Fitting a slide-in stove

hey guys,

my wife and i are looking into getting a new stove, but we have concerns with the width of a new stove to the width of the current opening on the countertops. we have granite countertops and the opening is about 29.80" and our current stove is exactly 29.75" at the top (the top of the stove is about 3/16" narrower than the body of the stove). the current stove barely squeezes into the opening.

looking at new stoves, all the 30" stoves are about 29.8-29.9" wide (the one we are looking at requires 29.9"). the stove would clear at the cabinets (they are 30" wide), but not at the countertop. is there a process to trim the countertops (in place) to give an extra 1/4" of room? would you just use an angle grinder? is this an easy DIY or am i better off hiring someone? if i do hire someone, what is a reasonable cost? the current edge of the countertop (against the stove) is finished. do i need to be concerned about that? does it need to be refinished?

thanks for your help

here are some pics so you can see how close the current clearance is.

 

Blue tape and a diamond blade on a Skil saw or angle grinder. But be careful you don’t overheat it and cause it to pop. If that makes sense. Add water while you’re doing it it will make a mess though. I don’t think professional would charge too much either. Might be the safer route. Are these measurements of the new stove taken by you or are they off of the spec sheet? Because maybe when you get the stove you could be surprised that it will slide right in.

 

thanks.

the measurement of the new stove is out of the manual. i should go into the store and measure it to be certain, however.

 

You can diy with an angle grinder with a porcelain/tile blade and shave off an 1/8” off each side making long and light passes each time. Tape off the top edge of your top back that 1/8” that you desire as a template guide. Suck the dust with a shop vac. Use a palm sander with increasing grit to give the finished edge good looks.

Hint: Wait until your stove arrives as you may not need to do anything. It may fit. Thats what she said.

 

Sounds like an echo chamber in here! Good advice. 95% of the time the stove will fit in that opening.

 

Definitely. Don’t have it cut until you have it.

I have a very tight spot my refrigerator goes in. Specs online showed it was to tight by a 1/4”. I went down to best buy and measured. It fit perfectly the same as my old fridge.

 

we haven't ordered it yet. we wanted to make sure that it would fit before we are standing there trying to force it into the opening

i guess the first step is to go into a store and physically measure it

 

Yep. Sometimes the manual and the real world are different.

 

LOL ... my wife just recommend a little lube to get it to slide in place

she said that it has worked before