Review the installation specifications; clearance requirements

ok thanks, I will!

How set in stone is your kitchen layout and are you open to suggestions?

it's pretty much a done deal. we've been going around and around all summer and production has to start on tuesday or it will delay the completion timeline. it's not perfect, i know that. next time i build a custom house, i'll design my kitchen first and build around it. we are limited by walls. but if you have something amazing to share, i'm completely open. it just can't entail a complete redesign since I'm pretty much out of time. sigh

i know it;s higher than normal, but our old home in FRisco, TX had them stacked like this and it wasn't too high. It's about the same height as an over the range microwave is.

here are the other pieces to the kitchen. the reason we are stacking the microwave now is because we have to reduce the size of the island to accommodate one slab and we lose the microwave drawer space.

An OTR may not be the correct height, nor have a flat bottom. But some counter top units come with cabinet installation trim kits.

If having two ovens plus a separate microwave is important to you, you could:

1.) Move the microwave to a different spot altogether - perhaps next to the refrigerator - and put a drawer or two below the wall ovens thus bringing the lower of the two ovens up to a much more convenient height. Obviously your microwave could/would be bigger than the one in the photo since the cabinets next to your fridge are 31” wide.

2.) Replace the cooktop with a range and do a single wall oven with a microwave over it, which would, again, allow you to raise the wall oven to a much more comfortable height and by extension, lower your microwave to a more convenient height.

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If you’re set on having a cooktop all by itself, without an oven underneath, but you’re not adamant about having two ovens plus a separate microwave, you could do one conventional wall oven and one multi-purpose oven, like a GE Cafe Series Advantium, which has the following cooking modes:

Broil

Convection

Microwave

Proof

Speedcook

Warm

P.S. I love Frisco; it’s like a second home to me!

Don’t do this. It’s really stupidly unsafe. A 3 piece stack is one of the stupidest worst unsafe ideas EVER.

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@sammy, we must have the same pinterst board- i've considered all of those arrangements. i really do prefer drawers under my cooktop. my KD has pleaded with me to do a double oven where the top doubles as a microwave but i do not like convection cooking and i cook/bake in large batches for my family who has lots of allergies and dietary restrictions. i really will use both full size ovens regularly. i had the microwave in the island but we've had to reduce the size.... is there anywhere else you'd place the microwave? i suggested to the left of the refrigerator or right of the ovens but my KD said both places were a bad choice for function. the funny thing is that we don't often use a microwave but because we move around a lot, i feel it's an important item to have for resell. i really appreciate your ideas!

Glad to help! I’d be curious to know why your kd thinks the microwave function would suffer if it were to be placed either next to the fridge or next to the ovens. If not a fan of those locations, what location does she suggest? I mean, I guess you could put it in one of the upper cabs next to the cooktop, either to the left (at the end of the cabinet run) or to the right (sandwiched between the hood and the ovens) —but those spaces are 34” wide.

Really - ask her/him what the issue is, exactly, with having the microwave next to the fridge. I gotta know!! ;)

BTW: Have you seen your designer’s previous work - either in person or through photos? Have you spoken to any of his/her former clients to see if they’re pleased with their kitchens, especially over a period of time?

Oh, and the main reason why I asked if this design was set in stone is because if it’s not, and there is the flexibility to do so, I would highly recommend you move the wall oven stack all the way to the left at the end, which would also mean shifting the cooktop (and its adjacent cabinets) one “section” to the right. Even though with that island you’re not exactly hurting for a continuous stretch of work space, I hate to see any countertop space broken up by (in your case) the wall ovens if it can be helped!

BTW: Where’s your sink/sinks? I’m guessing there’s one in the island.

Miele speed oven will do regular bake. It fits a pretty good amount too.

Regarding this:

Sophie Wheeler

Don’t do this. It’s really stupidly unsafe. A 3 piece stack is one of the stupidest worst unsafe ideas EVER.

A three-piece stack in and of itself is not stupid and unsafe—it’s the addition of the pull-out step below them that’s stupid and unsafe!

No, any 3 piece stack places the top element too high to be used safely. And the bottom element too low to be ergonomically comfortable. Unless the 3rd is a shallow warming drawer at floor level. Which then becomes a useless and unused waste of money. Because it is then too low to be ergonomically comfortable.

The size of your island is showing 125" x 80" on your drawings. I am probably missing something here, but unless you cut the island size by more than half, how is it that the reduced size will not accommodate a microwave drawer?

I'm sorry.....I still don't understand....even at 120x60, why would you not have enough room for a micro? My island is 102 x 80, and even on the short side I have a sink, trash pullout, and a micro drawer. There must be a way to reconfigure your island cabinets to accommodate a microwave.

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Where else can I stick this darn microwave?

thinkdesignlive

The first picture Sammy posted is really the best option for you

I really think so too (well, obviously!) :D

I have two dishwashers, one on either side of the sink, and my husband who never liked the idea of two is pressing me to eliminate one...

