Alfresco living
Alfresco living: shelter, shade, lighting and the covered alfresco pattern — what an outdoor room changes about the kitchen specification, and what it leaves the same.
The short answer
A covered alfresco is a different product environment: less UV, less direct rain, and much more use. It changes the finish decision more than the cabinet decision.
Read in this order
Start here
The rest of the category is variations on these. Each answers one question rather than listing trends.
Guides in this section
The full list
Newest first. Each guide answers one question and links to the cabinet, drawing or report that settles it.
Before you read the guides
What a covered alfresco actually changes
These are the decisions the guides below keep returning to. Settle them roughly first; the articles then fill in the detail.
Whether the grill can live under the roof
A pergola fixes the height above the counter. A grill whose lid swings up and back needs that height clear, or it moves out to the open end of the run.
Where the rain lands
A roof does not keep the cabinets dry, it moves the drip line. Water off an edge lands on whatever module sits under it, and that is usually the one with the sink.
Where the smoke goes
A sheltered corner is where smoke sits. If the run is against two walls, the grill wants the open end of it, not the inside of the corner.
The circuit you need before delivery
Lighting, an outdoor socket and the grill's ignition all want power at the wall behind the run, not a lead across the paving afterwards.
The fall of the floor
Tiled alfresco slabs fall to a drain. That fall decides how far the castors have to come up to keep the counter level, and it is measured, not guessed.
Straight answers
Questions this section gets most
If the answer you need is not here, the enquiry form asks for the grill model and the run length and nothing else.
Does stainless steel have to be under cover?
No. The cabinets are built for open air, and a roof changes comfort and smoke rather than corrosion. What a roof does change is where water drips and how much sun the fronts take.
Can a grill go under a pergola?
Only if the lid opens clear of the beams and the smoke has an open side to leave by. Measure the height above the counter, not above the floor, and give the lid its full swing.
Does an alfresco roof change the price?
Only through the layout. A covered corner often means a shorter run, and a shorter run usually means fewer modules — which is cheaper, not dearer.
Save the reading
Send us the grill and the length
One field, then a configuration and a price. If your grill is one we have not cut for, we will ask for the manufacturer's drawing rather than guess at it.
Page last updated · Reviewed by the BOGEQI technical team, Foshan Bogeqi Cabinetry Co., Ltd.
Reference
How much room a covered run needs
An alfresco structure is dimensioned around the run, so the run has to be settled first.