I am not sure why the surrounding tile will not work as the anchor for the hood. That looks like a tiny space and I can't see you having problems unless you torque it so hard that you dent the hood. If I was concerned I would maybe glue in a broken piece of tile to the left but I would not bother drilling a tile.

Ah, that sounds like a good idea. At least one side would give the hardware something to be flush against.

Go to any big box store and buy Tile spade bits, they look like mini "Arrows" use a slow drill speed and drill holes in tile pieces have a cup of water on the table and constalntly dip the bit in cool water,,,,heat and forcing it is the enemy.

If your tile install is not in plane and FLAT your range hood may have some unsightly reveals, are you not using a range hood support bracket strip?

Having the small space of untiled area, assuming that tile really is that small, should not have any significant effect on the coefficient of friction that holds the hood to the wall. In fact, one could probably calculate how the elasticity and the flexural strength of the metal turns it into a simple spring to get an increased coeffecient of friction (in other words it will hold tighter.) The downside being you will have the bolt sticking out a bit which will make it more susceptible to shear, but I think it unlikely to shear.

As Tundra pointed out you really do need to make sure the wall is not overly wavy and that you are not going to torque the bolt in an exposed area. I assumed this was a question about mechanical hold and not mounting brackets, if you have a very thin metal hood then you might take extra precautions. Any hole you attempt to drill is going to hit the edge of the tile and will almost certainly break it unless you wedge it very securely between two pieces of wood. If you insist on putting tile back there use an angle grinder instead of a drill bit.

Thanks for the feedback! We were more concerned with the strength of the hold. 2 of the 4 mounting screws are going into studs and the other 2 are going into reinforced anchors like in the pic above. The range hood has 4 mounting slots, which you slide onto the gapped screws (the tile surface is completely flush). Since the screws are going to be gapped out further from the wall than what is instructed (to compensate for the tile), I was concerned the hold strength. I think we are going to mount and then tighten the screws down to pull the mounting slots snug against the tile.

Erik that looks like marble to me. Not sure the arrow heads will work as well with that stone. I would think maybe a coring bit.

Not sure any hole needs to be drilled at all either. Maybe just keep the tile to the left and right .

I would be worried about how it anchors more. Does the install work as is? How much tile get covered. If you can not see the plate then why drill holes to begin with?

John, Go into your Lab and give it a shot!!! report back your findings here please LOL

I do prefer to drill my marble holes only into SET tile with 100% thinset coverage dried and cured groted...........My arrows would pierce that in about 5 mins flat!

I can't see the hood weighing more than 50 lbs?

I'm assuming the two screws at the top of the hood go into the studs. 50 lbs / 2 = 25 lbs a screw. Which is a very small load. The hood will rest on these screws.

I think you should fill in the void on each side of the molly screws. You could cut some tile and thin set them. I don't know the gauge of the steel on the hood - but you don't want an indentation when you tighten the molly screws.

"I'm doing most of this myself" - At my house the saying is "Girls rule and Boys drool". Having three daughters it is pretty lop sided the views on this. Tile is really strong and so is thin-set. The weak points are the substrate or drywall CBU etc.

If your afraid to pull on the hood fan a little it most likely is not installed right. Get it up and give it a little tug. Make sure your supporting it when you do.

When I built some shelves for my kids room my wife freaked out that they where not strong enough. So I grabbed my 4 year old and sat her on it.... LOL That is the test.

When I build a shower ceiling I hang from it and use the lumber like monkey bars. when I build a shower bench I like to kick it. Not very scientific but I find it makes me sleep easier at night knowing everything is installed like a tank.

LOL John; I replaced all the drywall with greenboard prior to that tile, so I know that's not going anywhere!