NO! Don’t do it! I just got out of the kitchen where I spent way too long trying to fit all of the dirty dishes from this morning’s brunch (plus the few things left over from last night’s football and pizza) into one load but it was impossible. So I’ll either have to:

1.) wait two plus hours for this load (I have it running the Pots & Pans program right now which I think is the longest) to finish, so I can immediately unload it and load it back up

OR

2.) Wash the rest of the stuff by hand (um, no thanks)

...and put the micro drawer there. I REALLY don't want to do that.

You're right; you REALLY don’t want to do that! My back hurts just thinking about it!

Do a range, with a wall oven and MW drawer. But do not do a MW above a double oven. The safety hazard of pouring hot liquids on you is not worth the convenience. The MW is too high stacked like that.

I’ll give a custimer some things that I don’t approve of, but as a victim of a bad childhood burn, I won’t compromise on burn safety. That 3 stack is one configuration that I flat out refuse to do due to danger, and liability issues.

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Sammy- yes! I have 4 children (maybe more later!) so I NEED those two DWs. It's the one compromise I won't make.

Say no more, Nicole...you absolutely REQUIRE two dishwashers! Lol. I only have a house full of four people right now so I can’t imagine the amount of dirty dishes — and laundry! — six plus people would generate on a full-time basis. So, yeah, in your situation, having a second dw would definitely not just be “a nice thing to have” like it would be if I had one (actually mine would probably be a single dish drawer, either in the kitchen or in the bar in the great room, since I don’t really need the larger capacity of a full-size dw on a regular basis.)

I will think about all of these ideas- they're really helpful. The only other place I can consider is to the left of the fridge- my kitchen guy said no because we only have about 17" of hip room at the counter.

You never did say where he (I assume “kitchen guy” is your KD) suggests you put the microwave, or did you and I missed it?

Husband and I are tall ppl and from my calculations, a micro stacked on top of doubles is about the same height as an over the range.

I know it can be done without risking life and limb (or whatever else Sophie was afraid of), especially if you’re tall, but:

1. Considering the fact that you will be selling this home in perhaps the not-too-distant future, will it — either the microwave being too high or the bottom oven being too low — be a deal-breaker for a prospective buyer?

2. Will the bottom oven be uncomfortable for YOU to use?

3. Will the microwave be too high for your kids to operate comfortably (and therefore, gotta say it, safely?)

So much to think about, huh? ;)

1. The bottom of my over-the-range microwave is 53" from the floor. Yours would be only a couple of inches higher (and you say you are tall) so you may not have any problem reaching it. However, GE (for example) mandates a minimum of 30" inches above a cooktop so placing it directly above a wall oven may not be acceptable.

2. GE provides instructions on how to install its built-in microwave oven over other appliances including ovens (example: installation instructions for model #PWB7030SLSS).

3. GE also manufactures a wall oven with microwave/convection on the top and regular oven on the bottom: model #PT7800SHSS.

Thanks Nicole....That french door oven has its good points and bad. I never realized that it's actually helpful to have an oven door that catches drippings that might spill while basting etc. With a French door oven, where do you think all those small drips and drops go with no oven door to catch them?? On the floor of course! I think I'll reserve that oven for items that have no tendency to spill or drip or else set up something in the drawer right below it to catch spills. It's these small things that somehow escape us during the design phase that show up later when we actually use our kitchens.

Considering your kitchen, If it were mine, I would definitely keep those two dishwashers (no doubt about that one...sorry, I missed that post of yours with the layout for your island). I would most likely consider the following...

• possibly work towards enlarging the island if feasible (wouldn't worry about one slab or two etc.).
• think about omitting one of the trash pullouts and then making the island slightly longer to accommodate the micro.
• I would not squeeze the micro in that corner next to the fridge or ovens. That would drive me nuts. Too squishy....I like lots of elbow room.

I don't necessarily think your triple oven stack is a bad idea as long as the micro isn't too high and you other ovens aren't too low. I was looking at my Wolf range, and the oven door is VERY close to the floor (the bottom of the door is approx. 7" off the floor...so pretty low). You could customize your wall oven cabinet to have your bottom oven fairly low and work your way up from there with the micro being at a decent workable height.

Do you have a pantry where you could possibly put the micro?

The height of this microwave really isn’t that much different than an OTR model. So I too don’t understand the alarm... unless you’re vertically challenged. My personal dislike of this arrangement has to do with the position of the lower oven, but that’s because I don’t like ovens at that level, period, regardless of configuration. In fact, I can’t wait for my Thermador range to go kaput so I can — without feeling an iota of guilt — replace it with a gas range top and replace my wall oven and microwave combo with two wall ovens. (My microwave will have to go on a shelf somewhere else, though, because my double ovens will start at no less than 25” high.

Bottom line: You do you.

:D