How to Build a DIY Vent Hood Cover

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Hi friends! Today I’m sharing about how we built a DIY range hood cover to take our kitchen to the next level. And boy, did it!

I’ve wanted a range/vent hood cover for as long as I can remember. The only homes that had them when we were house hunting were way out of our price range though, so alas. It was put on my project list for *someday*.

We were finally able to make it happen when my husband was on paternity leave for our youngest in January! I would recommend carving around 24 – 48 hours to devote to solely this project. It took us a week of working on it here and there to complete it (as project life often goes juggling kiddos!)

So let’s get into it how we went about building our diy vent hood cover!

Here’s a sweet little photo that I took of our oldest that unintentionally captured the the DIY oven hood 🙂

FAQ for our vent hood:

What did you do with your microwave?
I’ve been asked about 100 times about what we did with our microwave. My husband converted a lower cabinet into a shelf for the microwave to sit in. It’s perfect and out of the way! You can see it in the photo featured at the top of this post!

Is it vented up and out of your home?
No, we chose to build this as a ductless vent to fit our time and budget restraints. This is the vent we purchased. If you’re removing a microwave to build this, the vent that you install will operate the same way as the fan does on your microwave. It will draw in and recirculate the air through a filter the same way a range microwave does. We haven’t had any issues whatsoever with doing it this way.

How to build a DIY range hood cover:

1. Remove your microwave and bracket from wall (if applicable!) I’d recommend having a second pair of hands for this part! To do this, you’ll use a drill to remove bolts from the top that comes down through cabinet above. This is what’s holding your microwave there, so when you remove them, have something directly underneath or someone there to help bring the microwave down.

2. Take doors off cabinets above microwave.

3. Run electrical for your hood insert. This is the vent we purchased. We used the wiring for the plug in the cabinet above. Take the wiring for the plug and pigtail (separate wires and use twist connectors to connect black to black and white to white).

4. Figure out where the access hole on the hood will line up with the bottom of the cabinet. And drill a hole in the bottom of the cabinet in that location. Run pigtail down through both holes.

5. *optional* We installed wooden shims on bottom of cabinet because ours were recessed. If they are flat bottom cabinets, you won’t need to do this.

6. Mount the hood insert according to manufacturer instructions. Same with wiring.

7. Measure on the sides and across the front and figure out how big the bottom frame of the hood needs to be. For a 30 inch hood, ours was 31 1/2. If your hood has buttons on front, make sure to leave enough room to access them by adding extra length to the side measurement. Build a frame around the front bottom of the hood (the lowest area facing out). Use 1×6 pine to build. Used L brackets to mount the front to the side pieces (this creates stability for the hood). We used a brad nailer to put it together.

To attach frame to cabinets on the side, you will need a strap tie bracket.

8. Install 1×2 on the back top of the front of the frame.

9. Install 1×4 on sides and 1×6 in the middle. Boards need to be the length of the top of the cabinet to the inside of the frame.

10. Use birch plywood for the face and the sides of your range hood cover.

11. Use pine lattice for the front and side trim.

12. Caulk gaps and fill nail holes. Once dry, sand smooth.

13. Paint your range hood cover! We used BEHR Cabinet Enamel in Ultra-Pure White (this is what comes straight out of the can — no color added) since this is what we used on our cabinets. It’s got a professional, semi-gloss finish that we love. I opted to paint it once it was all put together, but ultimately this would have been made easier if I’d painted the pieces of trim and the body separately.

I highly recommend building a DIY range hood cover if you’re wanting to add a custom feel to your kitchen without a big budget. The custom vent hood transformed this corner of our home!