This is a cautionary tale for anybody who chose an option to do without an oven and instead have a convection microwave installed below the stovetop. Unscrew the trim kit from the cabinetry, pull out your microwave and take a look at the horizontal panel that supports all the microwave's weight. I can only thank new axles that this didn't shake apart with a worse outcome!
In my '06 Safari FB SE I was working on the drawer stack right next to the stove/oven last week when I happened to spy a loose plywood panel.
Here is the cabinet layout in the area with drawers removed. The wheel well starts about 8" behind the lowest doors underneath the microwave. The 6 circled screws into the cabinet face frame ended up being the only support for the greatest part of the microwave's 35-40 pounds. Thankfully they held up and did not pull out of the face frame. The red rectangle will be shown in more detail in the next picture.
I didn't have to think twice to ask why this plywood panel would be in such a cockeyed position:
I pulled the microwave. Now I ask -- who the heck would come up with a scheme to support that panel under the microwave on only two sides -- and not the two sides you'd think!
The 1" x 1" nailer boards were doing their job with 7 wire staples going into the side panel and 7 going into the bottom horizontal panel.
The front nailer board was still doing its job so I left it in place. I removed the side nailer board and temporarily took the dimension lumber microwave supports out so I could get better access. And after a quick trip to Menards for parts (they don't have those in Ohio?) I was able to put everything back together with a couple hours of work.
First off I used the heavy corner irons to hold the horizontal panel in the proper position. I leveled it and completed the job. "Like a rock" to match my GMC truck!
