I need someone who actually installs hobs, to tell me, because I don't trust the chat line advice at AO.
How loosely or snugly must a hob fit into the cutout ? Is there usually a bit of 'wiggle room'?
We need to replace our gas hob. According to the manual for this one, the cut out of the worktop should be Width 550mm x Depth 470mm (depth being the front to back measurement, not top to bottom, that's the Thickness, as in thickness of the worktop.)
naturally, there doesn't seem to be a hob in the market requiring that exact size cut out. a great many are 555mm x 475mm. I could happily choose from those if it turns out that .5 cm is within the real life loose fit of hobs.
we we had similar measurement issues when we replaced the oven 3 years ago, and the installer was the first person to admit that the measurement ranges are kind of a lie: no matter what the appliance manufacturers claim, the cabinet makers are much more standard and all those different measurements will fit into the standard oven cabinet, because they must. We probably could have bought the oven we preferred, despite it's claim to needing a minuscule bit more space. but by then, we had been without an oven for almost two months, and we had an oven and an installer on hand so we weren't sending either back.
the chat line at AO looked up the cut out size on two hobs I liked and first said neither would fit, and recommended one that would. but it was one of those they just said wouldn't! I asked for them to double check and they insisted they had mistyped earlier, that it would fit. but when I went to the manufacturers websites, and got a PDF of the installation instructions for each: the measurements were not the same as my cutout! both were within a cm though. the one they recommended was slightly closer to right. But I found out from the manufacturers website it is a discontinued model, so I wonder if the AO chat person was just pushing it on me before they had to start discounting it? At any rate, they say it is sold out but will be back in stock soon! I bet not really.
so how tightly do hob bases usually fit within the cutout? is there usually a tiny bit of shift? Might a 475mm actually be as much as .5cm smaller and slide in, tightly, anyway? what about the 3 I have found which are 472mm? I don't like them much looks wise, but they are cheap.
it is possible that adding .5 to the cutout will make my hob now technically too close to the edge of the worktop on one side, and the dish drain area on the other. technically. I curse the previous owner for moving the entire kitchen into the former scullery/pantry so she could have a 'formal dining room'.