The gas stovetop and gas convection oven were installed yesterday and I am unhappy with my choice of appliances. Functionally, these are going to be great. I am so excited to be able to bake and roast again.
But they look awful and there are some installation problems.
I have been looking forward to seeing these appliances in place since I selected them many months ago. The ones that I could have had included in the unit kitchen were not the manufacturer or model I wanted. So we got our Takara Standard kitchen with an empty bay and purchased the stove and oven separately. Sales ladies and tech guys assured me this wasn’t a problem; standard sizes for appliances meant it would all fit.
Though I could have made worse choices, I think I made a mistake on this one. I should have compromised on the appliances and had them pre-installed. Because these don’t fit well at all. Meet my big gaps.
The one between the countertop and the top of the grill is big enough for me to see the silvery metal fittings in the back of the stove. I know there’s meant to be a gap for airflow, but seeing through into the workings seems unsafe. And it’s definitely going to get dirty in a way that is not cleanable without disassembling the stovetop completely.
Why is there a gap? The installation is correct. 220 mm from the top of the counter to the bottom of the grill.
I think the gaps exists because Takara Standard’s default stainless steel counter is 10 mm thinner than the manmade stone ones they offer. If the countertop were 40mm would there be a much smaller gap, like in this photo?
So I am not sure if there is anything to be done. Maybe a spacer of some sort, but I doubt it. The CAD drawings note “do not cover air gap.” I have reached out to Rinnai and to Takara Standard and I hope one will offer a solution.
But that’s only the first gap. There’s also one between the bottom of the grill and the oven that is big enough to stick my finger into. Just imagine the food and crumbs that will slide in there. A whole cookie!
There should be a small space between the two parts, more like this catalog photo:
I know why this gap happened. It was avoidable and it can be corrected.
My counters are 900 mm – taller than most but a normal size TS sells. The range base that the oven sits on accommodates an 850 mm counter and can be adjusted up another few mm. So the installers should have used additional rubber feet (“gum packing” is what we’d call it in Japanese) to lift the oven up to the correct height. But they did not and there is a gap at the top of the oven, instead of the bottom where it could be covered up.
I will ask Sasaki-san to ask them to fix it.
I want to be generous with my appreciation of all the vendors who work on this house. I like the “LP gas guy” very much. But the installation process yesterday was like watching clowns put together an IKEA cupboard. They could not figure out how to get the base plate correctly in place. I don’t know why. After a half an hour of bafflement, the installer and the gas guy gave up and had to call the Rinnai rep to come out. It still took an hour with him pitching in.
By that time I was thoroughly frustrated and I am sure they were, too. As they started replacing the dust cover I stopped them and inspected the work. I really didn’t appreciate the tooth sucking when I pointed out the gaps would make cleaning difficult. I’ll bet these guys do not clean their own kitchens.
The grill was off center to the oven and just 1mm from scraping against the cabinet drawers. They took it apart and it’s better now, but still not centered in the space (but I know how to fix it myself now that I watched them do it.) The glass top wasn’t seated correctly; it was lifted up slightly at the front I fixed it with a strong press down while showing them the problem.
On the purely aesthetic side, why are two items by the same manufacturer actually different shades of grey? The stovetop is a cool grey (silver) and the oven is a warm grey (stainless). They look identical in the catalog. UGH.
Anyway, it will all work wonderfully and I am grateful to have these, but I cringe at the way it looks. For aesthetics, I should have gone with the appliances Takara Standard suggested. They probably would have worked just fine. Oh, well. Too late now.
