RTA Outdoor Living Advocates For Outdoor Kitchen Safety

RTA Outdoor Living, a leader in made-to-order and ready-to-assemble outdoor kitchens, has published a comprehensive blog on Outdoor Kitchen Ventilation to help both homeowners and contractors plan, design and build outdoor kitchens safely.

“There are an alarming number of outdoor kitchens being built with combustible materials, no insulated grill jackets and improper—or in some cases—no ventilation,” said Daniel Cdebaca, RTA Designer and former outdoor living contractor. “The information available from RTA Outdoor Living can help homeowners and builders learn important steps to increase the safety of their outdoor kitchen.”

In addition to the informative blog post, RTA is offering three free resources throughout the month of March:

• Outdoor Kitchen Safety 101 YouTube Live Training (March 14th): The Outdoor Kitchen Safety 101 YouTube Live Training is an overview of several key factors to ensure your outdoor kitchen design and construction is safe and will hold up for years of enjoyment. This video will be presented by James King, VP of Sales at RTA Outdoor Living. James has close to a decade of experience building outdoor kitchens across the US.
• Outdoor Kitchen Safety Checklist (March 14th): The Outdoor Kitchen Safety Checklist is a quick way to assess your—or your contractor’s—preparedness to build your outdoor kitchen with proper safety precautions. This can also be used as a screening resource as you interview contractors for the project.
• Outdoor Kitchen Safety Guide (Releasing Late March): The Outdoor Kitchen Safety Guide is a visual pdf that will help you understand the best practices of where to locate your outdoor kitchen, how to build it, and proper ventilation specifications.

All these resources will be available at rtaoutdoorliving.com/safety.

With outdoor kitchen ownership on the rise and spring right around the corner, more homeowners are turning to local contractors, prefab manufacturers and DIY solutions to make their backyard dreams a reality. As the popularity increases, so has the number of house fires, gas explosions and injuries due to unsafe and improper installations and either poor or no venting. Unfortunately, outdoor educational resources are lacking, and, as a result, many homeowners and contractors do not understand best practices in safe outdoor kitchen construction.

“Our hope is to demystify how to safely plan, design and build your outdoor kitchen by providing easy-to-understand resources. Regardless of how a kitchen is created in your backyard, we want to help make sure it is safe for you and your family,” said Phil Aldrich, RTA Customer Experience Manager.

RTA Outdoor Living believes that a safe outdoor kitchen should not be a “nice-to-have” option but a necessity. What is meant to bring friends and families together can easily be a safety risk if simple measures are not taken. For example:

• Unlike indoor ovens, gas grills do not have temperature regulation and can exceed temps of over 1,000ºF if left unattended. Wood’s ignition temperature is approximately 500ºF, which means a wood-framed outdoor kitchen can be a fire safety risk, particularly in the absence of an insulated jacket for the grill.
• Propane and or natural gas leaks can happen. If not properly vented, outdoor kitchen islands can trap gas and, if sparked, can lead to an explosion. Recent news accounts have reported several instances of this happening around the country.

“RTA is adamant that safety information should be free and readily accessible to all homeowners,” said Jayme Muller, Brand Manager for RTA. “If you want an outdoor kitchen, you should feel confident that you are making an informed decision… one that will give you peace of mind, knowing you are safe, every time you grill.”

About RTA Outdoor Living:
RTA manufactures made-to-order and ready-to-assemble outdoor kitchens in Cambridge City, Indiana, with administrative offices in Greenland, New Hampshire. The company serves thousands of homeowners across the continental US each year, with the purpose of making outdoor kitchens more accessible by reducing the barriers of designing, purchasing, and building—to offer an effortless, no-compromise solution that transcends traditional options. RTA guarantees that every island is manufactured with homeowners’ safety in mind. All islands are constructed to adhere to the strictest safety standards.

Visit rtaoutdoorliving.com/safety to access the above resources.

See also: Building An Outdoor Kitchen – 10 Things To Know First