Wall oven is too deep for cabinet

[phatdonkey]

I have a 60 year old gas wall oven with broiler in a smaller door on the bottom. It still looks great, but doesn't keep temp well, and the top door has a broken hinge and is troublesome for the wife to shut.

I got a great deal on an electric double wall oven. 2 years old and like new for 225. Being that it is a double, i knew the cabinet cutout would have to lengthened vertically. The old gas and the new electric are both 24 inch ovens, but of course the new oven is about 1.25 inches deeper.

Here is where the issue lies. The old oven was gas, and had no shutoff valve. All the rest of the gas appliances in the house have shutoff valves. I was unable to access where the black iron pipe goes into the wall behind the oven without removing the oven. The other side of the cinder block wall, behind the oven cabinet, has my furnace and supply ducts snugged right up to the wall. So I removed the oven and capped the gas line. The problem is the cap sticks out about 2.25 inches from the back wall. That is the only obstruction keeping the new stove from fitting.

Here are a few of the solutions i have come up with to deal with it. Move the whole oven up higher to avoid the cap. The problem here is that to be above the cap, the controls for the oven will be about 6.5 feet off the ground. Another option is to cutout a section of the back panel of the oven to accommodate the cap (there is a 2 inch recessed area that covers the insulated back side of the oven). The covered area houses wires, so i assume it would be safe for the pipe cap to be within .25 inches of the back wall of the oven. Lastly and probably the route i will go is to reface the whole cabinet from the floor to the ceiling to make it 1.5 inches deeper. This would allow the oven to be mounted directly to the face frame and still clear the pipe cap.

Has anyone tried any of these solutions to make an oven fit? I'm really leaning toward building out the front of the cabinet 1.5 inches. I think that would be the best bet without disrupting the integrity of the oven cabinet, but of course the easiest would be to cut a hole in the back of the oven panel to accommodate the cap.

 

[begreen]

Does the gas piping run under the floor? Can the leg going up to the oven be removed and capped down below?

 

[phatdonkey]

Does the gas piping run under the floor? Can the leg going up to the oven be removed and capped down below?

No unfortunately. The pipe gets to behind the oven by coming thru a cinderblock wall. On the other side of the wall it hits an elbow and goes straight up. The elbow and pipe going up are sandwiched between the cinderblock wall and my furnace supply ductwork. A friend said to remove that section of duct work and take the pipe out and cap it there. I've never talen folded seam ductwork apart and I'm sure i would screw something up. If i had enough seasoned wood i would dismantle it and put it back together at my leasure, but the furnace is hearing the house now that im out of wood.

 

[begreen]

If the ductwork sections are connected with slips and drives it can be a relatively easy process. All depends on how it was put together. Take a side and front picture of the supply duct in that area and post it here.

 

[phatdonkey]

I cant get front pics of the duct work, but here are side pics of the top and bottom where i would take it out, and the gas line behind the duct.

 

[bholler]

I say you need to take apart that duct work to remove the pipe altogether. It is allot less work and will be better in the long run than modifying the cabinet. Next week is going to be warm anyway id wait till then.

 

[begreen]

The duct work is held together with conventional slips and drives. The long faces have an S shaped slips that give the next section a slot to sit in. The ends have drives which slide over folded back lips on the ducts. The ends of the drives are folded over. If nothing else see if you can get an HVAC man or helper to work with you, maybe on a weekend. It should take about an hour or two to removed the duct, remove the pipe and cap it and re-install the removed section of duct. Be sure you turn off the gas and bleed the pressure first.

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[greg13]

I've got a 55 ton press at the shop, I would bet we could loose 1 1/4" from the new oven with no problem.

 

[phatdonkey]

I've got a 55 ton press at the shop, I would bet we could loose 1 1/4" from the new oven with no problem.

Haha. That would do it!

 

[phatdonkey]

Got some clean up to do, but she is in there. The final decision was made this afternoon, and that was to move the whole cabinet out 1.25 inches. Everything clears and I just need to wire it up to the breaker box. Whew, no blood, but sweat and tears went into it for sure!

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I'd remove the pipe. If that means replacing someduct work so be it.

 

[DAKSY]

I would've removed the pipe from the side of the wall you can access
& then threaded a shorter nipple back thru with a cap already on it.
Case closed.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I thought about that, but wasn't sure how easy it would be to recheck for leaks after done.