Mobile kitchen build info

KonaErnie

Bob Barker


Wow, I'm impressed! One of these two people are within $80 and on the first try! Lets see if the powers that be can figure out which $80 to swap.  I think there is a game show that after you guess the amount you can change a digit or two to guess again if your wrong? I think it's the price is right lol..??

porkchopexpress

My guess for the electrical estimate would be $1200 

KonaErnie

Licensed electrician...Time and materials...My guess is somewhere between $1500-$2000. Is there a prize if we guess right?

Bob Dawg....I'd like to change my bid to $1420. If I win I don't need no stinkin wall to wall carpet or any funky living room furniture.  My hut is small and wouldn't have any room for it. A hot dog or 2 would suffice next time I come through Maryland on the way to visit my sisters. 

lol- Lets hope I'm back open by then lol. This build is a "shut your mouth"! Anyone else want to agree or change any totals? porkchop you changing any of your figures?

Dr of BBQ


Warning this is a Beer Post and subject to being deleted by the moderator or poster which ever sobers up first.

Bob Dog LMAO!

I think it's the $1280 Pork Chop Express  bid that is correct.

Besides Bob Barker was a pervert. LMAO  He loved all those glands bouncing up and down.

lol--ding-ding-ding you got it!!!! que the music! First quote was $1,280 exactly. Nice job!

Dr of BBQ

  We did my trailer in a single short day maybe 6 hours.
Jack

How many is "we"? Two people?

  2 people, yes a friend (in fact he is a police officer) and myself.

Wire it yourself and save yourself $800. Its not all that complicated.

I would imagine that each outlet would pretty much have it's own run to the breaker box, or possibly ganged. I know if you run your own wires when you are finishing out a basement, they allow you to do that, and most guys will just connect everything. I know alot of ppl. If you want, I will take your list & pass it around to see if I can save you some serious money... Most ppl are hurting to make extra money and jump at the opportunity for a side job..  How much of that price is labor ???

Ok, At the plumbing stage of my build. Since I'm going to have 4 sinks in my rig. I'm thinking about only putting ONE single turn off valve inline instead of four.  Any suggestions on that, or do you think it's a better idea to put a total of five in. 4 on the lines, and one main turn off ?  I have a few days on this, I'm waiting on my holding tanks and pump to show up.

I'm so glad I found this forum.  I'm going to open a Gyro Truck.  I've got a long, drawn out story behind me, and hopefully a short one to go before I start building.  I've got a standard build taco truck I bought cheap that won't work for me, that I'm reselling and a 21' P20 that I plan to build out as soon as the other sells.  I have learned alot from buying the one that won't work and cleaning it up.  I think I learned even more from this thread.

I've kind of got it easy since I'm specializing my food for now.  I plan to add just 3 more things in the long run, but to get me started, just gyros.  I can't tell you how much I learned about stainless steel, plumbing the sinks, propane requirements, and more just from reading this and researching so I understood what I read.  ]

I'm in Oklahoma and we don't have to have a fire system in mobiles here.  We also don't have nearly as much regulation.  All NSF approved, the three sinks seperated from the hand sink with no plumbing guidelines other than 10gal min tank capacity and 15% more grey water.  I don't have any fire codes to watch out for.  And with the health department certification on the truck I can sell anywhere that's commercially zoned.  I asked and I can seriously pull over to a parking spot downtown anywhere and start selling straight out on the sidewalk.  That baffles me.

I'm leaning towards a big propane tank, a propane generator, my only 2 or 3 cooking things running on propane and maybe even seeing if I can get the engine converted to run on propane.  I'm starting to think about what equipment would be good as a starter and I realized I need to sell soda.  We aren't that health concsious here.  Any suggestions on a soda fountain setup? 

Also, I'm 6'4" and the truck is maybe 6'2" inside.  Anyone here tried cutting out a roof section and making a bit of a riser or something for one?  Hrrm.. maybe a big ol' skylight.  With a screened vent.

