Outdoor kitchen masonry in Carson CA - a grill island built around your appliances
Tired of hauling food out to a rolling grill? We build a block and stone kitchen sized to your appliances from the first course.
How is a masonry outdoor kitchen built?
Outdoor kitchen masonry is the concrete slab, block base and stone face that hold a built-in grill, sink or fridge, and Advanced Carson Concrete and Masonry builds it for homes in Carson and the cities around it. When it's planned in the right order, you get a solid kitchen that fits your appliances and is ready for its countertop.
Most people who call me have a patio, a grill on wheels and a picture of something built in. The price moves with the size and shape of the kitchen, how many appliances it holds, the stone you pick for the face and whether new utility lines have to be run out to it. The schedule depends less on us than on your countertop, which has to be made to measure, and on when the other trades can come. When I walk the job with you, I'll put what I'd build in writing so you know what you're getting before anything starts.
Our outdoor kitchen masonry work, step by step
I ask you to pick your grill and appliances before we lay any block, because guessing at sizes means tearing block out later. If you want a cover over the kitchen, decide that now too, so its footings go in with the rest. Then we form and pour a reinforced concrete slab, build the base from concrete block, which masons call CMU, and leave each opening sized to the appliance going in it. Once the block is up, we face it with stone veneer, get the top ready for your countertop and clean up so the counter installer can start.
An outdoor kitchen is rarely the only thing a yard needs. If getting from the back door to the grill means crossing grass or broken concrete, our walkway construction gives you a steady path out to it. If you want the space closed in a little, brick wall installation can add a low seat wall or a screen along the property line, and both are easier to plan with the kitchen than after it.
A straight grill island
This suits you if you mostly grill and want counter space on either side, because it's the smallest base and the quickest to build. It's also the easiest to add onto later if we lay the block with that in mind.
An L-shaped kitchen
This suits you if you cook and entertain out back, since the corner gives room for a sink, a fridge and a second work counter. It takes more block, more veneer and more utility work, so it costs more and runs longer.
Outdoor kitchen masonry in Carson and the permit question
Building permits for homes in Carson go through the city's Building & Safety Division, and plan check applications are filed on its Civic Access Portal, where inspections get scheduled too. Whether your kitchen needs a permit is a question for the city, and I'll check it for your address, and if yours needs one, we pull it and set up the inspections. California also has cities and counties use the state's seismic hazard maps in their permit process, and those maps mark ground prone to liquefaction, where loose wet soil loses its strength in a quake, and to landslides set off by earthquakes. If your lot sits in one of those areas, it's the slab and block base that has to account for it, which is one more reason we settle the base before anything goes on top.
Plenty of backyards we work in around Carson already have an older concrete patio, and the first thing I'll tell you is whether it can carry block and stone or whether we pour a new slab. It's the same story on jobs in Torrance and Long Beach.
Grill islands and stone kitchens
Why call us for outdoor kitchens
I measure it and run it
I come out myself to look at your yard and write the estimate, and our own crew does the build while I run the job on site. The person who measured your appliance openings is the one checking them when the block goes up.
Working on lived-in homes since 2017
We've been at this since 2017, mostly on homes people already live in, with an old patio, a fence line and a back door to work around. I'd rather tell you your slab will do than pour one you don't need.
Licensed and fully insured crew
We're licensed and fully insured, and the people cutting block in your yard are our own crew, not strangers I met that morning. That matters when pallets of block and stone are moving across your property for days.
Carson or county, we check
Some addresses around here fall under the county instead of a city, so we sort out which office handles yours before any concrete goes in. That keeps a permit question from stopping a kitchen that's half built.
Getting the appliance sizes and the cover decision settled before the first block is what saves you money on this job, so have both ready when you call (424) 286-2220 or send us your project details.
(424) 286-2220Get a written plan for your outdoor kitchen
We reply within one business day, then I come out, walk the yard with you and put what I'd build in writing. The estimate is free, and there's no obligation to go ahead.
Questions about outdoor kitchens in Carson
How much does a built-in grill island cost?
A built-in grill island usually costs about $3,000 to $10,000 installed, going by national figures for the US. Those prices assume the patio and utility lines are already in place, so new lines add to the total. A mid-sized kitchen with a grill, sink, fridge and stone counters costs more, and large builds more again. I'll give you your own figure in writing after I walk the job.
How long does it take to build a masonry outdoor kitchen in Carson?
The masonry on a standard L-shaped outdoor kitchen usually takes 7 to 12 working days, covering the slab, block, stone veneer and countertop prep. Countertops usually have a 2 to 3 week lead time to be made, and the other trades need scheduling, so plan for the whole project to take longer than the masonry alone.
When do utility lines go in on an outdoor kitchen build?
Utility lines are usually roughed in after the block structure is finished and before the stone veneer goes on, so they run inside the base. It's worth asking your mason how the other trades fit into that window, and I'll lay that timing out with you before we start.
What license does a masonry contractor need in California?
California's contractor license board has a masonry contractor classification that covers concrete block and natural and manufactured stone, laid with or without mortar. That's the material an outdoor kitchen base is built from.
What is manufactured stone veneer made of?
Manufactured stone veneer is made from cement, lightweight aggregates, additives and coloring pigments so it looks like natural stone. It's applied with cement mortar to a backing surface, which on an outdoor kitchen is the block base. We can go over it next to natural stone when I come out.
How do I protect new stone veneer in hot, windy weather?
Keep it from drying out too fast. A masonry trade group's guide calls for that protection in high heat or hot wind before, during and for 72 hours after the work. On hot days we plan the veneer work with that guide in mind.
Plan your outdoor kitchen, walkway and patio walls together
Our phone is answered every day until 10 PM, so call (424) 286-2220 after work or send the form tonight.
