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OH NO! Will my refridgerator open?

saramae585
15 years ago

Someone please calm my nerves...

Here's the long story made (kinda) short.

1850 home 1350 sq ft. Gutted to studs and added an addition. The kitchen is half in the old and half in the new. There is a support wall where the house used to end that comes out about 36 inches. I decided to build in the oven / micro on one side and the fridge on the other. Here's the pics.







Am I going to be able to open the left door all the way? I am not living in the house right now or I would give you an exact measurement of the wall vs. fridge but I think the KD's layout is accurate. Do you see my concern? I'm just freaking out a bit. Looking at the pics I don't see how I'd be able to open the door...

I've been so overwhelmed with all of the decisions that I never even noticed this. The cabinets are ordered and walls are being painted as we speak so installation is soon! Please help! Thanks

Comments (28)

  • edlakin
    15 years ago

    from the look of it, no. that door will be able to open to 90 degrees, max.

    not that hard of a fix, though. get a bottom mount freezer model and then you'll have a single fridge door that can be set up to open the other direction.

  • cambro5
    15 years ago

    Our fridge is against a wall, too, and I saw on this forum somewhere (after it was too late) that some KD always put in a 9" broom closet between a fridge and a wall to give the door room to open - could you do that? I wish I had thought of it!!

    As it is, we have a fridge 'hole' that is bigger than our fridge by 3 inches to allow for the door (actually 6 inches but that's so we can get a slightly bigger fridge in the future!). You just might need to skip the builtin kind of fridge.

  • edlakin
    15 years ago

    upon further inspection, there are more things about that layout that seem kind of not-that-well-thought-out. the walkways seem awfully narrow, especially where the island seating area backs up to the fridge/oven wall. that looks like a bottleneck waiting to happen.

    oh, and i somehow managed to miss the picture of the fridge posted above the first time around. it seems like you're already planning on going with a bottom-mount freezer, but i think if you just do a single-door rather than a french door, you should be fine.

  • alku05
    15 years ago

    No, it won't open and your KD should have known that! If that wall can be cut back to 30" and you use a full depth fridge you'll be fine though. However, you may or may not be able to do that for structural reasons.

  • cotehele
    15 years ago

    Why such a long support wall? It is longer than the oven stack is deep. Have you already have purchased the fridge? If the wall could be shortened to behind the refrigerator door hinge the door should open fully.

  • boysrus2
    15 years ago

    I agree with others - the left hand side of your fridge won't open. I had this situation and couldn't get completely into my freezer. Drove me insane and was the catalyst for my kitchen remodel. Is the fridge supposed to be recessed like it appears in your picture? If the fridge had a more built in look with the dividing wall, you'd be o.k. However, a different model fridge is an easy fix.

  • saramae585
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    I was told by the architect and the builder that the support wall needed to come out that far. I guess I just took their word for it.
    As far as the walkways seeming narrow, we did make some changes. There is no longer an over hang with stools in the island. I ended up doing a raised bar behind the sink facing into our great room.
    We have not actually purchased that fridge so I guess I should relax. I know we can get a single door and we'll be fine. Unfortunately I love the FD's and a single door would have to swing to the right which seems like it might be awkward.
    I put a call into my KD. We'll see what he says. How awful would it look if I just pulled the fridge out further?
    Thanks for your help. I need to take a deep breath. Things could be much worse! I am very grateful to be able to do this remodel in the first place. I need to keep things in perspective! :~)

  • edlakin
    15 years ago

    How awful would it look if I just pulled the fridge out further?

    that was going to be my next suggestion. if you just pull the fridge out so it's more or less flush with the end of that support wall, you should be fine.

    but, then you're losing walkway space. but you're right that a full door opening into that walkway would also be awkward.

    have you considered just adding depth to all your cabinets/counters on that whole run, so that everything sits flush to the support wall? you might even be able to enclose the support wall or put some sort of panel over it so as to achieve a more finished look. you'd gain some storage space and workspace on your countertops as well.

    have you already ordered your cabinets? if so, you could just bump everything out a bit so that it's all flush to the end of that support wall.

    if i were you, i'd be really unhappy with my KD. this is the stuff you're paying them to catch.

  • saramae585
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    I'm not sure how I feel. I really like my KD but you're absolutely right, he should have noticed this.
    When I get more precise measurements I'll decide if I can pull the fridge out further. That seems like the easiest fix but if it's more than a couple inches it might look funny. I love the idea of bumping everything out but I did already order everything. If I kept the same cabinets and moved them away from the wall that would throw off the L shape that is against the half wall. I really need to find out if I'm dealing with 2 inches or 6.
    edlakin, thanks for taking the time to help. I really appreciate it!

