How an inexpensive device and 15 minutes of work can save the Thanksgiving turkey
At every home inspection, I check for the presence of an anti-tip device on the kitchen stove. If one is not installed, I call it out as a hazard and recommend having one installed before moving into the house.
The folks who make and sell stoves all supply, free of charge, an anti tip device. It’s a relatively small thing that gets screwed to the wall or floor behind the stove.
The installation instructions that come with the stove state that the device must be installed.
And the state building code says that the manufacture’s instructions must be followed.
304.1 General. Equipment and appliances shall be installed as required by the terms of their approval, in accordance with the conditions of the listing, the manufacturer’s installation instructions and this code. Manufacturer’s installation instructions shall be available on the job site at the time of inspection.
Why?
If a kid opens the oven door and steps on, the stove could fall forward.
It could also fall forward if someone should slide a very heavy turkey out to baste it.
If either of these events should occur, someone could have a very bad day.
Installing the device is actually very simple. Different stove manufacturers have their own device, but they all attach to either the floor or the wall behind the stove and keep the back of the stove from moving up when the front of the stove is pushed down. A quick YouTube search will give you installation instructions.
