A wall oven is the awkward one among cooking appliances, because it doesn’t start on the floor. It sits inside a cabinet at chest height, screwed through its front frame into the cabinet, and it’s heavy enough to need two people from the moment it starts to move.
What holds it in
Open the oven door and look along the inside edges of the front frame. There are usually two to four screws on each side fixing the oven to the cabinet. The power comes from a hardwired cable to a junction box, usually in the cabinet below or behind the unit.
Every appliance needs to be disconnected before pickup, including electrical, gas, and plumbing connections. For a wall oven that means the circuit turned off at the breaker and the wiring undone at the junction box by an electrician. It’s a short job, and often the same electrician is wiring the replacement.
Getting it down
Before the pickup, the oven needs to be out of its cabinet and resting somewhere it can be lifted: on the floor or on a sturdy cart in front of the cabinet. In a remodel, the installer or contractor usually does this as part of fitting the new one.
Most oven doors lift straight off their hinges once they are fully open and the hinge locks are flipped up. Taking the door off removes a good share of the weight and makes the oven far easier to hold.
Lighten and clear
Racks out. Take out the oven racks so nothing slides around during the carry.
Clear the counter and the floor. A wall oven comes out toward you, so the counter beside it and the floor in front of it both need to be clear.
Double ovens are two ovens in one tall body and weigh accordingly. Mention it when you book.
Wall oven checklist
- Breaker off, wiring undone by an electrician
- Mounting screws out
- Oven out of the cabinet and resting where it can be lifted
- Door lifted off, if it comes off easily
- Racks out
- Counter and floor in front cleared
A wall oven starts at $95 on its own, or adds $40 to a pickup with the rest of an old kitchen.