In the long run, I have already bought a bunch of restaurant equipment for $5k that was installed in a school-bus kitchen and I'm breaking even on the school bus/bringing back everything from Denver.  This stuff is way too big for this little truck, but if I can find a reasonably priced 28' step van again, it would fit wonderfully and I could have one hell of a setup.  (42" propane grill with 4 dials, 3 section refrigerated sandwich prep station,  2 propane deep fryers, Huge vent hood)

Douglass (Mmmmmm... Junior Burger)

Wild Dog that's an interesting question my first response was just one turn off, but if you have a problem and several turn offs you can isolate that sink and continue operating. I don't know, more shut offs= more possible leaks but not likely. Good question.
Jack

Zippy
There are 24 tool trucks for sale here

http://www.nasset.com/index.cfm?ctgr_id=59

THE WILD DOG


I know alot of ppl. If you want, I will take your list & pass it around to see if I can save you some serious money... Most ppl are hurting to make extra money and jump at the opportunity for a side job..  How much of that price is labor ???

Yeah that would be cool, for safety reasons they will need to be licensed though so they will really know what they are doing. I had a guy that wanted to do it and did work a lot I'm told but he was not licensed so I passed. Just not worth the risk IMO to save a few bucks.

Let me know and thanks for the offer.

That'sMyDawg

THE WILD DOG


I know alot of ppl. If you want, I will take your list & pass it around to see if I can save you some serious money... Most ppl are hurting to make extra money and jump at the opportunity for a side job..  How much of that price is labor ???

Yeah that would be cool, for safety reasons they will need to be licensed though so they will really know what they are doing. I had a guy that wanted to do it and did work a lot I'm told but he was not licensed so I passed. Just not worth the risk IMO to save a few bucks.

Let me know and thanks for the offer.

Yeah I know what ya mean Dawg. I was just talking to a guy a few weeks ago I met through a friend at the bar I go eat at. He's a licensed electrician and he does side work. He's got alot of good ideas for running things off vehicle batteries, using an inverter. Was telling me about it, and the only thing I would have to do is get a higher performance alternator, but never the less... I'll pm you his contact info. Tell him I sent ya, he may remember me. LOL

My unit is installed and inspected, and vented to the outside. You could vent it to the exhaust hood but with a word of caution. My exhaust hood fan is so strong it changes the air in the trailer every 30 secs. So on occasion during the summer if the exhaust fan is running it will suck the fire out on the water heater, LOL. But if you don't have a tornado like exhaust hood you'll be fine. I really do like this new tankless water heater and for the price if it only last a year I'd be happy. It took less than 10 minutes to take the old one out and put this one in. Jack PS I used stainless steel braided hose with standard garden hose fittings to run my water lines. Cheap and easy to buy at Lowe's or any hardware store or even on Ebay.

 
Dr;
I just received my EZ101. What did you use to vent it to the outside and what type of configuration did you use?
Thanks
Rich

can you supply pictures DR ?  I'm about to order mine as well.

THE WILD DOG


How much of that price is labor ???

Don't know, that was the total out the door, I didn't ask for a break down on parts vs labor

on the plumbing subject. I bought all CPVC 1/2 in tubing & fittings for my water supplies. The one guy told me that all plastic parts were good enough including the threaded ends. I went there today to swap a few parts out and a different guy told me to get metal fittings for the hot water lines b/c they would expand and contract at different times. I'm already placing the tubing so I will have to keep that in mind and watch for the "supposed" leaks that may occur. I'm thinking of putting a pizza dough pan down there anyways to catch any water that may spill anyways. I think they are wide enough to do the job I want.

Looking at that one plumbing picture, I think I will go with just a main shut off valve for the cold & a main shut off for the hot waters.  I'm gonna eventually pick up some extra ball valves ( $4.60 ea for 1/2 inch) and keep them in the plumbing box under the sink.

As far as venting the water heater, mine doesn't say to vent it. Pictures on page 7. I'm not sure if I should worry about it.  I want to find a 12 v carbon monoxide & propane detector to keep in the trailer.

Hoping to get everything installed tomorrow since the tanks are arriving. The only thing I have to buy still is the water heater.  I was thinking of dry running the gas piping to the heater first after the plumbing is in so I can get a better idea of what it's going to look like when it's ran.   

Any suggestions ?

Thanks Doc!
You are the man. Have fun at your shoot em up!
Rich

Have fun at your shoot em up!
Rich

LMAO I will. And I'll make good money and that's most important.

