My mother insisted that she wanted a new microwave over her stove, one of the ones that is a combination vent hood and light. The first one she brought home vented out the back, and there wasn't room to for the elbow behind it to reach the vent hole above. So I took it back and bought a different model with the option of venting it out the top. The default setup is to "recirculate vent" which is a ridiculous contradiction in terms. The vents on the front of the microwave are where it would blow air out. But by taking off the top panel, removing the blower, and re-mounting it inside, this one could be top vented. I bought a square-to-round metal ducting piece and a 6" flexible duct, which I screwed on with sheet metal screws.
The instructions for the ducting were basically "you figure it out." Then the rest of the instructions called for mounting it on surrounding cabinets. My problem was that I didn't have the top cabinet required, plus I was worried about the strength of the mounting of the existing cabinets. A lot of corners were cut in the building of that house. I can't ever assume anything is done right.
There's a metal plate that the back of the microwave mounts to, and the instructions said to try to find at least one wall stud, and use drywall anchors for the rest of it. I didn't trust that idea at all, so I found two studs and screwed a 2x4 to them, then mounted the plate to that. It's much stronger than relying on drywall anchors.
There was a capped-off electrical line hanging there, from the old vent hood. I wired an outlet into that so I could plug in the microwave, which had a ridiculously short cord coming out the top.
I improvised the white shelf brackets you can see at each front bottom corner. The cabinets have enough wood there for me to sink screws. I wedged it in with a couple more angled-in screws on top to secure it better.
I didn't quite do a pull-up on it, but I think it would hold me. So far so good. There will be a piece of paneling over the top at some point.
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