Local permitting agency notified me of most manufacturers not allowing power burners or griddles under combustible materials. I checked Blaze and they both say "It is imperative a Blaze appliance is not installed under unprotected combustible overhead construction."

Do you have ideas of what you've seen with these installed under pergolas that protect the wood above?

Would installing a range hood satisfy those requirements and fit with your build?

Right, hence my surprise when they brought this up....

I'm hoping applying a fire ******ant to the wood will suffice as it's technically protecting it.

fav13andac1)c said:

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Would installing a range hood satisfy those requirements and fit with your build?

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I think if the hood is the only option, I just won't install the pergola. Just seems odd to install a hood under a pergola.

I think you were just talking to the wrong permitting employee. There has to be some kind of ceiling height or other small print because as you wrote would eliminate pretty much all outdoor kitchens, and that ain't happening.

They are kicking it back to the manufacturer (Blaze) and they state in their manual the following:

NOTE: DO NOT USE THIS APPLIANCE UNDER OVERHEAD COMBUSTIBLE SURFACES The use of a vent hood, proper shielding of the combustible surface, or a significant distance between the burner and the combustible surface may be an approved solution determined by the local authority having jurisdiction. Please consult the appropriate local parties for what is approved in your area.

http://www.blazegrills.com/wp-content/uploads/BLAZE-POWER-BURNER-Manual-revised-6-16-16.pdf

Makes you wonder what an appropriate amount of space is too. Is 6' enough clearance? I'd like to think so but I'm the worst person to ask about that part.

You're having to submit your mfg submittals to permitting?

bbqAg09 said:

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Show the permitting agency plans with a vent hood included. Get approved and then forget to install the vent hood. The disclaimer language from Blaze is the same as all manufacturers and it's standard CYA language.

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Wouldn't they come to inspect it?

No help from blaze. I'm pretty sure they'd inspect this since they are inspecting the nearby structure.

We've compared notes before since we are just a couple of miles apart and building similar projects.

Ours is out to DoCo permitting right now, with Blaze gas grill and a BGE under an A-Frame structure, 6ft above the grill surface. I'll let you know what we hear. We are supposed to start demo in a couple of weeks.

Are you doing the permitting yourself or is your contractor handling it?

They are going to deny your permit if you don't have a vent under the blaze grill, unless their manual is somehow different than the griddle or power burner one. I've been going round and round with DougCo permitting. I have a 7.5 ft gap between my griddle power burner and the bottom of the pergola. They seem to be ok with the power burner but are hung up on the griddle. I'm explaining that the griddle will have a plate covering the flames but no dice, they want a stupid ass vent under my pergola. My last email to them was about installing a metal plate. If they say no to that, I'm going to tell them I'm not building the pergola.

The contractor should wrap up most of the work next week. They are about 80% done with our lower patio and will start on the upper next week, that includes the kitchen.

Did you already buy all your kitchen components? I got a pretty good deal from a guy in California, Islands in the Sun BBQ, Inc. I saved about $900 off the BBQ guys price.

I'm doing all the permitting. DougCo is usually pretty easy to work with. I got our gas line permitted and approved, contactor wanted about $200 for permitting, it was $30 for me to do it. The structural and electrical are approved pending inspections. The kitchen is hung up on the issue above.

Interesting. We had the structure guys handle the permitting process. I asked specifically about needing a vent and they looked at me like I was crazy and said they'd never been required to get one. We will see - they are saying all of that portion should be wrapped up in the next several days.

Blaze requirements are all the same - vent hood minimum 6ft above all cooking surfaces (NG/propane) and no structure at all above any non-controlled fuel source (charcoal/wood).

I did order them already with the Black Friday savings through BBQ guys. A quick check shows comparable pricing, so that's good.

No go on the metal plate, they are holding their ground on needing a vent.

Supposedly they have two people who review these, maybe you get better luck with the other guy.

We had to put vents behind our grill & griddle (to preclude gas accumulation in the under-counter area. But nothing above. So silly.

Yeah, I know why Blaze has that in their manual but how they (the county) think the pergola 7.5 ft away is going to catch on fire is beyond dumb. here is my layout, the griddle backs up to open space.

Unfortunately it's more related to the ETL certification. Multiple brands have the same language.

Thriller said:

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Interesting. We had the structure guys handle the permitting process. I asked specifically about needing a vent and they looked at me like I was crazy and said they'd never been required to get one. We will see - they are saying all of that portion should be wrapped up in the next several days.

Blaze requirements are all the same - vent hood minimum 6ft above all cooking surfaces (NG/propane) and no structure at all above any non-controlled fuel source (charcoal/wood).

I did order them already with the Black Friday savings through BBQ guys. A quick check shows comparable pricing, so that's good.

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Did you get approval? I'm going to get some bids for a louvered pergola and see where that ends up.

The Pilot said:

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Thriller said:

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Interesting. We had the structure guys handle the permitting process. I asked specifically about needing a vent and they looked at me like I was crazy and said they'd never been required to get one. We will see - they are saying all of that portion should be wrapped up in the next several days.

Blaze requirements are all the same - vent hood minimum 6ft above all cooking surfaces (NG/propane) and no structure at all above any non-controlled fuel source (charcoal/wood).

I did order them already with the Black Friday savings through BBQ guys. A quick check shows comparable pricing, so that's good.

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Did you get approval? I'm going to get some bids for a louvered pergola and see where that ends up.

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They did not approve a grill under the structure. We modified the layout of the kitchen and the grill will be outside the footprint. It's not ideal, but should be good. Construction is well underway, with the frame of the structure built, fireplace and fire pit built and waiting on facade and capstone.

We did express our frustration to both the designer and contractor that basically patted my wife on the head and told her not to worry about the need for a vent hood. They were both very surprised that Douglas County are back with the response we predicted from the beginning,

Oh well. I'm just stoked that I can look outside and see demonstrable progress, even with the weather the last few weeks.

Thriller said:

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The Pilot said:

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Thriller said:

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Interesting. We had the structure guys handle the permitting process. I asked specifically about needing a vent and they looked at me like I was crazy and said they'd never been required to get one. We will see - they are saying all of that portion should be wrapped up in the next several days.

Blaze requirements are all the same - vent hood minimum 6ft above all cooking surfaces (NG/propane) and no structure at all above any non-controlled fuel source (charcoal/wood).

I did order them already with the Black Friday savings through BBQ guys. A quick check shows comparable pricing, so that's good.

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Did you get approval? I'm going to get some bids for a louvered pergola and see where that ends up.

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They did not approve a grill under the structure. We modified the layout of the kitchen and the grill will be outside the footprint. It's not ideal, but should be good. Construction is well underway, with the frame of the structure built, fireplace and fire pit built and waiting on facade and capstone.

We did express our frustration to both the designer and contractor that basically patted my wife on the head and told her not to worry about the need for a vent hood. They were both very surprised that Douglas County are back with the response we predicted from the beginning,

Oh well. I'm just stoked that I can look outside and see demonstrable progress, even with the weather the last few weeks.

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Glad you found a solution.

We are almost done as well. Just waiting for the counter tops and then I'll probably end up building the structure myself in the next few months. Still not 100% sure what I'll do with the pergola portion. I might explore an aluminum option.