Recessed Stove on LXi's

[rrueckwald]

Jim,

I measured how much I could raise it, leaving 1/8" clearance for the knobs. It turned out to be 1 1/4". So I cut some 1"x2" to lay on the old platform and glued the ends together. Eight little spots of adhesive held it in place. Then I cut a piece of 1/2" plywood for the next layer. I had to do that in two pieces because of a lip around the counter edge. I set that on top of the 1"x2" pieces and used a little wood glue. Then I used aluminum tape for the upper surface, but you really need smooth wood for that, so birch plywood works. However today I ordered a piece of stainless to drop on the new platform to finish it right.

Needless to say, it took several fits and refits before I was ready to apply glue, and I used very little so I could remove it if I ever wanted to. The hardest part was figuring out how the old stove was attached underneath. I cut a hole in the rear by the electrical box with my Fein saw to get access and found the bracket shown in one of the pictures. In retrospect, I could have avoided cutting the hole if I had known there were two screws under the front easily removable panel at the knobs. One on each side going sideways. Then lift the front of the cooktop and pull forward. For other types of stoves, John Martin said there were usually ways to get to the screws after removing the elements, etc.

The cooktop was plugged in behind the top drawer to the right of the stove, and could be accessed by removing the drawer. As it turned out, I found some interference problems BB had left, so had to fix those, too, but am happy I did.

Raising the cooktop 1 1/4" has made a world of difference in using the cooktop.