One of the to do’s on my Punch List for my house is the replacement of the now 24-year old Sub Zero fridge in our kitchen. Well guess what it finally happened.
First, I had to locate a replacement fridge that would fit in the existing hole specifically one that was the right width and depth. I had more freedom with height because the Sub Zero was so tall with the vent on top, most refrigerators aren’t that tall. I found what I needed in this fridge,
This fridge got great reviews and it didn’t break the bank even though it was counter depth. After shopping around and considering shipping costs, I found that Sears had the best price (by a small margin). I ordered it online and had it delivered to my local Sears store because fortunately I have a regular crew at work here with a truck and some muscle to pick the appliances up and deliver them to my house.
After ordering the fridge and knowing the dimensions, I met with my cabinet guy Bradie at Quality Cabinet Company, to discuss building a cabinet to fill the void that the Sub Zero vent left over the new fridge. He had to make an exact copy of the door design of the existing cabinets. I took several pictures of the upper cabinet doors, emailed them to Bradie and he got to work.
This is what we started with, here’s the old girl hard at work.
A closer shot of the vent on top.
The crew wrestled this very heavy and very tall Sub Zero out of the space but not without a little drama. They accidentally pulled the unusually short water line to the ice maker free and water starting squirting everywhere and fast –so we knew our water line had great pressure.
The installers from Quality Cabinet Company arrived and got to work placing the cabinet in the existing hole. The installation took much longer than I anticipated because the guys had to adjust the cabinet and the trim around the cabinet several times, adding thin pieces of filler and sanding here and there to get the perfect fit.
But by that afternoon the cabinet was in and it was time to move the fridge in the house and push it in to it’s new spot. It glides right in and I’m ready to celebrate but then Joseph says “Miss Sarah, we’ve got a problem”. We realized quickly that the doors wouldn’t open 90 degrees. After some minor adjustment the door still wasn’t opening and we couldn’t get the drawers open. The baseboard was impeding the doors from opening wide enough so the crisper drawers could in turn pull out.
So let’s cut the baseboard.
And we did and the door opened a bit more but not enough to get the drawers all the way out. So we had to cut it some more and that finally did the trick. After a a days work this is what we ended up with,
It really looks like it was always there and the cabinets are a perfect match.
And we actually have ice and filtered water dispensed right from the fridge, big time!
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I know this wasn’t the focus of the post necessarily, but I’m impressed the Sub Zero fridge lasted 24 years and didn’t look THAT dated. That’s impressive. And you’re new refridgerator (and the upper cabinets above it) look great!
You’re right, it really wasn’t that offensive at all and the appliance repair man said that it had gone beyond it’s life expectancy and we were in the bonus round with it now– but my secret is that I’m getting the house ready to sell and folks like shiny new stainless.