Fridge question: 3 or 4 door?

[Susie]

kitty , that came out beautifully!  So much nicer than the original.  

My dad is actually a cabinet maker, and he could do that for us.  He does it as a hobby rather than a profession, but he built a beautiful floating cabinet for another spot in our house, and has built several cabinets for his own house as well as pieces of furniture.  We talked about him building some kind of solution, but we just didn't feel like it was worth the cost/effort, given that we're going to be tearing this all down in the foreseeable future.  We need a decent looking bandaid until then, KWIM?

A few people suggested a counter depth fridge instead of full depth, and I can see from the angle of the photo why that would look appealing.  Here though, I think we need full depth.  The wall between the fridge and basement door extends all the way to the fridge hinge, and we actually keep the fridge a few inches off the back wall on purpose so that the right side door can open fully around that wall.  

A counter depth fridge would get pinched on the right side and not be able to open fully, or would get pulled out the same way, sacrificing capacity needlessly.

Anyway...

Since my OP a few weeks ago, our timeline has been accelerated.  Immediately before we left for vacation in late August, we developed a water line leak, so now the water to the filter + ice maker is disconnected.  Then when we got home from vacation, a spring in the left door broke.  It's the spring that helps guide the left door into the proper position for the French doors to close.  The doors still close, but it's super annoying.  All in -- we are expediting the fridge hunt.

We have measured multiple times, and have come up with 68-3/8" as our maximum cabinet height.  The GE Cafe fridge that matches the range we just bought is 68-5/8" in the 4 door version.  For #reasons, the 3 door is 69", so no go.  So we could get the 4 door version and figure out how to plane, sand, or otherwise shave 1/4" off the bottom lip of that cabinet, hoping to God that all measurements are as published.

Another option is that I found two LG fridges that are 68-3/8".  However, they aren't available locally, and no one locally services them.  I'd have to order online, and then figure out installation, removal of the old one, etc. on our own.  We'd be relying on the height being exactly right to fit, and if it breaks, we're pretty stuck.  

I am really torn on this one.

These are the LG fridges in question:
www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/LFXS26973S.html?epik=dj0yJnU9UDlfU2ZWcDhxOUU3eEhVRVg5dVkxOTl0bG5oN1lGZmYmcD0wJm49bV9tMEhZeDBfZFlOaFFQbUcxM2NSUSZ0PUFBQUFBR1Q4dDNn
www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/LMWS27626S.html?epik=dj0yJnU9Z3ZKaXlGWE9Na3FWZThkcnlYbFFWNUlsUFUyNng3RzQmcD0wJm49bWNKNzh6RFNfa3BDc25nZUZwNkVpdyZ0PUFBQUFBR1Q4dDM4

I would probably go with the 3 door because it has through the door water/ice, whereas the 4 door doesn't.  If we try mix features, like 4 door with through the door water, we exceed 68-3/8" which kind of defeats the purpose.

[libbygrl109]

Do you think that this fridge will be part of your kitchen when you do the reno? If so, I would say get the one you want, and do the minimal cosmetic work you would need to get it to fit now. Not only will you have what you want, but you'll have piece of mind that there are several places in the area who can service it, if needed.

[Susie]

Sept 10, 2023 11:49:44 GMT -5 libbygrl109 said:

Do you think that this fridge will be part of your kitchen when you do the reno? If so, I would say get the one you want, and do the minimal cosmetic work you would need to get it to fit now. Not only will you have what you want, but you'll have piece of mind that there are several places in the area who can service it, if needed.

If the fridge is still in good working order, no reason we wouldn't keep it.  We're probably going to stick with stainless steel appliances, and the fridge is a pretty standard size/set of features.

I"m less sure about keeping the new range through the reno.  It's a 30" to fit the existing space, and I'd love to upgrade to 36" when we change the layout.  That upgrade is not a "must have" though, so it's probably 50/50 on whether we go for it or just keep the 30".

