Jeff Doubét shares an insider look at how a custom Spanish range hood is being built by an expert plasterer. Using specialty tools, see the fascinating process take place in beautiful Santa Barbara, CA. 

Santa Barbara Home Designer Jeff Doubét shares an on-site photo shoot capturing a very rare sequence of photographs that document the process of plastering a custom Spanish-style range hood.

Before I go to the plastering and process photos, I thought I would share a photo of the completed project.

The Spanish kitchen remodel was a part of a much larger whole house renovation in the Riviera neighborhood of Santa Barbara. You can see additional photos of the completed interior in my Spanish Interiors Collection 1 blog post.

Spanish-style products on Amazon, and my project overviews where they were installed.

Scroll for professional design tips, beautiful photos and resources for building or buying a Spanish-style range hood.

Design Planning Tips for a Custom Spanish range hood

If you are planning a high-end Spanish range hood for your own kitchen renovation, there are several details I recommend you think about.

TIP # 1: It’s important to consider final dimensions and layout of your cabinets as they relate to the custom hood build. This might seem obvious, but custom plaster range hoods are built up with layers of material.

You will need wiggle room for the subtle variance in the final width of the hand-built hood and your cabinets. In the photo above, you can see how the upper cab between fridge and hood had to fit perfectly between them.

In this photo, the Artisan builds up the edge detail on the left side of the hood. As a handcrafted process, there will be slightly imperfect final dimensions.

In this photo you can see how the expert plasterer is using a straight edge tool to make his hand-built project as accurate and straight as possible.

Plastering a custom hood is an artistic process. In this photo you can see how the Artisan is now working the plaster to the underside portion of the range hood.

The plaster he is using is mixed on site. Once water is added to the dry mix, it has a short “shelf life”. He has to move fast, moving the material where he wants it- before it sets up rock hard.

THE EASY BUTTON TO VIEW ALL PROJECTS ON SITE

Design Planning Tips for a Custom Spanish range hood Continued

TIP # 2: The limit to your Spanish hood design will be determined by the internal mechanical range insert you choose to purchase.

Hood inserts vary greatly in size and profile, depending on what brand you are interested in purchasing.

In the above photo you can see how the metal worker fabricated the general swoop shape around the outer box of the hood insert.

Here is an Amazon direct link to 36″ range hood inserts. Something you can later study to see how much the size and shape of brand manufacturer inserts differ from one another.

TIP # 3: The thinner the profile of the hood insert, the more options you will have for the plaster shape and “swoop” of your design.

TIP # 4: If you prefer a Spanish-style kitchen range hood supported by decorative corbels, the overall width of your hood will expand to accomodate them. For example, if you have a 48″ range and want 6″ wide corbel supports- your hood will be 60″ wide.

Above: a close up photo of the underside of the basic fabrication of the hood. You can see the range hood insert unit (includes the buttons and squirrel cage fans). Next, the C channel and steel lath used to fabricate the overall shape of the hood. Materials you can purchase at Home Depot.

In this photo, the plasterer begins roughing in the material over the C channel. Note the self stick EIFS tape adhered to the metal. This fiberglass tape allows the plaster to stick to the metal framework underneath it.

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More Pro Insights for Fabricating a Custom Spanish Range Hood

Spanish range hoods similar to this custom project in Santa Barbara will take several days or a couple of weeks to develop.

Once the range hood insert is attached to the wall, a fabricator will develop the metal skeleton and skin the plaster will be applied to. Some plasterers who make hoods like this do the work themselves.

There will be multiple layers of plaster that take time to dry in between coats.

In this series of photos, the skilled plasterer is using a “tool” made from readily available metal angle. Other professionals use Skimmers.

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My client designed a band of black plaster within the hood.

A design detail to coordinate with the black La Cornue Range and the black cabinets he and his wife specified.

The plasterer keeps all of this in mind as he achieves the sharp lines required to make the idea work.

Where to buy Off-the-shelf Spanish-style Range Hoods

For those who does not have the time or money for a custom Spanish range hood, here are attractive options.

Here are a couple of recommendations for prefabricated range hoods compatible with Spanish-style home design.

This white Spanish-style range hood is fabricated in wood. It has a similar swoop design as above, but with a taller base section.

This black Spanish-style range hood has decorative straps. It will be a bolder look, for the right project.

The Amazon links above have unpainted versions, as well. This will allow you to paint it and coordinate with your cabinet color.

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Well friend, this wraps another site visit episode in beautiful Santa Barbara, CA. I hope you enjoyed learning how to infuse more Santa Barbara Style into your own Spanish home design project by incorporating a Spanish-style range hood into your kitchen. See Episode 13 about this Riviera neighborhood Spanish-style home renovation. Also, Scroll to explore more helpful links and resources for designing and building your own Spanish-style home and landscape.