That is pretty cool though DR. Hope you take some pics and share with us... I love the shooting range. Such a stress reliever.

As far as venting the water heater, mine doesn't say to vent it.

Then don't worry some are vent-less.

Plastic (PVC) pipe freezes, expands, and cracks much faster than copper. SS hose will expand, and contract with freezing temps it sometimes will split but often does not. But use what you feel comfortable with.

Beastly Hopper Drain with molded P-trap. Listed @ Lowes for $33.00 on clearance for $24.00, after a Lowes employee learned that I'm trying to open my own business... Discounted down to $7.56 !!!   6" drain with 2 drain pipes & floatie ball inside. LOL

Ok I'm not being a dick here BUT Did you have to buy that monster in order to pass code? Sorry not getting on your case I want you to build something that works and will pass your local inspections.

Here is what I have learned from my first build:

When some people build a food service trailer or truck they want to do every thing the right way. And that's a good thing. I'm one of those types.

So in their mind if the code calls for a 3/8 thick wall pipe they use a 3/4 inch thick walled pipe thinking that is safer, stronger, and it must be better. But that's not always the case.

Now most of the builders don't read the codes fully or don't understand them if they do, especially on the first build I mean gosh it's not like your building several units a year, your just going to do one. And the health and safty people are very aware of this mind set, and so they often add their own increase in specs, knowing you didn't read or are not very familiar with the codes.

What I'm saying here is don't go overboard and cause your self a ton of problems down the road because your trying to be the good guy (I can see your white hat) and play by the rules. All the while adding  more stringent restrictions than you need to comply.

I'm glad you got a deal on that thing. Take the top cover off and throw it away becuase all it will do is cause your drain water to splash all over the floor, when you drain your sinks.

Aren't you worried that when you move your unit the water in the P trap will slosh back and forth until it slurps (just made up a word)  out and is all over the floor.

Also what are you going to use to attach the giant P trap from hell to your deck? Keep thinking movement, and water motion your going to move this unit and water adds weight and motion, adds force. So you turn right to go home and the water sloshes left then back to the right, you get the point. 

Again not trying to be the bad guy here just trying to help from affair with a little experience in my back pocket.

One other thought your pump line needs to be attached to the floor in at least a medium manor other wise it will also break from the motion, caused by the psychical movement during travel.  Your going to need to be able to get to your tanks, water lines, and fittings, so leave yourself as much room as possible because sooner or later your going to have to do some sort of repair work.

Your pvc lines will eventualy get brittle (they all do) and then they crack very easily. So always keep that in mind.

Otherwise looks great LOL

Jack

Edit to add:

PS paint the frame work (2 X 4s ) now before you get to a point that you can't paint them. Otherwise they will look like hell as they absorb dirt, oil, what ever, and I'll bet your code calls for no bare wood.

The tanks & everything are just dry fitted right now, I have been staring at it thinking of the if's & what if's. I"m going to extend the water plug pipe about 3 inches away from the waste line entrance pipe. The HD said that I have to have a P-trap on the waste tank.  The neat part about that drain is that it has 2 flow pipes and comes with a nut to screw in to block one off. I'm thinking of blocking the bottom one so that it doesn't flow up into the drain. The top part is definately coming off. To be honest, the way the bottom pipe is molded, it has a large flat seam molded in so that it sits flat on the ground. It doesn't even budge now and it's not cemented in place yet. However I have thought about about travel movement, so I'm going to get a U-bracket and screw it down that way to insure it doesn't go anywhere.

The water pump is my baby... lol I have a piece of wood that I 'm going to attach to the ground and then drive the screws thru the pump and into the wood so that it won't budge.

The HD stated that I couldn't have any exposed wood. I don't know if I have to paint it or not. I might clear coat it, but I'm going to fire off an email with  that picture to verify what she wants. I want no surprises when she comes out, she will have already seen half of my stuff anyway before she gets out there, and i am getting approvals as we go. ( printing them out to save my butt )

I'm not cementing anything in place until the water heater gets ordered.  I want to be 100% on the placement of everything first and allow for elbow room in case I have to work on something.

