We got this bad boy, and luckily, Lowe's was running a 10% off sale on Whirlpool appliances. We also added a four year warranty (on top of the standard one year) so we won't have to worry about any issues for the next five years.
Then we came home and came crashing down to earth. Several salespeople told us it would be easy to take out a drop in and put in a freestanding range. As long as we were replacing the countertops, no problemo! But now we had to actually do it. Here's how it went, step by step. It really wasn't that difficult, and definitely worth the savings over another drop in stove!
First, we took off the cooktop (it's a separate piece on most drop ins) and disconnected it. Then we took off the metal guard on the bottom. It was just a couple of screws and it popped right off. I went to get our gloves and the camera and came back to this.
Whoa. He claims it was easy but required brute man strength. He just lifted up and out it came!
Then we were left with the innards that supported the range itself. And we had to disconnect the stove from the electrical. Of course, we made sure the breaker was turned off before we even started the job. The kitchen guy at Lowe's asked us what year our house was built, and determined we needed a four pronged cord. Well, we had no prongs, just three wires twisted together and capped off. Oops. We'll see if I need to run and get a new cord when the installers come with our new oven tomorrow.
Once that was done, we started taking out the supports. We had several supports that were screwed in place, so we took out the screws with our power drill and beat the nailed pieces out with a hammer. A can of air was a great tool for blowing the sawdust and dust dust out of the screw heads.
The last obstacle was the cabinet kickplate. It was one long piece, and we needed it to be flush with the cabinets on either side. So with a quick evaluation and a trip back to Lowe's for a small handsaw, we had it out. Now we have a big hole in our kitchen. With a little but of white paint on the edges, it will be all ready for our brand new range tomorrow!
