Range hood installed from microwave oven 😂😂

[jkk04]

70 years old guy is still improving the kitchen.

 

[bdhsfz6]

More power to us old guys!

I'm 77 and just replaced a built in 35 year-old combination conventional / microwave oven.

The cabinet is an old style 24" wide unit and there are no direct replacement combo ovens on the market that will fit the old opening.

We talked to several contractors, but none would modify the old cabinet. All wanted to redo the entire kitchen at a cost that was out of our reach. All the other appliances have been recently replaced and the kitchen itself is in great shape, so I did the mod myself.

My wife and I tore out the old oven and I made a new oak cabinet front & stained it to match.

We've had trouble servicing built in microwaves before, so I made an alcove with cooling fan to house a standard sized countertop model, which is easily replaceable.

Old:

New:

Took about 2 weeks to construct in the shop. (working part time) My wife and I did the swap in less than a day so she wasn't without either oven. The hardest part was removing the old 400# combo unit. We couldn't lift it so I made a dolly and we rolled it out on the deck and onto a pallet. I used the forks to put it in the pickup and haul it to the recycle center.

The two ovens cost around $3200 and the wood & hardware another $150. For $3350, we have a fully functional kitchen again without any down time. Contractor quotes ranged from $40K to $70K and the work would take a month or more.

It's amazing what us old folks can do!

 

[jkk04]

More power to us old guys!

I'm 77 and just replaced a built in 35 year-old combination conventional / microwave oven.

The cabinet is an old style 24" wide unit and there are no direct replacement combo ovens on the market that will fit the old opening.

We talked to several contractors, but none would modify the old cabinet. All wanted to redo the entire kitchen at a cost that was out of our reach. All the other appliances have been recently replaced and the kitchen itself is in great shape, so I did the mod myself.

My wife and I tore out the old oven and I made a new oak cabinet front & stained it to match.

We've had trouble servicing built in microwaves before, so I made an alcove with cooling fan to house a standard sized countertop model, which is easily replaceable.

Old:
View attachment 883151 View attachment 883153

New:
View attachment 883154 View attachment 883155

Took about 2 weeks to construct in the shop. (working part time) My wife and I did the swap in less than a day so she wasn't without either oven. The hardest part was removing the old 400# combo unit. We couldn't lift it so I made a dolly and we rolled it out on the deck and onto a pallet. I used the forks to put it in the pickup and haul it to the recycle center.

The two ovens cost around $3200 and the wood & hardware another $150. For $3350, we have a fully functional kitchen again without any down time. Contractor quotes ranged from $40K to $70K and the work would take a month or more.

It's amazing what us old folks can do!

You did a really fantastic job at your age.....

congratulations....
jkk

 

[EddieWalker]

Contractor quotes ranged from $40K to $70K and the work would take a month or more.

I'm a Contractor. I think I'm one of the higher priced Contractors for what I do, in my area. I've heard stories of guys that charge more, but in all honesty, when a client is getting multiple bids, mine is usually the highest.

I can't comprehend how somebody could bid $40,000 for what you did. And that was the LOW BID!!!!

Is there any way that you could take a picture of their bid and post it? Just cover their name and info with a piece of paper and take a picture of it, then post that picture.

Most of my oven swap jobs are anywhere from half a day, to three days if I'm doing woodwork and either painting or staining it. With materials, I can't imagine charging more then $2,000 for this.

 

[bdhsfz6]

I'm a Contractor. I think I'm one of the higher priced Contractors for what I do, in my area. I've heard stories of guys that charge more, but in all honesty, when a client is getting multiple bids, mine is usually the highest.

I can't comprehend how somebody could bid $40,000 for what you did. And that was the LOW BID!!!!

Is there any way that you could take a picture of their bid and post it? Just cover their name and info with a piece of paper and take a picture of it, then post that picture.

Most of my oven swap jobs are anywhere from half a day, to three days if I'm doing woodwork and either painting or staining it. With materials, I can't imagine charging more then $2,000 for this.

I wish you were located in my area. We needed a true craftsman capable of doing custom cabinet work and they just don't exist around here. We live in a rural area and there aren't many contractors to begin with.

None would tackle modifying or replacing the existing cabinet. Even contractors recommended by Home Depot wouldn't touch it. The contractors who did respond all wanted to gut and replace the entire kitchen. That is why the bids were so high. I should have made that clearer in my post. Unfortunately, I didn't save any of the paperwork.

 

[EddieWalker]

Thanks, those prices make more sense to me as kitchen remodels.

I bid a kitchen a couple years ago at $35,000 for a long time client. I'd done both their bathrooms, her parents home, and a long list of other rooms for both of them. They turned down my bid and went with a lady that she had just met who said she could do it for $30,000. Her big salespoint is that she has a connection for cabinets that she can get for a lot cheaper then anybody else can. After ten years of working for that couple, he said it wasn't personal, it was the $5,000.

When it was done, they never posted any pictures of the remodel, just kept commenting on how happy they where with it on Facebook. A year later, she called me and asked me to come look at an issue that the Contractor wasn't able to fix around their can lights in the ceiling.

I was more curious to see the kitchen then doing the work, so I went over there. Turns out that they where very disappointed with everything. They also paid $15,000 more then the bid on upgrades that they didn't know about beforehand. The Contractor never went to their house one time, she always sent a different person to deal with issues, and her crews would show up randomly, then leave for an unknown number of days.

The problem with the can lights was dust falling through them. I went up into the attic and I was shocked that there was no insulation above the remodel. They had removed the ceiling, put up new sheetrock, and charged them $2,000 for insulation, but it was never installed!!!! I also found a bunch of cut, and modified boards on their rafters that needed attention.

In the end, without doing the actual remodel, I still made money off of it.

A year later, they sold the house. They hated it so much that they just couldn't live there anymore.

There are lots and lots of contractors in my area. Tyler is a boom town. People are moving here from CA and NY faster then new houses can be built. If you can mow a lawn, you can become a Contractor, and that's what a lot of them are doing!!!

 

[jkk04]

I wish you were located in my area. We needed a true craftsman capable of doing custom cabinet work and they just don't exist around here. We live in a rural area and there aren't many contractors to begin with.

None would tackle modifying or replacing the existing cabinet. Even contractors recommended by Home Depot wouldn't touch it. The contractors who did respond all wanted to gut and replace the entire kitchen. That is why the bids were so high. I should have made that clearer in my post. Unfortunately, I didn't save any of the paperwork.

Living in the country is challenging.
If plumbing, electrical problems, mechanical problems, carpenter works, etc arise, it is very hard to hire the guy to fix.
They are not willing to do it because it is time consuming for them( of course I fully understanding).Or charge a lot more than usual that I can't afford.
So, I have to deal with the most problems by myself.
Following is an example.

 

[bdhsfz6]

The folks around here are all handy with tools and, out of necessity, are capable of doing most projects themselves. It's just a way of life.