Oven clearance?

[Danny]

I was stumped last week when a seller asked me a question regarding their home inspection done by another inspector. The inspector listed that the wall in front of the stove was too close. He cited that the wall was less than 60" away from the front of the stove. ????? The wall was really just about 5' away from the stove.

[tbird]

Being in the appliance business in a previous life, I have never run across this. All the specs that I quickly ran through online do not show front clearances. IMO, if the door will fully open, there is enough clearance. It may not be useful and look stupid, but it is enough clearance.

[hausdok]

My response would have been something like, "It sounds like folklore. I've never heard of it. Did this inspector cite a source for that tidbit? If not, file it away with the Bigfoot sightings.

OT - OF!!!

M.

[sepefrio]

The only clearance I know of with a stove is for a range over it. 18" Thats not safety, thats so the exhaust fans works effectively

[Jim Katen]

Originally posted by Danny

I was stumped last week when a seller asked me a question regarding their home inspection done by another inspector. The inspector listed that the wall in front of the stove was too close. He cited that the wall was less than 60" away from the front of the stove. ????? The wall was really just about 5' away from the stove.

I've seen the 60-inch thing mentioned in kitchen design magazines and such. It's not a bad idea. Try opening an oven and placing a roasting pan in there. Without enough space, your butt bumps into the wall.

I think that this was one of those "rules" that came about as a result of the efficiency fads of the 1940s. During the war, there was a demand for efficiency experts in the manufacturing sector. After the war, some of them branched out into all sorts of other areas including kitchen design. That's when the theory of the "kitchen work triangle" first showed up. These experts produced all sorts of advice about how high, how deep and how wide everything should be and how it should be situated in the room.

It's not a real rule, just a design guideline.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[Danny]

Thanks all..... I thought I'd missed something in training. I hate to bad mouth another inspector, so I don't.... but I think sometimes when I've never heard of something like that then my expressions probably tell the "story" to the client. lol

This was actually the same inspector that inspected my house when I was selling. He panicked the buyers about mold on my garage wall (backside of bathtub)! What he didn't know was this was actually lint from a fridge that was there and had stuck to the wall. I had to cut the wall open and then repair the hole just to prove it wasn't a moisture/mold problem. I think I'm just rambling now.

[Bill Kibbel]

Originally posted by Jim Katen

I've seen the 60-inch thing mentioned in kitchen design magazines and such. It's not a bad idea. Try opening an oven and placing a roasting pan in there. Without enough space, your butt bumps into the wall.

'Cuz most Americans have big asses.

I have a little ass and I usually stand to the side of the oven door.

[Chad Fabry]

'Cuz most Americans have big asses.

Ain't that the truth. I went to a seminar a week ago and when I walked in I thought I was at a weight watchers convention.

[Jim Katen]

Originally posted by inspecthistoric

Originally posted by Jim Katen

I've seen the 60-inch thing mentioned in kitchen design magazines and such. It's not a bad idea. Try opening an oven and placing a roasting pan in there. Without enough space, your butt bumps into the wall.

'Cuz most Americans have big asses.

I have a little ass and I usually stand to the side of the oven door.

I'd buy that except the rule originated in the '40s when American asses were a whole lot smaller.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[Terence McCann]

That's really not a bad rule - especially at Thanksgiving when your trying to wrestle a bird in and out of the oven. Might save you from some nasty burns.

[hausdok]

Originally posted by Chad Fabry

'Cuz most Americans have big asses.

Ain't that the truth. I went to a seminar a week ago and when I walked in I thought I was at a weight watchers convention.

Yep, walk into an HI convention and one thinks, "Wow, the US Beef Trust!"

I console myself by telling myself that gravity affects older people more than younger people. Therefore, the older you get the more you weigh on a scale but you haven't actually gained any body mass. Works for me, but the danged scale dial and my feet keep moving further and further out of sight.

OT - OF!!!

M.

[Phillip]

Originally posted by hausdok

Originally posted by Chad Fabry

'Cuz most Americans have big asses.

Ain't that the truth. I went to a seminar a week ago and when I walked in I thought I was at a weight watchers convention.

Yep, walk into an HI convention and one thinks, "Wow, the US Beef Trust!"

I console myself by telling myself that gravity affects older people more than younger people. Therefore, the older you get the more you weigh on a scale but you haven't actually gained any body mass. Works for me, but the danged scale dial and my feet keep moving further and further out of sight.

OT - OF!!!

M.

ROFLMAO[][:-dev3][:-bonc01] I know what you mean. I have to lean over to see if my shoes are tied. [:-paperba

[Bill Kibbel]

Yep, walk into an HI convention and one thinks, "Wow, the US Beef Trust!"

At HI seminars, it might look like that from the back of the room, but I'm often the one at the front facing the herd. The blinding reflected light is a more significant issue.

[hausdok]

Don't remind me. Hey, anyone know where I can get a can of that spray-on hair they used to sell on TV in the 70's? [:-paperba

OT - OF!!!

M.

[sepefrio]

Maybe you should refer to the rusted I-beam thread?