The water piping is 1/2 CPVC and from what I understand is ok. I don't really have to worry about plumbing codes. The only real thing my HD is concerned about is that monstrous hopper drain. LOL that thing is a beast. But it was cheaper to go that route with the discount then it was to build it outright.

The HD said that I have to have a P-trap on the waste tank.

Is that on the in line or out line?

Is it supposed to be on the sink drains?
Or
Is it supposed to be on the line coming out of the waste tank?

You wrote:The only real thing my HD is concerned about is that monstrous hopper drain.

Do you have to have a plumbing inspector inspect your unit?

Dog... How are you going to drain that waste tank?
 
Also keep in mind that you have reduced the capacity of your waste tank with the side entrance of the waste line.
 
You will want to make sure that all that wood is painted, the bare wood will not fly.
 
Also from experence, the waste lines will splash when draining into that hopper, and occasionally you might have a back up or over flow if you dump too much water down at once.  This is the biggest pain in the ass that I have to deal with in my trailer!

Dr of BBQ


The HD said that I have to have a P-trap on the waste tank.

Is that on the in line or out line?

Is it supposed to be on the sink drains?
Or
Is it supposed to be on the line coming out of the waste tank?

You wrote:The only real thing my HD is concerned about is that monstrous hopper drain.

Do you have to have a plumbing inspector inspect your unit?

The P-trap is on the inline to the waste tank. She said it had to be on the inline to the waste tank, not on the drains. I sent a diagram to her to make sure prior to buying the supplies. The pipes were to be an inch above the drain. No plumbing inspector needed, or a fire inspector. Just an HD inspector.

chefbuba


Dog... How are you going to drain that waste tank?
 
Also keep in mind that you have reduced the capacity of your waste tank with the side entrance of the waste line.
 
You will want to make sure that all that wood is painted, the bare wood will not fly.
 
Also from experence, the waste lines will splash when draining into that hopper, and occasionally you might have a back up or over flow if you dump too much water down at once.  This is the biggest pain in the ass that I have to deal with in my trailer!

I was going to set up an outward pipe on the 3/8 plug. I was going to have it go thru the floor of the trailer and run to a spigot or turn off valve  that sets under the trailer so I can drain it and dispose of it properly. I sent an email this morning to the HD rep that i deal with to see if everything needed to be painted. I have no problems painting the wood under there, Part of the reason nothing is set in stone. I get paranoid with that stuff... I probably wont screw everything down until after I pass the inspection... lol

I probably wont screw everything down until after I pass the inspection... lol

If it doesn't leak, that's a great idea.

Good Job

Jack

I'm not sure if she is going to make me run the water but I'm assuming she will. I dry fitted my waste plumbing today and let me tell you, cutting 1 1/2 pvc pipe with a hacksaw sucks when you gotta shorten it by a few inches. LOL   I want to post a pic of the dry fit to see if anyone see's anything that I did wrong. It looks ok to me, but I stared at it for a few hours so I may be missing something.    Nothing is glued yet, I plan on sending a pic to the HD to make sure as well, and get a possible sign off like she's been doing previously.



The one thing I didn't like was having to angle the one pipe. The are all lined up with each other so I had no choice.

I also had a question with the holding tanks. Any suggestions on what to use to keep the top one from shifting ?  I was thinking of either silconing them together, ( only issue with that is if I have to take them out.  OR siliconing a 90 degree angle bracket to the top of the waste tank to keep it from shifting forward and one in the back as well.  Any suggestions on this ???

Wild man.....Not a bad looking plumbing job.......for a rookie! Actually it looks pretty good. It's all going to get hidden anyway so why worry about the offset in one pipe?

To keep the waste tank from shifting around, you could try strapping it to the framing and outside wall with some galvanized perforated tape (aka plumbers tape) available in the plumbing supply section of your favorite home improvement warehouse. Use a couple of sheet metal screws for fasteners.  Keep up the good work.

Plumbers tape

Dog, why the 2 90's from the p-trap to the tank? Couldn't you eliminate them?
 
Also, fine tune your drops to the hopper before you glue everything,  run some water down each drain, watch where the water comes out of the pipe, meaning you are only dumping small amounts of water down the pipe, therefore it will want to flow from the low, or bottom of the pipe to the hopper,,,,, looks like your going to have a wet floor as of now..
The clocer to dead center, the better....