I've looked up a couple of otr microwaves lately and pretty consistently, the top of the unit is at 72" from the floor. This may or may not apply to yours, but the otr placement might be fine and the error might be in calculating the niche based on an assumption of height.

There are other reasons why you might not want the cabinet placement - your coffee pot, tv or mixer heights for example. So, check that kind of stuff too before accepting a proposed remedy.

Check the mfg specs on the OTR microwave and make sure 16" is not a safety issue. I suspect it might be. One possible solution is to use a countertop microwave and install a hood in that space instead, which will take up much less space and give you the clearance you need. Of course cabinet guy needs to pay for these changes, if it was his mistake.

My OTR is 72, cabs are 18+ inches from counter. I'm short too, but wouldn't want spaces any less because of things on the counter. Can you take pix so we can see? 16" may give your kitchen a squashed look. Your cab guy may benefit in the long run from learning he has to do things the way they're ordered. Too bad, but I'm currently suffering through a redo because I didn't insist on what I had originally said I wanted with a backsplash. I say be sure you get what you need and want; you're going to be the one living with your kitchen. Resale may be an issue too, assuming you won't live in this house forever; you may sell it to a basketball player.

I ran down and measured, it's 68 1/2 fr
the floor to the top of the microwave. Horrors!

It may be that you just need to have him redo the one cabinet above the range. The others are probably okay -- assuming that your coffee pot, etc fit beneath -- and you might actually prefer them given your height. Or it may be that you could have him rehang all the uppers a couple inches higher and replace the crown molding with a shorter molding.

And get a discount.

Who did the measuring for the cabinet order? The cabinetmaker, you, or a GC?

Photos:

Those are very yummy cabinets, teaforwendy!

I may be a freak, but I'm 5'8" and deliberately hung my wall cabinets 16" from the counter. Love the accessibility and nobody has ever found them too low to work under. THAT SAID, I do have a lot of other counterspace without any uppers above it, and that's where I do any mixing, blending, coffeemaking etc.

It's really a personal comfort issue. Our microwave is 17" above the counter and the inspector had no issue with it, for what it's worth (Maine). BUT it's not an over-the-range type.

Can you have just the cabs over the range redone? Or if it's comfortable to you to work there, I'd say to leave it. 10 or 15 years of cooking comfort beats any hypothetical resale value, in my book.

Good luck!

Hi, I'm sure not an expert but will throw in a few things. First, I love your microwave, cool! Your kitchen is going to be beautiful!

What do the specs on your micro suggest for distance from range?

Before our remodel we had an old OTR micro about 16" from top of our cooktop. I'm 5'1" so it was a convenient height (even a bit high for me) but while cooking, I had this big huge microwave in my face - it always just seemed in the way. It also looked too low. I hated having it there.

I tried once to have the old OTR replaced, bought a replacement, and the electrician wouldn't install it because it would be too low and he said it violated code. So we had to put the old one back, much to my horror.

Based on my experience, I'd have the cabinets reworked and have the micro installed a little higher before you get in your new finished kitchen and figure out that you don't like the OTR placement.

According to GE's web site, that Cafe OTR MW can be mounted 15 1/2" above the cooking surface. Personally, I'd want it higher, along with all of the rest of the cabinets. It looks to me like it would be easy enough to shorten the flat trim piece at the top (the piece before the crown) and raise everything up 2" or so.

Thanks for looking that up. The problem with changing th eupper trim is than it won't match all over the kitchen -- will be different for the pantry and over the fridge. And in the laundry room. I think the trim is the root of the problem, though. I saw some tall uppers in mid March and decided I didn't want that tall of a look, so we expanded the trim. I think the cabinet maker forgot to adjust the cabinet heights when we made the trim change. Geeze o geeze.

Can't he change the trim throughout the whole kitchen? It really seems like if he forgot to make the adjustment, he needs to be responsible to fix it, whatever it takes. Don't settle for something you are not happy with if it not your mistake.

