# Kitchen cabinet question



## N'awlins77 (Feb 25, 2011)

Ok, have a question for you kitchen cabinet makers/designers. 

As you know, I am in the middle of making new cabinets for our kitchen, here at home. I'd like to make some changes, adding more cabinets for the boss! 
As I hope you can see in my drawing. Sorry, I'm still old school when it comes to drawing. It's on paper! LOL And I'm sure even it could be better! Anyway, first off, I'm going to take out that wasted 12 inches above all the cabinets, and have the cabinets go all the way to the ceiling. Leaving enough space between the ceiling and doors to hang crown molding. Then, in the corner, have the cabinet come around the corner, and butt up against the short cabinet above the exhaust fan. Then, I'm going to close off a window that looked out into the living room, and add cabinets there. 

My question is this. The wrap around cabinet to the right and the cabinet to the left of the range/oven is, if I keep them at the same height above the counter tops, as the others cabinets, will be 16" above the range. Is this ok? Could there be a code out there, stating how close a cabinet can come to a range/stove. 

I can imagine, even if it doesn't violate some code, the corners of these two cabinets will take some abuse from the heat and popping grease. I'm not going to have melting poly off of the cabinets, will I? I told the wife whatever we decide to put as a back splash behind the stove, I can put on the sides of the cabinets that protrude past the exhaust fan. About 10" protrude past the exhaust fan. But the front lower corners, and bottoms of those cabinets will still be exposed. 

Do I have any legitimate concerns here? Should I shorten these new cabinets? Thanks in advance on any advice!!


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## Jack Wilson (Mar 14, 2010)

Hey Lee, you'll be fine there, though standard height is 18", and I have 21" due to the way I framed the house. I have 42" wall cabinets that go right to the ceiling. I used 96" studs plus a single sole plate and double top plate, I wanted the taller ceiling, but thats another story. You might want to consider putting a microwave over the stove, its a great location and opens up the counter space.


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## jlord (Nov 16, 2009)

Hi Lee.
I agree with Jack. The standard distance between upper & lower cabs is 18" finished (from countertop) This gives enough room for most modern appliances. I like the above range microwave. They come with an exhaust fan built in for the range. I would not build the cabinets all the way to the ceiling. Build them just short of the ceiling so you don't have installation problems with uneven wall ceiling joints. The crown will cover this up anyway. I have no problems with the Polyurethane finish & the heat from the stove. Popping grease will get everyware no matter what you do. The backsplash will go below & behind your stove to the bottom of the upper vent. 

Here's a couple of pictures.
The backslpash here goes just below counter top to cover any gaps you might see when stove is installed. If you use a microwave above the stove it's good to have the appliance before you build the upper cabinet. It will give you clearances needed so you know what size to build the upper cabinet. The shorter uppers are 32" tall before trim is added. The bottom of the uppers are 54" from the floor. This give 36" for countertop height & 18" clearance above the counter to bottom of upper cabinets. Panel mold was used for a light rail under neath to hide under cabinet lighting for the countertops & crown covers the small gap to ceiling on the taller cabs.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Lee; no idea what your Code is down there but there are quite strict space requirements in the National Building Code (Canada) and the Provincial add-ons, especially regarding gas stoves. It's been a while since but as I recall they increased the _minimum width to 36"_ over gas ranges. This was due to the hazard from oil and grease flare ups.
You're obviously not doing the permit/inspection thing, but these changes came about from real world bad experiences... (nobody plans on having a kitchen fire, eh?)


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi

Lee it's not a big deal do what you think is right and it will be.

==


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## N'awlins77 (Feb 25, 2011)

Thanks all for the replies, I feel better about it all now. I also looked at both the Lowes and HD show rooms, also looked at some pics of kitchens, here online, and saw similar setups as I'm going to have. So between y'alls comments and my viewings, I think I'll be alright. 

Dan, my old vent is 36" wide, and so is the cabinet above it. So if I keep the same width cabinet, I should be within even Canada's code. 

I do like, and so does the wife (since I just mentioned this to her) about the above range microwave. It goes with what I'm after. Giving her the most cabinet and counter space I can, in our very small kitchen. We don't have a very large microwave now, but it still takes up a lot of our countertop space. 

James, is there a lot of difference in sizes of these microwaves, that you would have to customize the size of the cabinet for the microwave/fan. I've read through a bunch of reviews, and it seems like no matter the cost, there's always one review that calls the microwave junk, at least in the $200-$300 range that I was looking at. So what happens if I buy one, make the cabinet, and then I happened to buy a lemon? I have to redo the cabinet? Should they be a standard size? I didn't have time yet to look at the specs to see what the different sizes might be. This might be a concern to me, in going with the over the counter microwave.


