Necessity is the mother of invention. It’s equally true when it comes to installing a gas hob in old kitchen cabinet. It does require original thinking to make space for the new arrival in the old cabinet.
You may possibly be using the traditional steel-bodied gas hob having two burners. The overall arrangement of your kitchen, of which it forms a part, might have served you well so far; but now you have awakened to the scope of utility and aesthetics of the new generation of gas hobs. It makes you think you must have it. It’s quite natural. It is a mark of the species of homo sapience to continually make progress, develop their consciousness and adopt what is better…if possible, better than the best.
Driven by such an impulse, if you decide upon giving a twist to the idea that marks the existing kitchen arrangements by incorporating a state-of-the-art gas hob in the old cabinet, by all means you should go for it. It’s a truly great idea that is sure to change your kitchen experience for better.
But the problem you now face in implementing this idea is the already existing arrangement that followed the system of organizing things in the way that seemed to be the best at the time. The introduction of a new gas hob challenges the old arrangements. But no matter how difficult it is to accommodate it; it is so important that you have to. This remarkably worded quote from the EnergyConversionDevices.com website adequately explains why it’s worth it:
“Different parts of a house define different aspects of human life, and kitchen defines the part that has to do with the sustenance of physical aspect of human life. It is the place from where comes our food supply. Food requires cooking and cooking requires gas burners. Simple! Take it out, and your kitchen becomes just another room in your house. You surely don’t want it that way.”
How very true! It perfectly explains why making necessary changes in your kitchen cabinet for a gas hob is worth the effort. The question is, “How you are going to do that?”
If yours is a modular kitchen, then it would affect the entire set up of your kitchen! Therefore, you need to put in place an arrangement that minimizes the changes for achieving optimum results. But certain changes are a must. Let’s see how we can make them.
The very first thing that you need to consider is the dimensions of the gas hob. The more capacious it is the bigger countertop it requires. Is it there? If not, then you have to consider changing the dimensions of the top of the platform. That also necessitates changes in the cabinet system.
This is something that you can’t do now and again. It costs a lot in terms of time and effort and money. So, if it is to be done, do it with the understanding that it is to be done once and for all.
It requires that you spare some time to finalize what goes where. That would help you decide where the gas cylinder will go or how to reinstall the pipeline for the purpose. Find out the best possible location for the gas hob itself. These arrangements will undoubtedly require removal of certain parts of the cabinetry. See to it that it involves the removal of the least important parts of it.
If you want to build the gas hob into the platform, then you need to make space for it by cutting out the worktop. Ideally, there should be left the space of about 60 mm from the rear wall, and 160 mm from the edges of the gas hob to the adjacent compartments of the cabinet.
Another important thing that is small and, yet, if not done properly may create big problems afterward. It is sealing the space between the gas hob and the worktop. Any negligence or error in this regard would result in spilling things over, leaking through the sealing, and end up wetting the compartments of the cabinet that lie underneath. It would spoil the whole thing. In case, the gas hob is installed above an oven or a drawer, then you need to install a separation board between the two.
While installing a gas hob, you must follow the safety regulations for it, ensuring that the adjacent surfaces of the cabinet are able to withstand the temperatures that it will generate when you use the gas hob.
Placing it on top of the platform, considerably reduces the bother from installation. All you got to do is to cut out a hole into the worktop for the gas pipe; and, if need be, in an adjacent cabinet compartment.
These things being taken care of, it would result in the best possible makeover you can expect of your old kitchen cabinet.
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