That was a common layout several decades ago. I would be inclined to do do a major re-arrangement, but I would be doing most of the work myself and I would have to consider budget, as well. We work with the budgets and spaces we have. I'll offer some considerations about the existing space and the questions you asked. Is 17.5" too close for an OTR over a gas range? No. People put all kinds of gas ranges beneath OTRs including "pro-style" ranges. There's a photo of one over an NXR in the discussion that I've linked below. Note that the base of this one was only about 4" higher than yours -- maybe 22" above the range. While your OTR could be easily (well, relatively easily) vented to the outside, swapping in a higher powered gas range presents a couple of things to think about. One concern is "coverage." It isn't very good with an OTR. Basically, an OTR is mostly venting just the two back burners. This is not a fire hazard concern but, rather, an annoyance, It means more heat and more goo in the kitchen than with a dedicated vent hood. The other concern with OTRs over gas ranges is a suspicion that waste heat from a gas stove may contribute to eventual failure of the microwave part of the unit. Frankly, though, microwaves are such a commodity product these days and often so cheaply made that it can be hard to determine how much havinga gas range contributed to or accelerated a failure. Also, consider how often you will be using all the gas burners on the range on full power at the same time. Also, you don't avoid waste-heat problems by going with a radiant electric stove. They just make somewhat less waste heat, but not hugely so. IIRC, radiant smoothtops put 50% to 55% of their energy into pans, so roughly half of the energy can go into the room as waste heat. . With gas ranges, the rating is 33% to 40% going to pans. That's about a 20% difference, which is not huge. Coil burners are closer to 70% to 75% of energy going into pans and induction is rated at 85% to 90%. The latter differences are significant and may affect your planning about what to do with your kitchen and range replacement choices. The 30" height-above-the-stove recommendation for hoods is mainly to get them out of the way so cooks don't bang their heads when leaning over to stir or look into a pot. Another consideration that may affect your planning is that In your current kitchen layout, a hood is going to project out at least another 10 to 14 inches fruther from the cabinets. In the present location, that that could crowd (or seem to crowd) into the space expectations of folks using the sink. You can get a relatively shallow venting appliance --- can we really call them hoods if they don't have a canopy? --- which may mitigate the distance from stovetop to hood/vent somewhat. Not ideal, but workable. For example, my old house kitchen layout is such that I went with a 5" tall Zephyr hood. There is another 30" minimum clearance requirement that sometimes gets confused or mixed in to these discussions. That is for when you don't have a hood, and then the unobstructed distance above the range to flammable upper cabinet bases is generally specified as being at least 30 inches. An OTR or range hood are regarded as non-flammable surfaces so they can be closer. If you swap in a hood, what to do about a microwave? Apparently, you use the convection features a fair amount? (Otherwise, I'd suggest a cabinet hung MW unit elsewhere in the kitchen.) Do you have room for a cart someplace to hold that GE convection mw? Is there any kind of a pantry space where you could put it? If not, then maybe you just vent the existing one to the outdoors. Then give your self some time to plan and budget for a more extensive revamp. Here is a link that might be useful: Thread with photo of Nunyabiz's OTR

groomingal-glad your going to get your $500.00 back. Before you hire another agent (if you do), you might ask your attorney if he can recommend one he has worked with. If he has attended many closings, he will know the good ones from the bad. You will get good advice in this forum, but it really does pay to educate yourself. Also, don't tell your agent anything about your personal life. This will be passed along to the seller. You don't want them to know what will motivate you to pay a higher price. We are currently looking for a house. We use sites such as Realtor.com, RealtyOneLiving.com, ForSaleByOwner.com, Homes.com, www.traderonline.com and Craigslist.org just to name a few. We check the Sunday paper and read local newspapers to get a feel for what is popular in different areas. A visit to the local Sheriff plus a look at familywatchdog.us for a sex offender check tell us what the crime rate is and what types are more prevalent than others. The offender check is important for resale value. We almost made an offer on a house where the next door neighbor was on the offender list for both molestation and burglary. Not the kind of neighbor you want to keep an eye on your house when you go on vacation. We pick up the weekly home guides, attend open houses and drive around areas we are interested in. If we see a house we like, we try to chat up the neighbors as well as look up the property on the County auditor/recorder site to glean what information we can before approaching the SA/owner. If there are issues regarding a well, we check with the health/building department. We NEVER take a RE agents word for anything. We have found county departments to be both helpful, as well as a wealth of information. They will tell you what permits are on file for the house, what future development plans are in the works (new bridge?), any hazardous sites in your area or who ratted on who for a violation. You will also get a feel for how easy they will be to work with when you need a permit to put on an addition, etc. A few links that might be useful: Best real estate Web sites money.cnn.com/2006/05/12/real_estate/reguide_moneymag_addresses_0606/index.htm ask.metafilter.com/21871/House-buying-tips The neighbors you may not know about-Newsday.com www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-lisex1023,0,232400.story One more suggestion: Since you need to move quickly and are having a hard time finding a pet friendly rental. You might think about placing an ad in Craigslist. Lots of sellers are renting until the market improves. Maybe you can find an FSBO who would be willing to do a land contract. Never hurts to ask.

You are wise to ask questions becasue you have a serious systems issue priority. This is classic example of why everyone needs to get your appliance specs and HVAC and electricians involved before beginning to design, especially if you want the commercial sized gas ranges. (Which you did.) Not every home can or should have gas or oversized appliances. Choosing the commercial lines adds huge costs for ventilation safety. Most people have no idea that a fan is as important as any other appliance. Call a few MORE HVAC companies and get them out to look and get some quotes. I cannot imagine any one with a gas ticket is putting in a line without checking the whole home balance, including the fan over your gas range and the range you chose. You simply cannot have gas without direct venting. You may have to compromise your range and change your BTU's or even go to induction. You need to hire a local Kitchen and Bath designer who will work with the HVAC contractor to get what you need and hopefully what you want. There are far too many details that are not even listed by yourself to address on line. Realistically, any advice here should be to have another qualified tradesperson look at it on site and work from there. This is one area where Houzz advice is not beneficial compared with a qualified tradesperson on site. Once you have this resolved and can pick the best appliance for your needs and wants then... we design. Best wishes and good on you for sharing your dilemma.

We completed a large scale kitchen remodel with high end architect and construction company. We heavily researched 36" gas ranges and selected a Miele 36" gas range because we do a lot of baking and because of the self-clean function. The oven doesn't reach temperature. We have to use an oven thermometer and constantly adjust the temperature to bake. The gas takes a bit to come out and once it does, it comes out with a vengeance and the burners click for about a minute every single time you turn it on. This has happened since the first day it was installed. Like the OP, we also hear the loud noises during baking. We have had 5 repair people out, including Miele reps and still no resolution. But- the worst part has been the same as the OP- scorched backsplash. The manual for the gas range has changed since we received the range- our manual does NOT mention anything about vapors, scorching or trim. The architect/designer and construction company have had multiple people through our house to figure out what is going on and all point fingers to the range. We even asked about a backguard. When we brought this to Miele's attention, they blew us off. After using the self-clean function, our tile backsplash looks like a mess. We don't know how to resolve the issue because the oven doesn't work properly and the backsplash issue isn't a quick fix. We aren't blaming anyone. We just wanted to share our experience and hope that maybe someone might have some constructive comments to help us come up with a solution.