Fan club and heating things up :)
A little home project... remove the old original vent hood and install an over the range (OTR) microwave. I found a used OTR microwave on Facebook Marketplace and bought it. It was missing some installation parts, so I ordered those - easy enough. I removed the original 1950s Nutone vent hood. This was very straightforward. The new microwave requires that I modify the upper cabinet to meet the building code for minimum microwave height. Sounds doable, but a project.
Had to add electrical outlet - pretty straight forward.
Then, had to cut down upper cabinet by 2" to have microwave sit flush with bottom of cabinets and meet the building code.
Used my chop saw, but then had to do the re-cut the 3/8" overlay. Used my angle grinder and my multi-tool to make the cut. The multi-tool with plunge cut blade worked the best. Still may need some fine tuning, but good enough for now :)
I cut a new piece of 3/4" plywood for the new shelf. I cut out for the vent and electrical cord and screwed in the new shelf. Then I drilled holes for the OTR bolts. Only had to redrill once to get bolts to line up. After the install was complete, I added tape to align the old vent with the new top vent on the microwave. I also added fireblock foam around the vent and the exterior wall for insulation.
Moved the oven out of the way, popped the old tiles off the wall - used a hammer and putty knife. After the first couple, it went vent easily. I wanted to gain the extra 1/4". Attached the OTR microwave bracket to the wall - connected to one stud with a 3" decking screw and used 3" molly bolts for other 3 attachments. Though the instructions recommended 2 people to lift microwave, I did not have a second person. I was able to lift the microwave onto the bracket without a problem and was able to get the mounting bolts started with my hands. Then I secured the bolts and the microwave was secure!
A couple of days later, I'm done! Microwave is up and working and the upper cabinet is cut down and the doors are reinstalled.
I'll make the cabinets look pretty later.
Ended up selling the old microwave on Facebook Marketplace, so whole project cost me $80.
Fun project!!
BEFORE AFTER ... for now :)