Bricked-in range hood, what should I do?

[Fredric8]

Hello!
I'm in the process of renovating the kitchen. The stove (70 cm) will be removed in favor of a countertop with a recessed hob. Also, I will install cabinets from the wood stove up to the sink on the left. The problem is that the masonry of the stove hood on the left side is in the way. The hood is built in modern times and is attached with brackets into the wall.

The chimney for the wood stove goes to about half of the electric stove, then it's drywall to the left.

I'm thinking of widening the depth of the counter to 70 cm and have space for cabinets in front of any supportive "pillar."
One idea I have is to save part of the masonry at the back (like a pillar) and knock away the rest, could there be problems with splitting the stones under the countertop?

Or should I prop up the hood and knock away the entire lower part (under the intended countertop) and support with a new brace from underneath?

Or just put a strong bracket anchored in the wall?

Is there any "bricklayer" who has any ideas about which of the above thoughts might be good?

 

[ylven]

Is the hood itself made of brick?

 

[Fredric8]

Is the hood itself made of brick?

'from the back it looks to be made of brick

 

[ylven]

I am not a bricklayer, but I would still say that the risk is significant that the hood will collapse if it doesn't have proper support. In your situation, I would either keep the small wall or put up a post for support.

 

[Fredric8]

Do not want to keep the wall. It feels like a post is the best option.
A 70 deep post would be good for the planning of the rest of the kitchen. Should that be enough?

Is it risky in terms of cracking to plaster the post after covering it with some form of mesh or net? Or do you want to plaster on "dead" material?

Thinking of setting the post up past about two tiles above the bench and thus decrease the depth of the post at countertop height. I want to make room for the planned hob.

 

[Workingclasshero]

Hello, I think everything looks quite cluttered. If you have the opportunity, I think you should tear it all down and redo it from scratch so it fits together better aesthetically. The stove hood is quite nice, so I would try to adapt everything to it, but it's best to remove everything and redesign it from scratch.

Hope you make a good decision and good luck.

/W