When we last left off, our kitchen was in the middle of a serious reshuffle. New appliances were on the way, but before they arrived we needed to remove the cabinet that housed the wall oven.
We decided to remove the wall oven for a few reasons: it was discolored and cooked unevenly, wall ovens are considerably more expensive than ranges, our cabinet was an unusual width that wouldn’t fit most modern wall ovens, and the tall cabinet made the room feel top-heavy. Rather than replace it, we planned to repurpose parts of that cabinet and open up the space to improve the kitchen layout.
After emptying the cabinet we turned off the power and disconnected the hardwired oven. Because it was hardwired I capped the exposed wire, secured everything in the metal junction box, and left the circuit off until the electrician could make the final connection. We’ll share what that mystery wire above the pantry turns out to be once we know.
With the oven free from the wall and removed, the cabinet itself was surprisingly light. We moved the doors, drawers, and trim pieces into the sunroom for temporary storage so we can reuse them if needed. Once the remodel is finished we’ll try to donate or sell anything we don’t keep.
The next morning our new appliances were delivered. The refrigerator went in immediately—the old fridge was donated—and the new stove was staged nearby, awaiting installation in its permanent spot. The dishwasher and microwave were still boxed up, and although only the refrigerator was operational at first, it made a huge improvement.
Removing the wall oven left us without a baking option, so our priority became installing the new range. The main obstacle was the existing cooktop and the granite section built around it.
We removed the cabinet below the cooktop and shut off the power to that area. According to the installation manual I expected to lift the cooktop out easily, but it wouldn’t budge. We discovered it had been glued to the countertop with a heavy-duty black silicone sealant. Unfortunately, gluing a drop-in cooktop can make removal risky, often leading to cracked or shattered glass when forced out.
We tried carefully cutting and prying for about 15 minutes, but the glass began to crack. At that point it was clear the cooktop was no longer suitable for resale or donation. While frustrating, this is a fairly common outcome when cooktops are caulked into place, so consider asking installers not to glue drop-in appliances if future removability matters to you.
Since the cooktop would be going out with the granite countertop section anyway, we shifted focus to freeing the granite. Removing the granite backsplash first gave better access behind the cooktop, but it still wouldn’t separate cleanly. We eventually decided to remove the entire granite slab with the cooktop attached to avoid doing more damage.
Removing the granite was straightforward after cutting the silicone seal along the edges and levering with a crowbar and screwdriver. Granite is heavy, so we recruited an extra set of hands to help carry the slab to the carport. It now waits there for donation or sale along with the other items we no longer need.
With the granite and cooktop out, we removed the remaining cabinet pieces and fit the new stove into place. We left the protective wrapping on the range as a reminder not to use it until the electrician converts the wiring to a standard plug and completes the final hookup.
A few notes on the install: the microwave above the stove sits lower than we’d like, so we plan to replace it with a proper vented hood. The base cabinet opening was 36 inches but the new stove is 30 inches, so we’ll add 3-inch filler pieces and paint everything white to create a built-in look. The stove is counter-depth and currently not pushed all the way in to make it easy for the electrician to work.
We kept the original 36-inch base cabinet; it will be repurposed where the tall oven cabinet used to be. That cabinet will become part of a new run of cabinetry that flows from the built-in fridge around to a planned peninsula. Reusing this piece reduces how many new cabinets we’ll need to buy.
As always, each task we finish uncovers several new ones. The next steps include sourcing backsplash materials, finalizing cabinet and countertop selections, painting the exposed paneling, and scheduling structural work for knocking down an interior wall. We’ve hired a contractor for the wall work and expect to move forward within the next month.
Overall, the demolition and appliance swap were challenging but productive. Removing the old oven and countertop opened up the space and brought us one step closer to a more functional kitchen layout and a completed remodel.