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Custom Range Hood in the Houston Metro
Two jobs share the name and share almost nothing else. A custom hood in a 1968 Oak Forest kitchen and a custom hood in a 2006 Cinco Ranch kitchen start from opposite conditions. The older kitchen usually has no duct at all, just…
- Licensed & Insured
- 20+ years remodeling
- 17 cities served
- 102 ZIP codes covered
In short
Both start the same way. We work from the cooktop or range spec sheet rather than the showroom photo, and size capture width and airflow from actual burner output and appliance dimensions. Then the route survey, where the two houses split. In the older house that means opening the soffit and…
What the work involves
Both start the same way. We work from the cooktop or range spec sheet rather than the showroom photo, and size capture width and airflow from actual burner output and appliance dimensions. Then the route survey, where the two houses split. In the older house that means opening the soffit and hunting a path: up the wall cavity, through the top plate, into the attic, out a roof cap. Typical findings are a cast-iron vent stack in the way, an HVAC trunk running exactly where the duct wants to go, and 2×4 walls with no room for a ten-inch duct. In the newer house we open the existing chase and measure what is there, often six- or seven-inch round, fine for what the builder hung and undersized for a serious insert. From there the sequence converges. Test pre-1980s ceiling texture before disturbing it. Set blocking or a ledger sized to the finished shell weight. Run rigid smooth-wall galvanised or stainless duct, sealed joints, no flex, elbows counted and minimised. Pull a dedicated circuit and switching. Set and level the liner, mount the blower, flash the cap. Build or set the shell, finish it, then test with everything running.
What gets specified, and why
Shell material is where the two houses diverge in taste and in practicality. Plaster over metal stud reads correct in a Heights bungalow or a Memorial Mediterranean, and it is heavy, so the blocking has to exist before anyone hangs it. Paint-grade wood is lighter and forgiving over an out-of-plumb old wall: plywood carcass, poplar trim, and MDF kept out of it unless every cut edge is sealed, because unsealed MDF in this humidity swells at the joints and telegraphs through paint. Stainless is normally 304 in brushed number four; nearer the bay, 316 is the honest specification. Hand-formed copper, brass and zinc are living finishes that will move and darken, which is the point of them. Inside the shell, specify a listed liner with stainless baffle filters rather than mesh, because baffles wash in a dishwasher and mesh eventually loads and stays loaded. Blowers sit in the liner, inline in the duct run, or out on the roof. Moving the motor away from the cook is the cheapest noise reduction available.
Why the Gulf Coast changes this job
Older inner-loop houses often have an atmospherically vented gas water heater in a closet or the garage, sharing air with the kitchen. Pull serious airflow out of a house like that and the flue can reverse. We check draft on every combustion appliance with the hood on high, doors and windows shut, and if it backdrafts the answer is makeup air, not wishful thinking. Newer suburban houses are built tighter, so the same test matters more, and the codes adopted around the metro require an engineered makeup-air path once a hood passes a certain airflow. Then the attic. In August it is brutally hot and holds a lot of moisture. Bare metal duct carrying cooled kitchen air sweats, and that water tracks back down to the ceiling, so the duct gets sleeved. Roof caps get proper flashing and a spring-loaded backdraft damper. A damper stuck open is how humid outside air and wind-driven rain find their way in.
Where these jobs go wrong
The common failure is ordering the hood before anyone has looked at the duct route, then discovering the only path runs through a truss or a bathroom. Second is choosing by airflow number instead of capture: a shell narrower than the cooktop lets everything roll off the front burners regardless of the blower. Flex duct, too many elbows, and a reducer at the cap all quietly strangle a big blower until it is loud and ineffective, which is exactly what happens when a builder’s small round duct gets reused for an upgraded insert. Venting into a soffit or the attic is worse than not venting, particularly with gas, because that moisture and combustion product has to land somewhere. Skipping the backdraft damper leaves a permanent hole in the envelope. In pre-1980 houses, texture gets tested before demolition, and any addition to a circuit in a house with aluminium branch wiring gets terminated with devices and connectors rated for it, not plain wirenuts. Mounting height follows the manufacturer, not eye level.
What moves the price
Shell material and fabrication move the number most: plaster and paint-grade wood, stainless, and hand-formed copper or brass are different worlds of shop labour. Geometry matters next. An island hood, a tall run to a twelve-foot ceiling, or an angled ceiling all add framing and finish work. Blower size and location change the price, and a roof or inline blower costs more than one hung in the liner. The duct is the wild card: length, diameter, elbow count, and whether anything existing is genuinely reusable. Roof pitch and roofing material affect the cost of a new penetration. Makeup air, when the airflow triggers it, is a second duct, a damper, and sometimes tempering. Add blocking, ceiling or soffit demolition, a dedicated circuit, backsplash tile repair behind the old hood, and permits where the work is permitted.
