Kitchen Fitting - Hole for Cooker Hood

[Dai123]

Hi All

I've been reading these forums for years but have never posted so please be kind.

I'm in the process of fitting a kitchen and need to make a hole through a stone wall that's over 2ft thick to vent my cooker hood. The wall is solid stone with loose shingle in the middle.

The room has had problems with condensation in the past so I don't really want to recirculate the air.

As it's an old house and the walls are not dead straight (and I'm fitting an IKEA kitchen with no service void at the back of the cupboards), I don't really want to make the hole until I know the exact position of the hood i.e. after the base units are fitted.

My question really is does anyone have any tips on the best way to make the hole (the room's already been re-skimmed) that will keep mess to a minimum. I was thinking about buying some ducting as it might be easier to make a rectangular hole through the stonework. Thanks.

 

[pinenot]

Going through a solid stone wall poses the problem of going through the rubble, not shingle, which is at the centre of the wall. However if the hole is drilled through with a diamond core cutter and the cored holed sleeved immediately, there should be little disturbance to worry about. That said I would be inclined to suggest you get a proper job done, coring this that is. Reason being, at cooker hood height and through two feet of stone you'll likely need a rig to support the drill and core bit, which these guys have as standard, they will also be able to tell you if the job is safe...pinenot

 

[Dai123]

Thanks Pinenot. I'm on a bit of a budget and was hoping to do the job myself. I made a hole through the same wall in prep for my plumbers to install my boiler flue - they weren't too keen to do it either lol. I was really lucky there as the position of the hole allowed my to remove one full stone inside and one outside before pulling out a load of rubble and lining it with a cast iron pipe.

I can't be that lucky twice, hence the question.

 

[Burnerman]

I would shove a 10mm diameter pilot drill straight through, and then hire a 117mm core drill to drill from each side. So long as the pilot hole is horizontal, all should work well!
John

 

[foxhole]

10mm drill is too large, core bit is usually 7mm and will rattle around in a 10mm hole.If you know where the cooker is centred you can drill on centre line 300mm below ceiling and be fairly sure that the hood will accommodate this.
Do you have the hood? size of hole can vary between 100mm and 120mm though reducers can be used so you can use 100m core drill.

 

[Dai123]

Thanks for the replies. The pipe from the hood is 150mm. What if I was to drill a series of smaller holes to accommodate the pipe and remove the stone bit by bit. I was thinking that maybe I could push a 150mm steel stove chimney flue through there and connect to the flexi.

 

[Burnerman]

Thats called chain drilling and it works perfectly well. Again I'd use a 10mm drill (never hired a 7mm pilot drill by the way).
Drill the holes as accurately as you can and then use a smaller bit to remove as much material as possible. Follow up with a long sharp cold chisel and be patient - you'll get there!
There wont be any real problems with the random rubble thats in the centre of the wall.
John

 

[Dai123]

Cheers John, I'll go with that as I means I don't need any more outlay just a bit of patience.

 

[foxhole]

The pipe can be reduced to a more manageable size.

 

[jockscott]

As it's an old house and the walls are not dead straight (and I'm fitting an IKEA kitchen with no service void at the back of the cupboards), I don't really want to make the hole until I know the exact position of the hood i.e. after the base units are fitted. Thanks.

If the walls are not straight, and your fitting an Ikea kitchen, I'd say the hole for the cooker hood is the least of your problems.

 

[Dai123]

Haha, I'll bodge them in somehow