  • bellsrus
    15 years ago

    Unfortunately, as others have said, no - your left door will not open fully. We have that situation in our current home and it drives me absolutely crazy that the freezer door won't open all the way in our side-by-side refrig/freezer. I would start by double-checking with the architect/builder and see if there is any way for the support wall to be shortened by a few inches. If not, you are better off not getting a refrig where the door must open that direction.

    Our architect's original kitchen layout for our new house had the refrigerator next to a wall like yours. I immediately tagged it as a problem and told DH that we needed to make sure that wall was not so deep as to interfere with the refrigerator door. As soon as we went to a KD, the KD moved the refrig to the center of the wall it was on so that we wouldn't have an issue with the door opening all the way.

    I don't think a refrig door that opens to the right would be awkward. Your landing spot for things you take out of the refrig will most likely be your island and I actually think it would be more awkward for your refrig to open to the left. I do sympathize if you end up having to get rid of the FD - I love the FD and can't wait to use mine. If I had to get rid of it I would be very unhappy.

    Good luck!
    Patti

  • maeveo
    15 years ago

    I had a similar issue. My refrig was at the end of a cabinet run against a wall that went into a walk-in pantry. Once the walls were framed and plastered I realized that the space was just going to be too tight for a 36". I might have been able to get away with it, but knew it would be awkward. So, instead I got a 33" LG French Door and I really like it. I lost some interior space but it's more energy efficient and similar cubic feet to many of the counter depth models. I can also put a refrig in our basement or garage if needed, but so far have not. Maybe you could consider this? 3 inches makes a big difference in having room for door swing. Good luck.

  • claybabe
    15 years ago

    Saramae, what is the last cab in the L, next to the opening? If that could be cut down into a cookie sheet storage area or something like that, you could gain the deeper counters along the fridge wall. That might be easier than cutting the 36" wall back (especially if the support header they put in is too short to cut it back further). Can't wait to hear what the KD says....

  • annes_arbor
    15 years ago

    Ditto regarding everyone else's comments about that refrigerator door not opening. There are refrigerators that need less/no room for their doors to open. Usually these are built ins or cabinet depth [check out Leibherr (they just came out with a wardrobe model this spring), Fisher Paykel and Subzero models]. I've pasted in a link for the F&P Wardrobe below (if I'm reading their information correctly, it only needs 1 inch)

    Here is a link that might be useful: fisher paykel wardrobe refrigerator

  • blubird
    15 years ago

    We ran into a similar situation with my daughter's kitchen renovation - she was cutting a doorway into a solid wall with her refrigerator right next to that wall. She has the 33 inch LG - the piece of wall needed to be 29 7/8 inches so that the right hand door can open fully. After much arguing with the kitchen designer from HD, he finally saw that I was right and the numbers worked - it functions perfectly. So, what I'm saying is that unless your left side of the wall is shortened, you're gonna be frustrated. Can you flip your wall oven section to the fridge section - will the fridge fit in next to the window?

    I wouldn't pull the fridge forward - the handles will protrude into your working space (they're not really accounted for in your diagram) and unless you have a finished panel on the right side of the fridge - (that's not clear from the diagram) it would look odd.

    Maybe the wall could be shortened and a header beam added across the room for support.

    Helene

  • rachelle_g
    15 years ago

    Depending how you feel about your KD and the cabinets around the fridge, you could try to make your KD eat the cost of changing the cabinets to the right of the fridge to make them ~9in smaller, and add a ~9in pantry cabinet on the left of the fridge. Fridge door opening definitely something a KD should catch!

    Bringing the fridge a little forward might work, depending on how much forward it needs to come. Design-wise, it will look off if it sticks much farther out than the ovens, IMHO. Also, the farther out the fridge is, the more difficult it is to reach into the over-the-fridge cabinet. All food for thought.

    Good luck with the decisions! You're at that nail-bitting stage... I'm glad I've gotten past that stage myself, oh, the second-guessing... not fun.

  • solarpowered
    15 years ago

    I would shorten the wall. It can be done--it might take using a glu-lam, or a steel I-beam, or having 3-4 inches of exposed beam on your ceiling, but it can be done.

