Oven unit - major problem

[polgara]

Recently had new kitchen installed along with a neff built-in oven. Noticed that the cupboard door under the oven was sticking a bit but didn't think much of it until yesterday. On opening the door the oven suddenly lurched forward and we realised that the shelf that the oven sits on had disintegrated (thickish chipboard). Managed to get an appropriate sized piece of wood lodged into the cupboard to support the oven but we need to put in a number of brackets to ensure this doesn't happen again.

Now the main issue is we need to raise the oven by another inch to fit the brackets and we can't remove it. Luckily there is a gap at the top of the oven so raising it is possible....but its too heavy for us to lift..what can we use? I was thinking of something along the lines of a car jack but thats too big...is there anything we can get?

 

[Jasonb]

It should not be too heavy to lift, there are usually some screws which pass through the front of the oven at either side into the edge of the carcase, undo these and it should slide forward, about half way out you will find hand holes so it can be lifted out and stood on the floor.

Jason

 

[bernardgreen]

Forget the chip board a load bearing support. It will fail again and you may find the floor where the legs attache will buckle as well

Use 3 inch by 1 inch timber to make to two load bearing support frames.

Two beams the full width of the cabinet fitted on the floor directly above the legs. Four verticals resting on the ends of the "floor" beams support two "roof" beams on top of the verticals. Make the verticals long enough that the top of the "roof" beams presses to the under side of the chip board under the oven.

The beams and verticals have their 3 inch side against the chip board so you only lose two inches of width in the cupboard under the oven.

 

[bernardgreen]

To lift the oven you can use a plank or think length of wood like a see saw but with the fulcrum close to oven to get the leverage right.

 

[Symptoms]

Pol - your kitchen fitters didn't install the oven correctly. 'Cos you've got a door below the oven it is obviously housed in a 'tall' oven housing; probably got a door above as well and the appliance may well be a double-oven. The correct way to fitting in this type of cupboard is to sit the oven on the supplied shelf; this shelf MUST be supported by the 2 supplied cleats (essentially 2 strips that are screwed to the inside walls of the cupboard carcase BELOW the shelf). This arrangement is perfectly adequate for supporting a double-oven; it seems that your shelf has relied on its fixing screws to support the oven's weight and the chipboard has split at the front screw position (remember that 18mm chipboard, screw in the middle means that only about 8mm of chipboard is supporting the oven - hence the cleats).

Your fix - assumes the oven hasn't dropped - fix 2 cleats (50mm wide strips of board) with 4 screws each below the supporting shelf. To give yourself a bit of clearance for the door below slip a piece of thin ply between the oven & the shelf.

How to move the oven - your fitter should have left enough electrical cable (if it's a lecky oven) for you to slide the appliance forward & out of the carcase (turn the lecky off at the oven control unit on the wall first). But what, I hear you say, can the oven be supported on whilst it's out of the carcase - we use a Black & Decker workmate; position the w/mate in front of the oven ready to slide out. You don't lift anything, then when finished slide it back in - don't forget to put the 4 retaining screws back through the lipping into the carcase. Gas oven - disconnect the quick-release hose, this should be easily accessable next to the appliance.

 

[polgara]

Symptoms - thats exactly what appears to have happened. Will check to see if there's enough give on the cable to move it out (it has dropped a little) and try and fix.

Its such a complete pain in the proverbial - worrying about it dropping, smashing both the oven and the tiled floor. I knew I should have built the carcasses myself for the fitter to install