You can just replace the cabinet over the MW without having to change any trim. The bottom of the MW doesn't have to be flush with the other cabinets and often isn't. That would be the simplest fix or else leave it as is - it doesn't violate the manufacturer's specs.

Can you can put in a serving spoon and comfortably stir things on the stove? And open up the coffee maker such that the top won't hit the upper cabinet?

Sorry, but I'd suggest having him put them up higher. It seems too low to me.

Good luck.

Can you do as weissman said and replace the cabinet over the stove with a shorter one? Seems like the easiest solution, but I am not an expert! Wish you luck with this!

Thanks everyone, for your input. I really really appreciate it.

We have a solution that I think makes everyone happy; we will reduce the trim piece on the bottoms of the cabinets so we have 17" between uppers and countertops and for over the stove, they will make a new cabinet and doors so we have use of the full niche and I can stir my chili pot. It means the OTR microwave won't be flush with the bottom of the other cabinets, but I don't think I'll care. Will just have to pick out something cool for the niche backsplash to distract the eye. And I feel really good about not making this young cabinet maker re-do all the uppers. I think he's pretty happy with us, too.

Thanks for your support and help! Hope this is the last set back. I guess it pushes out my timeline, but hey -- I'll have appliances by this afternoon. And I didn't get to do a big unveiling of the finished kitchen...but this was pretty important. Or so it felt at 6am. :))

Tea for window, that sounds like a great compromise! Mine are a little lower than 18" (and I'm short!) and I think it's easier to reach in or on the shelves.

My kitchen has a low ceiling, so there wasn't the recommended clearance between my microwave and the stove top. It's 16 inches. I don't know if that's why the electronics in my microwaved failed or not, but I'm not putting another microwave so close to the stove top.

Does this MW vent to the outside? if so, then raising it so it is not flush with the bottom is a good idea: it gets more efficient at venting (which an OTR MW needs) when the cabinets on the sides come down below the bottom of the MW.

If it's not vented to the outside, then it doesnt really matter. I would just change out that one cabinet so that the MW is higher and leave the rest alone.

It does vent to the outside - or will when it's complete, so that is good news as we've decided that we will just shrink the cabinet over the microwave. Thanks.

Just be sure your side cabinets meet Code for being far enough from the cooking surface. Code states that flammable surfaces (like cabinets and light rail trim) must be at least XX" from the cooking surface. That XX" is usually 18". If it's measured on the diagonal (i.e., from the actual heating element closest to the the cabinet to the corner of the cabinet), you will probably be OK.

Are you putting on light rail trim below the cabinets so they're actually an inch or so lower overall? You may have an issue then...

It's not the MW itself that's an issue (which is why others have been able to mount them closer to the counter), it's the fact that the MW is over a cooking surface that's the issue...that's where the safety and Code issues come into play.

BTW...my KA stand mixer would not fit under your cabinets w/o light rail trim and it would be an issue for me.

buehl, where are you getting the Code quote from about the 18" clearance? Is it just for gas ranges, or both electric and gas? And what about for an induction cooktop?

I ask because for my electric range, my local city inspector said he goes by the manufacturer's install guide, and mine shows an illustration of a combustible wall right next to the range. OTOH, it says you have to have 30" clearance above the cooktop for combustible material.

Someone else quoted the 18" to me, which is why I'm wondering if it is specific to gas ranges, or to a particular building code that our local area hasn't adopted yet.

It's seems to me that your cabinets were hung the wrong way. They should have been hung the correct distance from the counters and then the filler and crown molding adjusted as necessary. It seems like the correct fix would be to raise the cabinets, reducing the filler. If you eliminate or reduce the trim under the cabinets, then your undercabinet lighting might show. Your cabinets are beautiful and ultimately you need to do whatever makes you comfortable.

Codes varies by municipality...you need to check your local Codes. Codes often have a comment similar to "XXX is required or what meets the manufacturer's requirements".

Also check the specs/installation instructions for your range...it may say the same about flammable surfaces.

Believe it or not my cabinets are only 14 1/2" from the counter top and have been for 40 years. Don't have an OTR microwave so can't speak to that.