  • saramae585
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    I really appreciate all of your help.
    I measured yesterday and the wall comes out 35 inches. The fried depth is 32 1/8 without the handle. I'm figuring it won't be right up against the wall anyway. The KD told me that there is a 2 inch filler to the right of the fridge so we could use that space. I'm going to the appliance store to see what they think. I would love to shorten that wall but at this point I just don't know. They are painting as we speak. I guess I'll just hope for the best! Like I said, worst case I get a single door fridge but I just love the French doors!
    Thanks again for all of your advice and ideas!

  • sweeby
    15 years ago

    A 2 inch filler will help. Enough? Don't know...

    The other option is a built-in fridge. That's a whole different type of fridge with a different type of hinges. On a 'normal' fridge, the door opens off to the side of the 'box'; on a built-in, the door opens in front of the 'box', so you'd probably be OK with your wall and 2" filler. You wouldn't get much past 90 degrees open, but at least you'd get the full 90.

    Of course, that's a $2,000 fridge upgrade...

  • lascatx
    15 years ago

    The Thermador 36" FD built-in should open fully with a 2" filler . You only need the door to go to 90 degrees to access everything and pull the drawers out fully, so you need enough room for your handles and not more to extend the door wider. It is a significant upgrade, but it might not be more than moving, replacing or reworking cabinets.

  • edlakin
    15 years ago

    I measured yesterday and the wall comes out 35 inches. The fried depth is 32 1/8 without the handle.

    you should be fine to just pull it out a couple inches, then, so that the doors protrude a bit past the wall's depth. that way you can open them as wide as you like. have your contractor put a piece of wood or something back behind the fridge so it's not constantly scootching back from opening and closing it.

  • berryberry
    15 years ago

    moving the 2" filler from the right to the left will help some but not enough . If you can't change the wall depth to about 29" then you either need to pull the fridge outabout 3" past the wall (excluding handles) or go with a single door fridge

  • kkupstate
    15 years ago

    FWIW, we are a week into having our new GE Profile FD fridge, and while I love the look, I am not sure it is the most practical for door storage, compared to a regular bottom freezer with 1 door for the fridge. Of course, I am still getting used to it! But right now I am so glad we got the beverage fridge - that takes a lot of stuff out of the main fridge.

  • sherilynn
    15 years ago

    I would move the oven cabinet stack where the fridge is now, move the end cabinet where the oven is now, and move the fridge of your desire on the end run of cabinets. I don't care what kind of math you do, you will hate that fridge there next to that wall. Any fillers you need to make up the difference where the fridge is now should be
    eaten by your KD. He erred big time. Don't gloss over this because it will be something you hate.

    My side by side fridge opens both ways like a French door unit. It is at the end run of cabinets with a built-in "cabinet box" with a 4" spacerbuilt to the right and 3" to the left with cabinets above. The "cabinet box is about 36" deep, which protrudes much further out that the adjacent run of cabinets. Even with the spacers, I have to pull the fridge out into the middle of my walk-way to remove the shelves or drawers. It's a PITA.

    My parents were in a similar situation as your soon to be kitchen. The only solution that was feasible and cost effective was what I suggested to you. It's been that way in their home for 30 years. AND they are very happy with their kitchen layout.

    Here is a link that might be useful:

  • saramae585
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    You guys have some great ideas!
    sherilynn, thanks for posting the photo. Your kitchen looks gorgeous! I am so sorry you have that same problem, thank you for sharing your thoughts.
    Solarpowered, My DH said he's going to make someone shorten the wall!
    I'll keep you all updated. As much as this is stressful, you have all given me so many good ideas. Shortening wall, moving fridge, pulling out cabinet depth, different fridge. At least I know we have options. Thank you all so much for that! :~)

  • lascatx
    15 years ago

    Moving the frige over on the oven side was my first thought too -- but that blocks the window. Possible, but not desirable.

  • donnar57
    15 years ago

    You definitely want to be able to open the door all the way. Like boysrus, that was one of many reasons why we reno'd our kitchen in the first place. My side-by-side was in the corner and I could NEVER open the freezer side far enough to completely empty the icemaker (like you're supposed to). We had to completely gut the kitchen around the fridge and range in order to get them OUT of the kitchen (that's how tight they were in there).

    You have lots of options, fortunately!

    DonnaR/CA

  • User
    8 years ago

    saramae585 How did it all turn out? What fridge did you end up with? Can it open enough to be functional? I realize this post is old but I am going to be renovating soon and have a similar fridge/wall issue. I am thinking of getting a Miele built in fridge.

  • Buehl
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    lilkurty...It's doubtful saramae585 is still around - after all, it's been 7 years! You would do better do post your layout (in a new thread of your own) and ask for layout help.

    Layout Help FAQ: How do I ask for Layout Help and what information should I include?