Hi all, After having new kitchen units fitted, I cannot put my microwave oven on top of the base units becouse the wall units are bigger and do not leave enough room. I have an electric oven with induction hobs. There is plenty of free wall space above it could I fit the combination oven on wall brackets above it please? It could be fitted around 20" above the oven? Thanks for any suggestions, Mick.
Goodness. You must either have a huge microwave oven or else the wall units were not mounted high enough. Surely if the new units are bigger than the old ones, then the new ones ought to have been mounted higher up, thereby keeping the gap the same.
If the gap is too small to accommodate a microwave, it's probably too small for a lot of other things as well. You'd have plenty of "worktop" area with insufficient working height to do any actual work on.
I wouldn't recommend it. The hob will be generating lots of steam and you don't really want that to condense on the bottom of your microwave, or worse, get sucked into its innards if it takes its ventilation air in through holes in the base.
This is a problem which ought to have been foreseen at the design stage.
SWMBO dictated how high ours were mounted, so that she could at least reach into the bottom shelf, if not actually see all the way to the back. Still room for a fairly large combi m/wave, however.
MBQ
I think 12.5" is completely unacceptable. Does the kitchen have low ceilings and are the tops of the units flush with them? At a guess, the Housing Association will have given the contract to Trotters Independent Traders International Ltd who had a job lot of extra-tall units to shift, complete with louvre doors, I shouldn't wonder. I'd complain.
If there is spare room between tops of units and ceiling, could you not (this is DIY after all) move them higher yourself?
Or just take a few of the units down and throw them away. That'll give you at least some worktop area with clear working height all the way to the ceiling.
Another possible course of action might be to put the microwave actually
*into* one of the wall units. You'd need to make a base (sheet of ply, chipboard, etc) to stand it on because the oven will be much deeper than the units, and you'll need to keep the doors open permanently, or take them off. Use the rest of the unit as open shelving, e.g. for cookery books. Make sure the units will take the weight - perhaps make up a pair of props.
So do I. 450mm (18") is the normal minimum (three 6" tiles). If the ceiling is low the normal way round it is to use shorter cupboards, not reduce the working space underneath.
Housing Associations usually have a Design Standards Handbook or similar which details kitchen dimensions like this and in my experience they are very strict about making contractors stick to them. I think it would be worth telling them the problem and ask them what their standards say.
Generally one uses circa 585mm height cupboards if the ceiling slopes, sounds like someone has used circa 720mm or such like. Shallow depth cupboards are required if you go much lower than 18" if you do not have an "Ikea 0.72m football field depth worktop".
Anything above a hob has to comply with clearance requirements, which would render a microwave unusable never mind unsafe (tip hot dish all over yourself). Additionally they are not designed to be mounted over a heat source, some in the USA are - but they are built into units often with dedicated ventilation kits (and forced ventilation kits).
Likewise you need a certain clearance above toasters (heat) and kettles (steam).
Quite a few people would like to see a cupboard-free area for toasters, because a stuck toaster can cause heat damage or worse to cupboards situated directly above.
Hi all, The space from the top of the wall mounted units to the celing is
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