Okay another kind of crazy question. What would the drawbacks be to building in a normal range hood instead of an insert? For some reason I can find a normal range hood in the price range I want with reasonable specs but not an insert, you would figure an insert would be cheaper because you wouldn't need the finished case.

Anyway I'm doing custom cabinetry so getting it to fit shouldn't be an issue, and I would have an arch in the front that would reveal the controls. Is the a safety issue? I can't think of how it would be substantially different than a insert with wood hood. I would trim around the sides so that there was no gap between the sides of the box and the hood. The front might be a bit tricky, but I could make something work I think.

The hood I'm looking at is this which is just a re-branded Windster from what I can tell. 700 CFM at 3.8 sones for $325 is mighty tempting.

Has anyone built a hood around a non-insert hood? Any advice or code issues someone could offer would be appreciated. Thanks.