Hey y'all I've got a outdoor kitchen area with a gas grill built in- its just a hose underneath to a propane tank. The cutout in the concrete counter is 51" - the existing grill has a couple inch wide flashing that sits atop the edge of the counter. I was considering swapping for a recteq RT-1070 built in assembly which is 30" wide.

So, so here's my question. What're options for filling in the new void? Would you place the new unit right in the middle then try and place some 2x4 supports, wood, then just lay in some backsplash/stone type stuff?

Have a buddy who has a machine shop so maybe he could get some flashing for me and weld to one side of the new grill and it would act as a counter top on one side?

I'm not a giant DIY'er but i've done tile, paint, misc. things before so just trying to figure out the scope and difficulty of something like this?

Pic of existing set up

You need to check the air flow requirements for the big rec tec. Maybe call them and see what they say. As for fitting, maybe some good looking wood work on each side screwed into the existing to make it slightly narrower. You also better have a big ceiling fan to get that smoke out of there.

I don't see anything about airflow requirements? Here is the unit: https://www.recteq.com/products/rt-1070-wood-pellet-grill

Yeah, you are right. Looks like they figured it out. Wish they had that available when I did my outdoor kitchen two years ago.