Help- New cooker needed and comments welcome on best way to resolve wall switch behind it

krissy08

Hello,
I just got this house and after an electric check- I was told the switch behind this cooker should not be there. I have compared it to my current place and can see it is very close.
I subsequently had a gas engineer check it and he wrote off the cooker and hob- he says it's leaking gas-he actually put a do not use sticker which you can just about make out. I now have to buy a new cooker.

 Can anyone help with what dimensions of a cooker would fit into this space? Any recommendations for a long lasting make ?

He has quoted to come back and fit it but I have to buy it first.

Secondly-what is the most efficient, best way of moving the socket would the electrician have to break the tiles? can I save a bit by doing it one way over another?

I completed on the mortgage last week- can I complain about any of this? none of this was declared on the content form. I am still overall happy with my purchase just checking I have covered all basis.
Thanks as always.
P.S I know if I had done an in-depth survey, it would have spotted these issues but my funds were limited.

Sandtree

So its a separate hob and oven, presumably  the oven is electric?

Single ovens by standard are just under 60x60 and so its just a case of picking one you like.

I'll let others who know electrical regs say if its in a complaint position at the moment; if you are moving it I'd be less concerned about having to cut tiles to put it in a new place but about how you are going to fill the gap in the tiles where the old switch was. 

MaryNB

krissy08 said:

I completed on the mortgage last week- can I complain about any of this? none of this was declared on the content form. I am still overall happy with my purchase just checking I have covered all basis.
Thanks as always.
P.S I know if I had done an in-depth survey, it would have spotted these issues but my funds were limited.

I presume you mean you completed on the purchase last week. You can't complain. There's nothing on any form where the seller has to declare issues about the electrics. They may have had no clue that it's a problem to begin with. There's no obligation on the seller to provide a perfect electrical installation or an electrical report. Even if you had your own survey done, surveyors aren't electricians or gas engineers. The survey report would have told you to get an electrician and gas engineer to do their own checks. Only then would it have been raised as an issue. Unfortunately you have done this after you completed not before so there's nothing you can do with regards to your seller. 

krissy08

Thanks both,
Yes I believe the oven is electric and the hob is gas.
I am thinking, when they move the switch, I might change the back section (behind the cooker ) to a splash back- (no tiles) would that work?
then use the tiles elsewhere where the new socket goes. I am not a tile or electrics expert though.

Yes I completed the purchase last week so will just take it on the chin. Although my question was more around the faulty oven leaking gas- not the position of the switch which I agree they may not have known about. Much appreciated.

ashe

The issue will be you will need to route the new socket somewhere also as it can't be that near the oven / hob, so some tiles are going to have to come off from where it is now, to where it is going 

fenwick458

simple, get an electrician in to extend the cable from where the box is now, and mount a new cooker switch in the adjacent base unit and reconnect new cooker & hob at same time. all the tiles below the switch will need to be removed.
and then buy a 600mm wide oven splashback and fit that to cover the damage done to the tiles
like this, but there are many to choose from

dil1976

If there are no signs of thermal damage to the switch then its position is fine. Maybe worth getting a electrician out just to check the wiring behind it is not affected neither just to be sure.

Ectophile

dil1976 said:

If there are no signs of thermal damage to the switch then its position is fine. Maybe worth getting a electrician out just to check the wiring behind it is not affected neither just to be sure.

It's a stupid place for a switch. It's the isolator to turn off power to the cooker if something goes wrong. But it's directly above the cooker you're trying to isolate.

Not a lot of use if something is on fire.

dil1976

Ectophile said:

dil1976 said:

If there are no signs of thermal damage to the switch then its position is fine. Maybe worth getting a electrician out just to check the wiring behind it is not affected neither just to be sure.

It's a stupid place for a switch. It's the isolator to turn off power to the cooker if something goes wrong. But it's directly above the cooker you're trying to isolate.

Not a lot of use if something is on fire.

Please tell me how many fires you have seen being put out simply by turning off the electricity.

plumb1_2

Get a Electrican to check which way the cable runs, he might be able to put a new isolator in the cupboard and just fit a blanking plate over the old one, then no damage?

maisie_cat

Options seem to be either move the existing switch or move the hob and have separates.
I'm sure osolating switches need to be both close and visible so cannot be in a cupboard.
Depends on your plans for the kitchen, if you are planning on replacing the tiles a temporary metal or glass splashback might do