Kitchen yards are an extension created working outside
. This are attached to the house with a roof and openings for ventilation. The open place is used for washing, sitting and doing barbecues. The home owner can extend this area from the kitchen door. It usually has a floor trap, a sink and electric installations for outdoor use. The area should not reduce the amount of natural light into the house. The size of the area depends on the desire by the home owner.
The materials for construction of a covered kitchen yard can be the left overs of the main works. This can reduce costs considerably. The roof can be made of translucent sheets to allow more light despite the cover. The side walls can be filled with clay or concrete vent blocks. When designing for the covered yard, the side with the strong winds can have a fixed window. This is done using frosted glass and to stop the draught from crossing through the room space.
The construction of covered kitchen yard starts with marking out the area. The floor level should be at least four to six inches below the existing building. This is to prevent any water back flow into the house. The area to be used for the yard is about fifteen by eighteen feet. The foundation is done and on each corner, a concrete column is erected. The concrete column size is eight inches square. The height of the four columns is seven feet. The floor is then concrete and it is five inches thick.
When casting the concrete floor, a floor drainage point is fixed with a trap. The floor should fall towards the trap. A short masonry wall of two feet high is done and plastered on both sides. An opening is left of three feet wide. Clay vent blocks are built to the column height. A beam is cast on top. This then is used to carry the roof covers. A sink and electrical points are then fixed on one side. The floor is then tiled and the columns and short walls painted to owners desired colors.