How To Replace a Microwave

are you thinking about replacing your old over-the-range microwave today's newer models have stronger fans more features and it's a real easy DIY project today we're gonna show you how it's done first thing we're do is we're gonna take some measurements the first measurement we're gonna take is our width 30 inches 30 inches of pretty standard width for any over-the-range microwave we're also gonna measure the height of our microwave and the depth or projection away from the wall then two very important measurements that we need to take are the measurements from the top of our stovetop to the bottom of our microwave and also to the bottom of the cabinet from above our microwave so you're gonna want to check with your local codes your manufacturers instructions on these heights typically it's gonna be around 30 inches from the top of your stovetop to the bottom of the cabinet and around 13 and a half inches from the stove top to the bottom of the microwave you also want to make sure that if you're installing over a gas range that the microwave you're putting in is rated to go above your gas range now that we've got our new microwave it's time to start removing our old microwave we're gonna start by unplugging the power and taking the screws out of the top of the cabinet now is a good time to get an extra set of hands in here to keep some of the weight off at the bottom of the microwave these things aren't very heavy but they can be kind of awkward you're gonna tilt the top of the microwave away from the cabinet pulling the cord through at the same time and simply lift it off the bracket and remove it now we're gonna remove the old mounting bracket your screws just spin in place that means there's a toggle bolt in there you're just gonna have to get something behind the head of the screw to give you some leverage if you're reusing the same type brand of microwave you might be able to reuse the bracket now we're ready to unbox our new microwave this manufacturer has a specific instructions on how they want you to unpackage it so you don't damage the microwave you can find all those right here on top of the box we're gonna go and cut the tape on the top here open up the flaps and remove all these loose items on top here you want to hold these flaps down and rotate the Box forward until it's completely upside-down then you're simply gonna lift the cardboard box off the top with the front of the unit face down remove the mounting bracket attached to the back next we're gonna mark our studs in our cabinet opening using a stud finder and this manufacturer also wants us to mark the center of our opening we're gonna put a mark at the bottom and at the top next we're gonna extend our lines down for one of our studs and our centerline then we're gonna take our paper template that they sent with our microwave we went ahead and attached a couple pieces of tape to the back to let's stick it against the wall we're gonna take our template line it up with the bottom of our cabinet put it in place also remember to keep it in line with our center line and once that's attached we're gonna take our level put it on the bottom of our template making sure that it's level next we have our hole marked B and our hole Mark C now in these two we don't have studs behind it so we're gonna use this toggle bolt a toggle bolt you drill a hole in the drywall this toggle part collapses goes through the hole and it Springs out once it's inside the wall then when you tighten it down this grips the back of the drywall keeping everything tight and we'll use this wood screw that came with our microwave to attach the bracket into one stud right here for now I'm just gonna mark the holes with a pencil and I'll also mark the bottom of the template with our holes marked we're gonna remove our template get ready to drill our holes first holes we're gonna drill are for our toggle bolts using this 5/8 bit line them up right with those marks [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] then we're gonna switch to our wood bit for a wood screw alright next we're gonna take and put our upper cabinet template and attach it to the bottom of our upper cabinet just like we did our wall template and we're gonna take our pencil just like on our wall template we're gonna mark holes for our cabinet screws it's two of them here there's also another spot where you can mark for a cord to go through but we're gonna use our other hole that was already drilled there from our last microwave next we're gonna take down our template and drill some pilot holes where our cabinet screws are gonna go [Applause] so the reason I draw a pilot hole through the bottom of the cabinet is so I can drill down through my larger drill bit this way when I Drive it a little bit through I won't splinter the wood on the inside of the cabin next we're gonna mount our toggle bolts through our mounting plate and then twist on the toggle do the same through the C and go ahead and position our mounting bracket and we're gonna push our toggle bolts through the holes we drilled as it goes through we'll open up inside the wall and we can tighten them down and when you tighten them down you might have to put a little pressure on the back so it grabs and the screw will tighten [Applause] right before we tighten it up all the way you want to go ahead and make sure we're lined up on our level line so we can tighten it up and now we'll drive our wood screw into the stud now it's time to set the blower motor on our microwave we have our microwave facing face down so this is our top this is our back our microwave comes setup to exhaust out the top so if your exhaust is going through your top cabinet it's already set up for you you can also set it up to exhaust out the back we'd have to remove these tabs and rotate the motor in our case we don't have a vent to the outside so we're gonna set our microwave back up to recirculate back into the kitchen through a charcoal filter now to do this we're gonna remove these two screws on the back of the microwave and this other one on the top you're gonna fold this plate down the motor will just slide out you're gonna rotate it down like this and it slides right back in close the plate up and reinstall the screws to install the unit pull the power cord through the hole lock the oven on the mounting bracket tabs and tilt the microwave into the space if you have a recessed cabinet place wood filler blocks between the microwave and the cabinet bottom through vent damage to the cabinet when tightening the mounting screws now drive the top screws through the holes in the upper cabinet to secure the microwave plug it in and remove the packaging one last thing to do is to test our microwave sounds like it's working good this was a really easy project it didn't take us very long now this kitchen has a microwave with more functions stronger fan and it also looks great and if you want more great ideas and how-tos go to lowes.com/howto 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Channel: Lowe's Home Improvement

Views: 2,187,081

Keywords: how to, diy, lowe's, lowes, replace a microwave, OTR microwave, install a microwave, microwave installation, how to install over the stove microwave, how to install a microwave over the stove

Id: wD2OAWHRVZc

Length: 9min 33sec (573 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 01 2018