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## jlord (Nov 16, 2009)

Hi Lee,
The above stove microwaves come in standard widths to match widths of the stoves that sit below them. You should not have to rebuild the cabinets to fit another one. The microwave in the pictures is 30"w x 15-3/4"h. If you install a 36" stove then the width of the cabinet above would be 36". They make 36"w microwaves. The microwaves are usually a fraction under the width so it would fit in between your standard opening. It would be good to at least know the size of the model you want so you can factor in the height with the above stove clearance when building the height of the cabinet above but they are pretty close to the same specs between different models.


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## Jack Wilson (Mar 14, 2010)

N'awlins77 said:


> is there a lot of difference in sizes of these microwaves, that you would have to customize the size of the cabinet for the microwave/fan. I've read through a bunch of reviews, and it seems like no matter the cost, there's always one review that calls the microwave junk, at least in the $200-$300 range that I was looking at. So what happens if I buy one, make the cabinet, and then I happened to buy a lemon? I have to redo the cabinet? Should they be a standard size? I didn't have time yet to look at the specs to see what the different sizes might be. This might be a concern to me, in going with the over the counter microwave.


While the outsides are pretty much the same, width wise there are some height differences and internally there is cubic foot differences. Look for the microwave that you feel offers you adequate room, and then use those dimensions to base your cabinet off of.


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## N'awlins77 (Feb 25, 2011)

Thanks guyz, will go through and find the different sizes and find out what works for me. 
Thanks again!


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## darsev (Feb 3, 2012)

Lee,

just a question... If I understand correctly you want to put a microwave over the top of the stove, which is where the exhaust fan is also located. Where is the vent from the exhaust fan going and is that going to get in the way of the microwave? I prepare rangehood cabinets on almost a daily basis (rangehoods are what we call exhaust fans over stoves in Aus) and all of them have cutouts of varying sizes and positions in the bottoms and tops of the cabinets to allow the air to be exhausted somewhere outside the kitchen itself, usually in the celing void. I am presuming that you have worked out where the exhausted air is going, but not mentioned it, however it is a question that is better answered before building the cabinet than after...

Regards,
Darryl


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## N'awlins77 (Feb 25, 2011)

Hey Darryl, well my original question was about how safe it was to have cabinets on both sides of the stove. Right now, I don't have upper cabinets on one half of my "L" shaped kitchen. The side with the stove. Now I want to "wrap" around the other corner, to the right, and come up to the short cabinet (where the exhaust vent is) and then add more cabinets to the left side of the short cabinet. Basically ending up with upper cabinets from one end of the "L" to the other. But I wasn't sure, since those cabinets to the left and right of the vent cabinet, will hang about 16-17" just to the left and right of stove. 

But after posting here, and then also going to see some model kitchens both a Lowes and HD, I see it is a common practice. I've just warned the wife she may need to wipe those cabinets off a bit regularly. And then a couple of the guys mentioned that I should go with a micro/vent and save some counter space. Which I thought was a neat idea. Hadn't thought about it. 

But to answer your question, I already have an exhaust fan under a short cabinet over the stove, as it is now. And the vent goes clean through the center of that cabinet. Which I'm guessing I could also do with this micro/exhaust. But thinking about it, I don't know how they work. If the exhaust fan is built in below the microwave, how does the exhaust get around the microwave, up into the vent, going out the ceiling? I guess I'll have to go look at one. I have a lot of time before I get to that area though.


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## Jack Wilson (Mar 14, 2010)

Lee, the fan is actually in the top rear center of the microwave, it's a double squirel cage. It pulls the exhaust up from the base thru some interior ducting and then can eject it out 1 of 3 locations, out the rear, top, or non-vented front.


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## PetersCreek (Mar 13, 2012)

I suggest giving the over-range microwave some more thought. I'm an avid home cook and even though I really like the idea of freeing up counter space, above the cooktop isn't the best place for one, from ergonomic and safety standpoints.

If you and the boss are of average height or less (like me and mine), you'll be removing hot (and perhaps sloshy, spillable) dishes at or above shoulder level...and possibly over a hot cooktop. Imagine spilling something watery over a pan of hot oil: a mess at best...or a scalding...or a grease fire. 

I like my MW on a countertop. If I have a little trouble it can go right on the countertop in short order. But if might work out for you. My 2¢ anyway.


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## N'awlins77 (Feb 25, 2011)

Brett, will take that under advisement. I am below average in height, so that could be an issue with me. Although we don't use both the micro and stove very often at the same time. Most of the time we use the microwave to just reheat leftovers. 
Thanks


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## N'awlins77 (Feb 25, 2011)

Thanks Jack, never had really given it any thought on how it worked, now I know!


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## darsev (Feb 3, 2012)

Lee,

What I can tell you is that some of our cabinets have the vent going through the centre and others through the back. All of them though do lose a significant amount of space to the vent, so it is something that needs to be taken into account.

Darryl


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## N'awlins77 (Feb 25, 2011)

Yea Darryl, my current kitchen has the vent going through the center of the cabinet. So it'l be the same, if I chose to go with the micro/vent. But we're going to have a little more room in all our cabinets, cause I'm going to the ceiling with them. 
Thanks!


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