My outdoor kitchen with a different roof structure

The first project I am posting is my outdoor kitchen. The north side or back of the house is in year-round shade and consequently a mud hole 6 months of the year. I needed something to put there for mud control alone. And I have always wanted an outdoor kitchen, not that I knew what that was. It was the site of an old deck when I bought the house.

After clearing the space I had an 8 X 10 slab poured and started. As I said in my intro weight is the first consideration for me so using cedar as much as I could was important. And I wanted to have the place be light, airy, and open.

I sunk 4 cedar posts and bolted 2 X 6 fir cross beams to the top of the posts. The question was then and still is knee braces. I chose not to use them because I like the more simple look.

The roof structure was also 2 X 6 fir. As you can see there is not much to it. Now for the interesting part. Because I wanted a light structure and I can’t lift 4 X 8 sheets easily I decided to forgo a standard truss structure and just use 1 X 6 X 6 fence boards for the roof. A board and baton type structure. The overlaps give the roof structure and are very light and easy to work with. And very available and if you take your time picking thru the piles there are pretty straight grained knot free boards to be had.

Here is the finished roof. I did install a redwood 2 X 6 on the back side for rigidity and to hang stuff. Next to the kitchen is a cover I built for the basement walkout. When I bought the house the walkout was covered by a deck and the rain and snow flowed into the basement. So I used the same system for a cover.

This view shows the details of the roof surface as well as the reinforcements for the kitchen roof. The kitchen roof has now been in place for 5 years and has been subjected to 70mph gusts of wind and it holds up fine. Also no problem with snow weight. This roof system is water resistant – not water tight. It is great for what we use it for.
Over time I have added to the original room.

A sink base with T&G cedar that I covered with a tile top.

Added natural gas for the stove in 2009 and another cabinet made with T&G. Later I put T&G doors on the cabinet next to the stove.

Kitchen in use this fall.