[Pibs]

Aug 21, 2023 10:24:32 GMT -5 deadwing said:

Aug 21, 2023 9:41:06 GMT -5 midwestmama said:

deadwing , so cool, I didn't know they made fridges with that design! I think that is what we'll look for in our next fridge. DH hates the freezer drawer - so hard to keep thing organized and accessible.

I didn't know either!  I walked into my local appliance store, told the guy that historically I preferred side-by-sides but I was willing to consider a french door as long as it had 2 drawers, but I really wasn't thrilled about the drawer style freezers.  He walked me right over to this one and it was perfect.  It was more than I wanted to spend, but totally worth it for solving my problems.  

We bought one of those fridges a few months before we moved and I looooooved that thing. I was so sad we couldn't bring it with us, but we have some fancy schmancy customizable Subzero fridge/freezer here. 

[Susie]

Since everybody loves updates... here's the final result!

We bought a Cafe fridge:  www.cafeappliances.com/appliance/Cafe-ENERGY-STAR-27-8-Cu-Ft-Smart-4-Door-French-Door-Refrigerator-CVE28DP2NS1  

with a case height of 68-5/8".  Too tall to fit, but close enough that the modification would be minor.  

Then we hired a carpenter to take at least 1/4" off the bottom of the cabinet so it would fit.  The carpenter charged us $300, and he took the cabinet down, used a compact table saw in the driveway, took a little over 1/4" off, and re-hung it.  It was basically the simplest, least involved solution available, apart from finding a fridge that actually fit.  It's all installed and we're good to go for at least the lifetime of this fridge -- by which point we may be ready to do something more major with the kitchen.

[definitelyO]

looks great! and you got the drawer!!

[mrsukyankee]

Love it!

[Susie]

Oct 2, 2023 20:10:33 GMT -5 definitelyO said:

looks great! and you got the drawer!!

For whatever reason, the 3 door version was a little taller than the 4 door version.  We wanted to make the modification as minimal as we could, so that ended up being a deciding factor.

We're still deciding what to put in the flex space drawer.  It might end up being raw meat.  My mom was a dietician in nursing home settings, and absolutely drilled into me safe food handling practices.  She taught me that you never store raw meat above things that are eaten raw (or are already cooked) in a fridge.  Makes sense.  With the produce drawers being at the bottom of the main fridge, that really only leaves the flex drawer as a lower location to put raw meat.  As a bonus it's easy to clean.

[definitelyO]

our flex space drawer had lunch items (lunch meat, cheese, lettuce, fruit, etc..) made it easy.

and also when I was prepping for parties I could put a whole platter in there!

agree about not storing raw meat above anything - we've had a package leak before and had to throw a bunch of stuff out - gross!

[deadwing]

Oct 3, 2023 10:15:56 GMT -5 Susie said:

Oct 2, 2023 20:10:33 GMT -5 definitelyO said:

looks great! and you got the drawer!!

For whatever reason, the 3 door version was a little taller than the 4 door version.  We wanted to make the modification as minimal as we could, so that ended up being a deciding factor.

We're still deciding what to put in the flex space drawer.  It might end up being raw meat.  My mom was a dietician in nursing home settings, and absolutely drilled into me safe food handling practices.  She taught me that you never store raw meat above things that are eaten raw (or are already cooked) in a fridge.  Makes sense.  With the produce drawers being at the bottom of the main fridge, that really only leaves the flex drawer as a lower location to put raw meat.  As a bonus it's easy to clean.

This is a very good idea.  I've never had a fridge where I could store raw meat at the very bottom.  The produce drawers are always below the last shelf.  And I have scrubbed those produce drawers more than once after realizing raw meat juice leaked into them.

[ellipses84]

My parents have a 4 door and preciously had a 3 door. I really like the 4 door. They keep meats and cheeses , or quick package snack things like individual yogurt cups.