How a project runs
We measure, collect appliance spec sheets, and survey the attic and wall cavity before pricing. You get a shop drawing showing shell dimensions, mounting height, duct size and route. Orders go in, and long-lead metalwork sets the schedule. On site: protection and dust control, demolition, blocking, duct and electrical rough-in, inspection where the jurisdiction requires it, then the liner, then the shell, then finish work and the backsplash repair. Last comes commissioning, which means running the blower and checking that combustion appliances still draft correctly with the house closed up. We hand over filter-cleaning instructions and the liner model number. If you want the duct route looked at before you order a hood, call (281) 235-6971.
Common questions
My kitchen is on an interior wall with no duct. Can I still have a real hood?
Usually yes. On a slab there is nowhere to go but up, so the route runs inside the wall cavity, through the top plate, across the attic and out a roof cap. The limits are wall depth, what is already in that cavity, and what the attic framing allows. We survey it before quoting rather than after.
Can I reuse the duct the builder installed?
Sometimes, and it depends on diameter, length and elbow count rather than age. A small round duct feeding a large blower produces noise and disappointment because the blower never reaches its rating. We measure the existing run and tell you honestly whether it supports the hood you want or needs replacing.
Is a recirculating hood ever the right answer?
Rarely, and almost never over gas. Charcoal filtering addresses some odour and does nothing about heat, grease-laden moisture or combustion byproducts, all of which stay in a humid house. It is a fallback for a condo or a situation where no exterior path exists at all, not a specification choice.
Could a big hood affect my gas water heater?
It can, in either age of house. A powerful hood depressurises the building, and an atmospherically vented water heater or furnace can be pulled backwards. That is why we test draft with the hood running and the house closed, and why makeup air is part of the design rather than an upsell.
Custom Range Hood by location
We cover 102 ZIP codes across the Houston metro. Pick the area closest to you:
- Bellaire 77401
- Brookshire 77423
- Cypress 77429
- Cypress 77433
- Fresno 77545
- Fulshear 77441
- Houston 77002
- Houston 77003
- Houston 77004
- Houston 77005
- Houston 77006
- Houston 77007
- Houston 77008
- Houston 77009
- Houston 77010
- Houston 77011
- Houston 77014
- Houston 77016
- Houston 77018
- Houston 77019
- Houston 77020
- Houston 77021
- Houston 77022
- Houston 77023
- Houston 77024
- Houston 77025
- Houston 77026
- Houston 77027
- Houston 77028
- Houston 77030
- Houston 77031
- Houston 77033
- Houston 77035
- Houston 77036
- Houston 77037
- Houston 77038
- Houston 77039
- Houston 77040
- Houston 77041
- Houston 77042
- Houston 77043
- Houston 77045
- Houston 77046
- Houston 77047
- Houston 77048
- Houston 77051
- Houston 77053
- Houston 77054
- Houston 77055
- Houston 77056
- Houston 77057
- Houston 77060
- Houston 77063
- Houston 77064
- Houston 77065
- Houston 77066
- Houston 77067
- Houston 77068
- Houston 77069
- Houston 77070
- Houston 77071
- Houston 77072
- Houston 77074
- Houston 77076
- Houston 77077
- Houston 77079
- Houston 77080
- Houston 77081
- Houston 77082
- Houston 77083
- Houston 77084
- Houston 77085
- Houston 77086
- Houston 77087
- Houston 77088
- Houston 77090
- Houston 77091
- Houston 77092
- Houston 77093
- Houston 77094
- Houston 77095
- Houston 77096
- Houston 77098
- Houston 77099
- Houston 77204
- Katy 77449
- Katy 77450
- Katy 77493
- Katy 77494
- Missouri City 77459
- Missouri City 77489
- Orchard 77464
- Richmond 77406
- Richmond 77469
- Rosenberg 77471
- Simonton 77476
- Spring 77379
- Stafford 77477
- Sugar Land 77478
- Sugar Land 77479
- Thompsons 77481
- Tomball 77377
Planning custom range hood?
We measure, look at the slab and the existing rough-in, and give you a scope you can actually compare against another bid.
MS Home Remodeling · 1530 W Sam Houston Pkwy N, Houston, TX 77043 · (281) 235-6971