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shelly_k_gw

Pictures of wall where frig is recessed

shelly_k
14 years ago

Hi all,

Do any of you have pictures of the wall where your frig is recessed? Preferrably in construction phase so my GC can see how it's done with the header and such?

Thanks!

Comments (16)

  • alicia58801
    14 years ago

    Sorry, no photos for you. But I can tell you that he did it to my exact fridge measurements, and it was a very tight squeeze to get it in! If I remember correctly, it was simply constructed and the header was just another 2x4 (or maybe 2x6). We have a super-insulated house, though, with 11" thick walls, which gave us more room to work within the wall.

    Be sure to leave room in your measurements for sheetrock and mudding, etc. I almost had a heart attack when we pushed in the fridge and it didn't go into the recess. Seriously, it takes a strong shove to get it in there because it rubs on one corner. Thank goodness it does fit!

    You can see how ours turned out.

  • macybaby
    14 years ago

    I'd be concerned if your GC does not know how to figure and install a support header in a wall. It's the same as doing one for a door. If it's a non support wall then a double 2x4 (on edge) should work, if it's support then I'd use a double 2x6. Just put king and jack studs on both sides to support the header.

    Also notice I didn't cut the sheetrock all the way to the ceiling - part of this is now behind a second wall but I did not want to deal with the ceiling corner when patching above the new doorway at the end of the wall.

    BTW- you will mess up the sheetrock on the back side a bit, you have to remove all the screws/nails that are in the studs you are removing.

    Here is the wall after the sheetrock was removed.

    And after the headers were installed.

    There are two headers up there, one for each opening, they share one king stud. Used double jacks more to get the size I wanted than because they were needed. Besides, I did this while DH was out of town and I would not have been able to lift one big header, and I didn't want to deal with needing to support that big of an opening while I put the header in.

    This was actually opened up after it was done, but this is the point you want to get to and then patch the back wall where the holes are. In this case, it is a support wall. If you need more framing above I'd suggest building a cripple support either above or below the header. It's a real pain to try to cut off the studs at the correct height and not damage the sheetrock behind them. I did not want to damage the sheetrock at the top when I removed the studs, so I cut through them lower down. Besides I have found in all me demo work it's easier to cut studs in half and remove them by prying them down from the top and up from the bottom - then cut off any nails.

    Here is the other side of the wall, I did not cut any sheetrock until the new studs/headers were in place because I wanted to do as little patching on this side as possible, especially at the ceiling!

    Hope that helps.

    Cathy

  • country_smile
    14 years ago

    I no longer have the photos on my camera and I didn't make a CD of the photos that I specifically took for electrical purposes and other details of framing because they're for reference only - so..... the first 3 shots are photos of photos, hopefully they show you what you need to see. Since they are photos of photos, the boards & walls look warped, but they really are plum and level!

    {{!gwi}}

    If you would like to see a shot of the wall from the other side (the living room) let me know.

    HTH

  • bostonpam
    14 years ago

    We recessed the frig into a back stairwell. Our contractor didn't want to do it because he had to reframe the stairs. Since we plan to stay here as long as we can it was worth recessing the frig. We also made it extra deep "just in case".

  • KAREN
    14 years ago

    Country smile, what is the width and depth of the small counter left of the fridge? I'm planning something like that.

  • shelly_k
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Thank you all so much!! This will help tremendously!

  • rollie
    14 years ago

  • country_smile
    14 years ago

    parts - The small cabinet to the left of the refrigerator is 18" wide by 24" deep. The actual counter above it is slightly bigger to account for the edge design and to slightly hang over the cabinet. Since it's next to the refrigerator it is the perfect place for plastic wraps, sandwich bags, storage containers, etc.

  • dianne47
    14 years ago

    Personally, I would not install a fridge in a recess where the unit rubs against the wall. You need about 1/2 inch on either side, plus an inch or so above, for ventilation.

    Check the specs on your fridge, "cutout" figures are in the documentation for both the refrigerators I'm considering. I'm making sure my contractor makes the opening wide and tall enough for proper ventilation.

  • lina_2006
    14 years ago

    Hi all,
    Can you tell me how many inches are gained by doing this? I would like to do this in my remodel, but my fridge wall backs up on to the garage which is lower than the kitchen, so I don't know if it is possible. The fridge is 30 3/4" deep including the doors and would be on an end of a 'U' shaped kitchen.
    I have also looked into recessing the power outlet which may give me 1/2 inch or so and making that run of cabinets 25" deep, but am wondering whether the cost of all labor/cabinetry by doing this makes it worthwhile.

  • gooddogs74
    14 years ago

    I'm thinking of doing this in our plan we are currently working on with architect. It is a galley style kitchen and the fridge will be between a 2 foot deep wall pantry and a 2 foot deep countertop. The other side of the fridge wall is in the master br closet. What do you think about recessing the fridge so it is even with the countertops, centering it on the mbr closet and building in shelving on either side of the recess in the closet? I mentioned to architect, but they didn't seem too keen on idea. Said I wouldn't get a good amount of shelf space. But just based on the fact that regular fridges are about 34-36 inches deep, that would leave me about a 12 inch deep shelf. I am going to show them the pictures on this thread. What do you guys think?

    countrysmile, I would love to see the other side of your recess!

  • marcy96
    14 years ago

    We also recessed the outlet into the side stud.
    Here's mine:

    {{!gwi}}
    {{!gwi}}
    {{gwi:1587923}}

  • country_smile
    14 years ago

    gooddogs - Here is the view from the other side.

    lina - We added at least 11 inches overall. We hadn't originally planned to do that but several weeks into the remodel we discovered that Amana's specs were off by 9". Unbelievable! It was wrong on their specs which meant every company that sold that refrigerator had the incorrect specs, including those that advertised on-line. We had our appliance salesman go out to the warehouse to measure the actual refrigerator to get the correct measurements. Thankfully we discovered it before they started putting up drywall. However, we needed to make layout changes to that area of the kitchen plan.

    And, yes, we followed the refrigerator's installation specs for ventilation as dianne mentioned. That's assuming they're correct.

  • gooddogs74
    14 years ago

    Thank you countrysmile. I think that looks nice. I am going to speak with architects about it again--I'm not sure what they are objecting to. Especially since the back of it will be in the closet. Can you tell me what the depth is of the space there in the living room? In other words, I am wondering if it would be deep enough to put some shelves in for clothing in my closet or shoe racks or something like that.

  • country_smile
    14 years ago

    gooddogs - The section that juts out into the living room is 7 1/4" deep. The thick walls in our o-l-d house provided the extra inches needed to recess the refrigerator - plus it was a load-bearing wall. If your walls aren't as thick, then obviously you may have more than 7 1/4" jutting into your closet. (Before the remodel there was a doorway where the refrigerator now sits, so the contractor needed to put a header at the refrigerator area and a header where we opened up the kitchen to the LR.) It would be interesting to hear why your architects are hesitating to agree to do that.

    Hope all goes well with your plans. Glad I could be of assistance. :)

  • tbo123
    10 years ago

    Great thread.

    Anyone else have some pics. I want to try and do this.

    Thanks a lot.
    Tim