A homeowner in Jenks, Okla., wanted a large food preparation area with plenty of storage and a serving and dining counter, all within a narrow and angled corner of the patio. About 30 feet of modular, pre-engineered outdoor kitchen components were installed to fit the family's needs in just five days.

With growing interest in residential outdoor living and the expansion of the home's living space into the backyard, plenty of new opportunities are available to landscape designers and installers who are willing to look beyond their traditional job profiles and offer other services to their clients. The development of modular masonry kits for the construction of popular outdoor living elements has made this significantly easier, as landscape professionals who are not masons by trade can now purchase kits to build complete masonry fireplaces, fire pits, pizza ovens, or kitchen islands.

After the shell has been assembled, appliance openings are marked directly onto the island and cut to the appliance manufacturer's specifications with a diamond-blade masonry saw. Once the openings are cut, finish work can begin immediately, as the system is stable as soon as the brackets and adhesive are applied.

Selling the client on the value of professionally installed outdoor elements can often make the difference in landing a lucrative project, and offering pre-engineered kits adds value to the installer's services that is easily demonstrated to the client. The full masonry construction of these elements gives the installer and client an assurance of durability and value. For the homeowner, this translates into immediate enjoyment of the product and long-term added value to the home, as these upgrades will also serve as selling points to a prospective homebuyer in the future. As long as quality components are in place, the added value will remain for years to come, whereas cheaper, less robust products will show their age very quickly, and have a negative impact on the overall value of the home.

Outdoor room projects added to existing homes will often place limitations on the size and scope of the project due to other elements already in place that the homeowner may want the new layout to complement. Such installations create challenges for the designer and installer, but these can be easily overcome with some creative thinking and the use of flexible construction systems, such as the Stone Age cabinet component system for kitchen islands.

Natural stone accents and stucco tinted to match the painted brick of the home were incorporated to match the stone on the front of the house. Stucco finishes with stone can help meet the budget, as stucco is typically lower in cost than natural stone, and a relatively small amount of stone can add aesthetic value.

This project, in a Jenks, Okla., backyard outside of Tusla, presented several limitations, including a restricted backyard with an angle property line that ran close to an existing patio, an angled wall line of the home adjacent to the intended outdoor living addition, and a large pool opposite restricting the expansion in another direction. Additionally, the construction team was working with a budget of approximately $25,000, which will generally cover a medium-sized project of this nature.

A 15-foot F Series island, with two wings at a relaxed angle, was easily adapted to follow the wall of the home, and could house the large gas grill, some storage, a sink, and the main food preparation area. The opposite section was constructed using a 15-foot FF model, with three angled sections to allow some preparation, while giving plenty of space for additional food preparation and serving, including a second sink, as well as eating counters, which were added using bar top backsplash kits designed to work with the standard island kits. To maximize the utility of this layout, one of the sections of the FF island kit was moved to the opposite side, creating a long wing for the primary eating counter, and a shorter wing at the other end, to create a smaller serving area and house an under counter refrigerator.

The designer chose to combine two cabinet component kits to create a tight "C" shaped kitchen island that could accommodate a large gas grill, multiple sets of storage doors and a refrigerator. Additional storage on the outside of the island was incorporated to house pool toys and other items.

Modular masonry kits offer tremendous labor saving to the installer, which translates into more profits on each job, more flexibility when negotiating a bid with the client, and higher profits overall, due to the ability to complete more work successfully within a given time period. This also helps create a favorable reputation for the installer, as he becomes well known for offering higher quality work and meeting construction deadlines more often than his scratch-building competition. In today's competitive market, offering more services and higher quality work may mean the difference between securing contracts or being passed by in the marketplace.

The basic island shell, a system of concrete panels and galvanized steel brackets (Stone Age Manufacturing), glues together with standard landscape block adhesive. Utilities are run in advance so the island kit can be assembled around them.