My new cooker is wobbly. Does anyone else's cooker wobble?

[Anastasie]

Or is it just mine?

It's a free standing Smeg double oven dual fuel jobby. It's 60cm.

It has four adjustable feet for levelling it - I have them fairly high as our worktop is slightly higher than usual (about 917mm). But the tech support people said that is fine.

They are levelled pretty securely - I've been doing it all day - though our floor is a bit uneven, being in an old house and upstairs.

I'm not sure it's that anyway.

The thing is, when I give it a good push, it will shake for a few seconds. I mean literally wobble, making a faint noise (lots of metal components/hob plates etc).

This happens also if I use the oven doors. They are on very strong springs, and when you close the door, even holding it with you hand quite tightly, it will jolt the cooker and the same thing happens.

Initially Smeg said no, it shouldn't do that, it isn't safe and there should be no movement, then they put me through to the tech/installation guy again and he said it's just because its new, and the hinges will bed in properly and it won't do it in a few weeks.

I'm a bit about it, but I suppose unless I am cooking stuff that's likely to spill over, while using the oven, it won't be terribly bad - but might I be missing something? Is it just that the feet are raised too high?

He said up to 5cm should be alright though the cooker height is 900mm.

I am confused.

[PigletJohn]

Adjust the feet for the firmest possible position. This may not be the same as maximum height, and the feet may be adjusted different amounts.

If it still wobbles it might be your floor.

How old is the house, is the floor made of chipboard, does the cooker wobble when you walk about on the floor?

[Anastasie]

It's Victorian, there are boards under half the cooker and quarry tiles under the back half (I marked them on the wall and on the vinyl, discreetly!) the boards are all pretty well screwed down, I did it when we were renovating last year, and don't really move except possibly a tiny bit if you walk or jump on them.
They are overboarded with hardboard and then tuff tread vinyl (anti slip sparkly stuff).

It doesn't wobble when I move around, I have to either shut the oven doors or give it a push, and then it will - a bit like a washing machine but not as extreme.

I've realised you can get wall brackets for it which Smeg are sending me free of charge - so will have a go with those.

Main thing is I'm worried in case I am cooking on top of it and it spills over or tips etc.

Takes about a week to get them from Italia so will have to put plumber on hold but that means I can put the splashback up while I'm waiting.

While I have your attention PJ, would you mind solving a puzzle for me?

The splashback goes above the cooker, same width etc. I have to tile around it. Cooker is meant to be 5-10mm from edge of worktop.

So there's going to be a discrepancy somewhere, as the cooker 'slot' between the units will have to be 61-62cm and not 60. (Have only got one side built so far, will be building the other side in timber when I get time)

And if I don't tile right to the edge of the splashback, what do I put there instead, in the 5-10mm space, and if I do, do I grout between tile and splashback or not? It's steel btw.

[PigletJohn]

can you tile the whole wall, and fix your splashback to the tiles?

or attach a pic. I can't visualise it.

Cookers are always meant to be fixed to the wall so they can't fall over when you climb on the door, but a chain is usual.

[Anastasie]

I suppose I could fix it to the tiles but there would still be an issue with the tiles and the width of the gap - or would the grout between them make up the 1-2cm difference?

Here are some pics.

[Anastasie]

A couple more showing the tile in a different position, to butt up to the edge of the splashback, (which is not there atm) but encroaching over the edge of the worktop/cooker gap.

I may not use these tiles btw but they give you an idea.

Basically which position is better, butting up to splashback, or going to the edge of the worktop and having a gap round the edge of the splashback? I can't think in three dimensions!

[PigletJohn]

A gap looks silly.

Fully tiling, then applying the splashback, will work even if you later get a different cooker and/or splashback.

Is the splashback the same width as the extractor?

[Anastasie]

It's exactly the same width as the cooker, but we have no extractor so that's not an issue.

Would you grout the line between the tile and the splashback? Or just leave it? I'm not sure if grout attaches well to metal.

Thank you by the way.

[Anastasie]

Hi again.
Just received the wall brackets in the post and they aren't resolving the issue at all really. They go very low down at the back and aside from being tricky to get the cooker onto and off, they just don't stop it wobbling.

I am starting to think maybe it is our floor - but the old cooker didn't wobble. This one seems like it has built in earthquake resistance or something

Unless I can tether it somehow at the top, nothing's going to stop it.

The floor was quite uneven under the hardboard but I don't think I know how to do anything about that. It's just a Victorian floor, with some remaining hearth tiles and then wooden boards.

It wasn't awful. Just not perfect. I wonder if the old cooker was just heavier perhaps?

What would you suggest, if you have a moment? Apart from moving house I mean.

[Anastasie]

Oh and it definitely doesn't move when you walk past it. I can't detect any movement in the floor when I walk on it either but it clearly has just enough bounce to make this happen, unless it is actually just this particular cooker - the showroom tried theirs out and apparently it did the same thing. Which is odd, because their floor is clearly as solid as a rock.

[PigletJohn]

you might try a piece of WBP ply, which is fairly strong and rigid. At least 12mm thick, preferably 18mm. If you can get one wider than the cooker, and slide it under adjacent units, that may help.

You should screw it through the boards into the joists, and use battens or shims to level and support it (plastic shims s/be avail on ebay), especially where the feet will go. Inspect for cables and pipes under the boards before you drill and screw.

the board will raise it a bit, so you have to lift the cooker slightly to get the feet on. You can do this by tilting it while sliding.

When screwing the feet up and down, you can feel when they are carrying equal weight, because they will be equally difficult to turn. Use a spirit level, as long as will fit, forwards, sideways and diagonally. All the feet must be firmly pressing against the floor.

If it still wobbles, and you are sure your joists don't move, I don't know what will help.

[Anastasie]

Thanks, PJ. I had a piece of 12mm ply under the old one, to raise it up because our new worktops were higher than before and it sat below them.

The point of getting this cooker was that it had adjustable feet and could go high enough without needing a plinth - I was actually told it wasn't legal to stand it on anything and would invalidate our insurance if anything happened, I suppose that's in case your plinth is unstable in any way.

I had even built a framed plinth for it but took that out as the top board was bending and a thicker top board would have made it too high. So we just had some ply.

It didn't look very good either.

The old cooker was the same model and didn't wobble as far as I recall. Either it's the feet, being extended further (though Smeg tech said it's fine to elevate it up to 50mm which frankly I don't believe as the feet would fall off, they are just bolts with a base - a new style of feet as the old ones barely extended at all) or they have made it using lighter materials.

It does feel slightly flimsier.

Anyway, it's ironic that the cooker I got to solve the height problem has ended up needing a plinth to stand on regardless. Having tried it with a pan of water on top, the shaking isn't enough to topple it or spill it so I think I'll just have to live with it - or get a different cooker - I nearly got a Rangemaster but the quality didn't feel so nice. Though it didn't shake...

[Sssflyer]

Hi Anastasia we are having a similar problem cooker is wobbling on plinth did you get yours sorted?