Installing a Wall Oven for Total Dummies

A gap under a wall oven

Back at the dawn of time, one internet search engine (MetaCrawler, we think) let users watch a sample of the search queries that it processed. Once it filtered out the usual requests for "jessica alba naked" and "ex-girlfriend selfies" that dominate the search world, search voyeurs were left with a combination of thoughtful queries like "quantum physics versus string theory" and... less thoughtful searches like "What Do I Do If I Bought a Self-cleaning Oven is Smaller Than the Hole It Goes In?"  Although the phrasing is clunky, we get the gist: someone bought a new oven and got it home to find out that it's smaller than the old one. What to do, what to do? Well, you could always ask eHow.com's resident appliance dumbass, Naima Manal (now over at HomeSteady.com). Heck, Naima's already taken on a similar topic once before, albeit over at HubPages...

We would, of course, have scolded the buyer for not measuring the old oven first, but what the hey: sometimes a bargain is too good to pass up! So, let's see what Naima has to "tell" her audience, OK? Ms Manal envisions three different size mismatches:

• Wall Oven Height Gap
• Wall Oven Width Gap
• Floor Oven

We'll buy the possible gaps caused by an undersized wall oven, but WTF is a "floor oven"? From reading the text, it appears this is a synonym Naima invented for "free-standing range"; although that's not what the (admittedly not very smart) OQ asked about. Regardless, Manal's suggestion for this size mismatch is controlled by the same rampant stupidity as the rest of the post... so let's have a look.

If the wall oven is shorter than the opening but fits side-to-side, Naima suggests that you

"...Have a custom cabinet constructed to fit in the space, if it is large enough for one. To simply close the opening in, cut a piece of wood -- either plywood or solid 1-inch wood board -- to fit the face of the opening. Use 2-by-4s cut to the depth and width measurements of the opening and screw them together and to the sides of the gap, to form the frame of the opening. Position the frame about 1 inch recessed from the front so that the face piece will rest flush with the front of the existing oven cabinet. Screw the face piece of wood into the frame, and stain or paint it to match the cabinet."

Duh. We think that "custom cabinet" might cost hella more than the savings from your "bargain," though it's likely that only a single oven replacing a double oven would leave that sort of space. Anything else is only going to mismatch by an inch or two, so Naima's "solution" (framing with 2 by 2s and slapping on a custom-cut board) is fairly unlikely to work. Duh. Let's see about side-to-side mismatch: "Fill in the gap on the side, or sides, of the wall oven with wood trim cut to the width and length of the gap, if the gap is small. If the gap is substantial, frame the opening with 2-by-2s or 2-by-4s, cut to fill in the space, and bring this frame within 1 inch back from the front of the oven cabinet... Use 1-inch-thick wood boards to cut a piece to the exact width and length measurements of the face of the opening. Nail it into the frame, and stain or paint it to match the rest of the cabinetry."

This alleged solution has problems galore:

1. First, Naima, you blithering idiot, your "repair" will look like utter crap if you don't center the oven in the space.
2. Second, you moron, just how big a gap do you envision? The range of widths of consumer ovens isn't large enough for the new oven to leave a gap wide enough to frame with 2 by 4s!
3. Your "1 inch back from the front of the oven cabinet"? That ain't gonna work, because – as we constantly remind you and your fellow dummies at eHow (and Seekyt, and Suite, and HubPages...) a "1-inch" board is actually ¾" thick!

Here we have "advice" from a dumbass who once suggested that people install a wall oven by letting it stick through the kitchen wall into the room on the other side. We pity anyone misguided enough to think that this person, who's already collected thirteen Dumbass of the Day awards (before this one) has the slightest idea what she's talking about. What a waste of electrons, when all the person has to do is buy a commercial cabinet gap filler. Sheesh.

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