Stove Disaster

First, here is a preview of our progress.  This is the north wall of the kitchen.  The uppers and the microwave are in.  Paul completed the electrical adjustments and moved the gas pipe so we could center the stove between the two windows - much nicer.  Nothing is in to the left of the stove area because Paul is currently working on the west/sink wall.  The cabinet to the right of the stove is not set in permanently yet - it was there in anticipation of us being able to use the stove again while we complete the kitchen.  But alas, this was not to be.  We had a *little problem* with our current stove.

Originally, we were going to wait on a new stove.  This project has ended up over-budget (big surprise!).  So I spent an hour last weekend cleaning the stove completely.  I even had Paul lift up the burner section so I could clean the area inside/underneath.  That was the mistake.  Although it was not too messy, and I did not do much, I apparently jostled something while cleaning.  Or perhaps when we moved the stove something shifted.  The oven worked well over the weekend; no one tried the burners.  But when I came home from work after a night shift this past Monday morning, trouble ensued.  After so long without a homecooked breakfast, I wanted to have some scrambled eggs and veggie "bacon".  But when I turned on the burner, it was making this hissing noise.  We looked underneath, did not see anything loose.  When we tried again, there was the hissing, followed by a loud pop and a whoosh.  Terrifying.  All I could think of was blowing up the entire house.  We turned off the gas in the basement and at the wall.  And trembled a bit.

We discussed options.  We could have it repaired, but it is old and we were aiming for replacement anyway.  And frankly, I was so traumatized, I never wanted to turn that stove on again, in spite of any repairs we might have done.  Buy a new one?  But then there is the budget.  Oh dear, what to do?  Thankfully, a solution presented itself (more on this later), so that we can replace the stove (Squee!).  I feel completely blessed.  

An updated list of Remodel Stages will follow this post.