Looking for advice (not pond related) of a home construction nature adding a vent hood for stove (2 story house)

[poconojoe]

Are you sure about that 12" measurement from cooktop to microwave?
That's definitely dangerous!
12" is not that much room. Even 18" would be ridiculous.

That sounds like you could bearly fit a large pot under there. My big spaghetti sauce pot probably wouldn't fit under there!

 

[Mmathis]

Are you sure about that 12" measurement from cooktop to microwave?
That's definitely dangerous!
12" is not that much room. Even 18" would be ridiculous.

That sounds like you could bearly fit a large pot under there. My big spaghetti sauce pot probably wouldn't fit under there!

 

[brokensword]

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that proves it; your smoke alarms are too close...ah, wait...

 

[GBBUDD]

With a solid color cabinet it's a piece of cake to cut the cabinet and raise the bottom of the cabinet and cut the door to fit . Now for the vent need a photo of the entire kitchen.
that HAS TO BE A COMPLETE NIGHTMARE TO STIR ANYTHING ON THE BACK BURNERS. sorry for caps. and you have gas open flames at 12 inch that's a bit to close. I'd remove the microwave until you get a plan as to how to resolve the issues. is the tile running behind the microwave?

 

[addy1]

Take some pics of your entire kitchen with the outside wall labeled. Got some brilliant people on this forum, well at least helpful!

 

[addy1]

Ha! Sometimes us guys don't see things that are right in our faces! It's a guy thing!

SOMETIMES? How about all of the time. I can tell him what cabinet, what shelf, what side, color and he still can not find the item.

 

[Dimelius]

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O_O damn if is soooo close :O

 

[addy1]

O_O damn if is soooo close :O

Way to close I would have yanked it right away, empty hole or not.

 

[Dimelius]

Way to close I would have yanked it right away, empty hole or not.

Agree

 

[Lisak1]

Whoever decided to make a microwave that also functions as a hood vent was a moron. That was our old kitchen set up and it was terrible - the vent was useless and we burned out half a dozen microwaves because electrical components do NOT like heat. Not to mention, reaching over a hot pot on a stove to get something out of the microwave is hardly safe or ideal. We learned (after microwave number three) that they had installed ours too close to the stovetop (voiding any warranty on the MW of course) but honestly any higher and I wouldn't have been able to safely get anything hot out of it - and I'm NOT a shorty! And of course, once they build it that way you're stuck until you remodel.

Good luck @Mmathis - I added zero to the solution. Just commiserating!

 

[mrsclem]

Our new hood has a minimum 23" clearance from cooktop. That 12" seems to be for someone who uses the microwave to cook instead of the stove!

 

[addy1]

Our stove is in our island, the microwave in a totally different spot. Hung below cabinets, but no where near the stove. It works!

 

[SarahT]

Good grief! New kitchen! Until then, there is a less deep microwave (Whirlpool brand, not cheap - $575) that installs over the stove, and would get you 6" more clearance. Won't help the Shortie problem, which I share - my MW is on the counter - but it might help the safety problem enough.

 

[Lisak1]

I just looked at your drawings @Mmathis - TWELVE INCHES! I agree with you - not at all safe! And I am shocked you haven't melted the door off your MW at this point. We were told the code on these things was a minimum of 18 inches above the stove top, with the top of the microwave no more than 54 inches off the floor. With a standard stove being 36 inches tall, the math works. But then we bought a stove that had two high output burners - trashed a few MWs with that one.

When we remodeled we vented our new hood vent out the side of the house. It's about a 10 foot run. We have garage behind our stove wall so it was an easy job. Our old stove was on an interior wall and vented out the front of the house. We had a soffit where they ran the venting in that case.

 

[Mmathis]

What worries me now: where else they skimp on when the house was built? We had a super intensive home inspection done before we closed. The only thing the inspector mentioned about the cooktop was that the little grease-trap air screen thingy (slots in under the m/wave) was the wrong size……

Well, for now, I think we are going to replace the m/wave with a countertop model and have the current one removed. I guess we’ll sit on what to do about a vent hood for the immediate time being. @addy1 Was it you who asked about the tile backsplash? As far as I can tell, the tile work stops at the m/wave’s outline, so guessing the wall behind the m/wave is bare (according to what my fingernail could feel).

Also, this kitchen wall does share a wall with a bedroom……. Hmm, maybe a little bit of potential there…. I’ll snap some more pics and include them later so you guys can give me more helpful advice.