Wave for me.

We have for the longest time had a couple of options in our house when it came to venting our kitchen: we either used a stand fan or a floor fan. As this new house has limited vents. first missing vent: dryer, had to cut a hole in the wall to install that. The next vent, while not technically a vent but just as annoying, the drain for the washing machine was installed but the breakout for the pipe was neither broken nor out. had to use a hammer, a screwdriver and a very sharp knife to unplug it so we could wash our clothes. Finally there is no vent in the kitchen so anytime pasta falls unnoticed under a burner and catches fire or something spills in the oven the smoke detector will ring. my wife teases me that I use the alarm as a timer, which never gets old by the way. :-)

So anyway back to my point.

my wife is an avid Craigslist reader. So one day she sends me a link showing a over stove microwave/light/vent.

Yay! vent.... wait there's no ductwork in the kitchen for that. other than that looks easy enough to install. first we do an in-depth search for just the right installation manual. found it yay! the first couple of pages do not make me happy as it gives the instructions on how to install the duct. I am not going to cut holes all the way to the roof to get this thing installed. reading it again I see one saving grace: ventless. buried in the instructions for wall-vent and roof-vent is the option to vent to the kitchen. seeing this as the best option for the least amount of cutting I follow these directions and flp the fan so it blows out the front.

the laundry list of required equipment was a little scary, framing square? 4 different drill bits, a pencil! like I said scary.

Since this was a Craigslist purchase, we only got about half the required screw, no toggles, though we did get extra lag-bolts for some reason.

Quick trip to Lowe's later and I'm ready to install this puppy.

holding up the mounting bracket I mark the holes so I can drill pilot holes and bore out for the toggles to fit. now I screw the plate securely to the wall.

the next measurements I made were especially painful as I was trying to fit the dimensions of the microwave under a cabinet with 3/4 inch overhang,upside down. after successfully drilling holes in the cupboard above the stove.

By the way did I mention this thing is heavy?

I lift the microwave into place and it is not sitting flush on the left side.

lug the beast back off the wall and notice the mount is bent. okay, plier time.

After straightening out the tab the microwave is now flush, but still being supported by me. As I can't see this as a viable long term solution I guide the 2 inch mounting bolts through the washers into the afore mentioned holes and …..

they don't fit. :-(

Luckily I have extra 3 inch bolts that came with the toggles.

Success.

looks like I knew what I was doing huh?













during clean up I could not get the Dirt-Devil away from my little flower helper. at least she's willing to be a big helper. After all the dust has settled and the insides have been cleaned we test it with microwave popcorn. works perfectly. thankfully I won't have to move this thing anytime soon. :-)