what needed to be done, I was able to mark the new wood from inside and drill holes in the bottom corners of the rough in cut location. From there I went outside and completed the cut with a saber saw.
Here you see the results. Notice the new staples through the paneling into the wall framing. That wall framing was over sized in part to lend support throughout this weakened paneling area (which is really stronger than it looks). I cut the bottom of this rectangle; the rest of the cut was all from the original install.
And from the outside...
I also found I needed to further cut the original hood notch in the upper wall cabinet face. The hood was not level front to back because of the face board notch. I had to cut 1/4" higher on one side and about 3/16" on the other. Here you see the scratch awl marking for the saw cut (which I only made AFTER the short end cuts). Also note a slight shifting of the hood rearward to attempt a better alignment between the hood and the vent.
My first cuts were on marks UNDER the shelf (because that was easiest to get a proper location in relation to the shelf). So I made the saber saw cut from underneath with bifocals while balancing weird, in the shadows.... Does that all sound like an excuse? It is. Here's a picture of what happens when you let the saw get away from you because you are in an uncomfortable position. It's a good example of what NOT to do when handling a power tool.
So I have some repair work to do there.
Here's the rearward moved positioning notch I mentioned, but it is pretty hidden now by the hood and I'll probably do finish caulking over such stuff.
And with the cut completed...
Then with the components in place...
Three more thoughts: color, back-splash and fan/light.
1- We have two stove top and oven doors, one set avocado, the other orange. I think DW called it tomato soup so it's a reddish orange. DW is a green kinda girl and other earth tones. Me too, but (like her) we aren't quite sure avocado is a good color choice for this camper - compared to our other color choices. I think the tomato soup orange would go well with this camper's interior colors although she's not quite sure she likes the orange. So we'll be trying both and deciding later. Of course the vent we only have in green, so we'll have to paint it. Kind of kicking around the Rustoleum Hammered Copper (which isn't high temp) so we'll play with that all in the future.
2- The back-splash will cover the paneling throughout the range area and the damage you see to the paneling now around the vent opening looks worse than it is. I'll probably stabilize the area with primer and seal things up good and install back-splash over an improved underlayment, paying particular attention to the opening in the wall, making certain it is all sealed well from future potential water intrusion.
3- I haven't yet researched much in the fan/light arena, but we'll have one in future, one way or another.
So now I will remove the components and store them on the shelf while I move on with more camper structure! The front wall replacements are next!
