Hello,

My wife and I are in the planning stages of a kitchen update and are looking for some advice. One of the main things we feel we must do is upgrade our stove-top vent.

Our current vent just blows air into the above-microwave cabinet. It also isn’t very powerful so we have a lot of grease on our upper cabinets and cooking smells quickly permeate throughout our small home. So, we know we need an externally-venting hood. I am looking for advice on whether to vent it through the attic (one-story house w/ clay tile roof) or the exterior (see image, stucco walls). We’d plan to use a dedicated vent hood, so we will need a new microwave location. In general, we’d prefer the “enclosed” design like the inspiration image rather than the brushed stainless “exposed” vent hood. I assume this is more expensive.

Our current plan is to take down the surrounding cabinets on this wall and replace with open shelving (like the inspiration image). The main reason for this is that we think it will look odd to have the vent go all the way to the ceiling with our cabinets remaining where they are. If the vent doesn't need to go all the way to the ceiling we'd be more inclined to keep the cabinets where they are (minus the one above the microwave). I am wary of both losing the cabinet space as well as the dust/grease issues that could come with having open shelving surrounding a stove, although I do think aesthetically that may look better because we don't like how our cabinets don't go all the way to the ceiling.

For context, the wall to the left is an exterior wall but the stove is on an ~8" wall that separates the kitchen from the living room. It is a one-story house and I don't believe any important equipment/structures lie above this area in the attic. It has a tile roof.

Questions:

1. Which experts would be worth consulting for this? HVAC + Carpenter for the duct box? We aren't thinking farmhouse shiplap or anything, probably just flat white.
2. What do you think our options are for the vent path? We think exposed ducting would look out of place in this house and a soffit may look odd with the ceiling angle.
3. Thoughts on open shelves vs keeping existing cabinets? For what it is worth I would use the cabinets in the garage if we do move them (assuming they could remain salvageable)
4. Any opinions on vent hood brands/requirements? CFM? A quick google suggests cfm = 1/100 BTU output for your stove (ours is 37000 BTU if I add up all of the burners). For reference we cook nearly every meal and have a 1300 sqft house. It seems above a certain CFM we will need a "makeup air" system
5. Cost Estimates: Material $1500, Labor $1000? In SoCal if that helps.