I'll be honest, I don't see the vent.

I don't see it either

We both agree on something again?

We both agree on something again?

What is this world coming to???

I think I see it. On the larger porch roof it's right below that open casement window. I'd think you would get smells in through that window if the vent is right below it.

Have the cook sleep in that bedroom and it won't be a problem.

I wish I had a pic from the bedroom window. I'll take a picture when I'm down there and post it. Thanks!

We have a full dormer on the back of our house. These always gave a small "cat walk" and that's where my previous hood vented. I don't have an open floor plan and the stairs to the 2nd floor are through a doorway, about 5 ft down a gall, through another door way, down that hall about 10 ft, then a turn and up the stairs. Not a direct route for cooking odors! But I could always smell them in my 2nd floor bedroom when I warm up for the night. I finally realized they were coming in to the 2nd flr furnace closet and then into the upstairs. When I got a new hood, I had the installers run the pipe straight up through that unfinished closet and out the 2nd floor roof. Problem solved. Make them find a better way to vent this.

The builder and HVAC contractor are telling me there's no other place for it. Why I wasn't consulted before it was run, I don't know, but I really should have caught it sooner. Now the porch ceiling and roof are installed and the drywall is finished and painted inside. I'm not even sure where else we could run the ducts. I don't even know how long the lines can be or how many turns they can make. The HVAC contractor said that we could vent down out the crawl space but then it would be under the porch. I actually think that's better than stinking up the bedrooms. I'm not convinced the odors won't get through closed windows. He said we could run the duct in the crawlspace to a different location but that would require a fan and we're not allowed to have any mechanicals below the BFE since Sandy. I'm so upset about this! :'(

Here's the back and side layout. The hood is where that middle window was. Follow that middle post to the gable roof and that's where the cap is, but closer to the house. If anyone has any ideas, I'm all ears.

I don't know where the middle window was. Still not sure where the vent is either. In order to give you a feasible suggestion, I would need to see a floorplan to know the exact location of the hood inside the house, and where the all walls are. How many CFM's is your hood? What is the diameter of the vent pipe?

But if the sheetrock is up and painted, your ship has sailed, because nobody is going to want to open up the sheetrock and repaint to fix something they don't think needs fixing.

Cooking odors will not enter the house through closed windows. I've got a 2 blower Vent-a-Hood which exhausts on the roof of my single story home. Depending on what I'm cooking, I can smell it outside near my back door even though the vent is on the roof.

What might be of bigger concern is if the vent exhausts out right over the roof, over time the grease and spray will start to accumulate on the roof near the vent. This could possibly degrade the shingles in that area if it builds up? Attract bugs? I guess it all depends on if the rain would be enough to wash the grease off.

You could switch to a recirculating hood, and skip venting to the outside all together. You would have to replace the filters often, but a good carbon filter would take out most of the odors.

Sorry Mike but recirculating hoods are just about useless, especially if you have a gas cooktop

As stated cooking odors should not come in through closed windows. Additionally, your home should maintain a slight positive pressure to ensure you don't "suck in" things you don't want.

The volume of air you exhaust and the relatively low odor of most foods I don't think is an issue. If this wasn't pre-planned to specifically go somewhere (and it appears that it wasn't), I think this is about the best / least intrusive solution

@Mike - I have to report the roof exhaust has not been an issue in my case. The Vent-a-Hood does an excellent job of removing grease. I have not noticed any staining on the shingles near the roof vent. When I replaced the original 20-something year old painted finish Vent-a-Hood with an identical stainless steel model, I checked the ductwork and it was clean. Their grease extraction method definitely works. I cannot speak for mesh and baffle extraction methods since I've no experience with them. From what I've read, they are also effective but noisier.

wishiwereintheup glad to hear the ventahood exhausting on the roof isn't a problem. Ours will be venting on the roof.

I don't know where the middle window was. Still not sure where the vent is either.

The right side of the porch shows 5 windows on that wall. The middle window no longer exists. It's a wall with the range hood on the other side. Directly above it, about four feet from the exterior wall, and about two feet below the ridge, the vent exits the porch roof. (not far from where the triangle shows the roof pitch on the second drawing).

But if the sheetrock is up and painted, your ship has sailed, because nobody is going to want to open up the sheetrock and repaint to fix something they don't think needs fixing.

If there were a good fix, I'd do it on my dime. It would be worth it to me.

The volume of air you exhaust and the relatively low odor of most foods I don't think is an issue. If this wasn't pre-planned to specifically go somewhere (and it appears that it wasn't), I think this is about the best / least intrusive solution

This is my first build and probably my last. But, if I ever build again, it will be with the HVAC contractor working with the architect during the design phase. Why this isn't standard I don't know. The architect designed this house with no regard to HVAC at all! Live and learn.

It was tricky from the start to vent the hood and I'm not faulting the HVAC contractor. He did his best but I do wish I had been part of the decision. I'm going to leave it where it is. The windows should be tight enough to keep the smell out when closed and they won't be open often. Thanks again. You have all been very helpful.

IF . . . the hood exhaust could be vented out the gable of the porch roof, then a decorative cover could be installed over the exhaust cover and matched on the other gable. See red ovals in image below.

This could be a good back up plan if we find that cooking smells become a nuisance in those two back bedrooms. I'll have to find an HVAC contractor small enough to fit in that gable to extend the ductwork. LOL!

I hope it works for you. I don't doubt that my problem was probably made worse by having a 2nd flr HVAC system. But I have very expensive Marvin windows, and I would always smell chicken cooking odors (hardly a "strong" smell") scrambled eggs and tomato soup - I wasn't cooking curry!

Unless I burn something, I've always appreciated cooking aromas. Anticipating good eats.... curry or otherwise. (Yes, I am probably weird...)

Still have the cook sleep in that bedroom.

I'm the cook and I'm NOT sleeping in that bedroom!!!! LOL!

But I have very expensive Marvin windows, and I would always smell chicken cooking odors

I hope our windows seal out the smell. Otherwise, it's going to be an expensive fix. Right now we have a grill right outside the dining room window and I can't smell it if the window is closed. Fingers crossed!

The other thing is that it's so darn ugly!!!! I wonder if I can paint it to match the roof.