Refrigerator cabinet

[Trey Isbell]

478685Anybody have any good ideas on building tall refrigerator cabinets.
The last one I built I had to cut the pieces and build it in the house because it was 3 inches short of the ceiling so the crown moulding would catch in the right spot. I would have built it beforehand but you could not stand it up in the room.

I’m sure you could build some kind of separate base I’m just trying to see how other people do it.

[Dave Sabo]

If you’re that close the ceiling , assembly on site is the only way to go.

Even if your not close , transporting something that large is problematic and the benefits few.

[George Bokros]

The cabinet does not have to go all the way to the ceiling, just high enough to go behind the crown molding.

[Lee Schierer]

Our refrigerator cabinet has a left side panel that goes to the ceiling and attaches to the upper and lower cabinets to the left side of that panel. The over refrigerator cabinet attaches to the wall and to the tall panel on each side of it. Both tall panels go within 1/2" of the ceiling. The panels were cut to fit on site. The crown molding hides any gaps.

[Jim Becker]

I would always do this the way others have described. The tall panels are built separate from any cabinetry in the same way that an applied end panel at the end of a cabinet run would typically be done.

[Jared Sankovich]

If the ends are not exposed I've cut the back corners off to make the diagonals less that the ceiling height (hidden by a wall or base units)

[Bill Dufour]

Remember you have to leave room around the sides for air circulation.
Bill D.

[Dave Sabo]

Remember you have to leave room around the sides for air circulation.
Bill D.

This is totally dependent on the fridge spec’d.

Some vent from above or below and don’t need any room on the sides.

[Ole Anderson]

Yep, build it in place.

[Bill Dufour]

This is totally dependent on the fridge spec’d.

Some vent from above or below and don’t need any room on the sides.

agree check the specs. Some have an oil cooler line on one side under the outer skin. unknown unless you know it is there.
Bill D.

[Jim Becker]

I'd still not make the space too tight even if there is a top- or bottom-vented refrigerator currently because...appliance. They die. They get replaced. The next one may require a little more air flow.

[Bill Dufour]

I'd still not make the space too tight even if there is a top- or bottom-vented refrigerator currently because...appliance. They die. They get replaced. The next one may require a little more air flow.

Top or bottom vent needs intake air from somewhere. My Mom's apartment around 1940 had a built in fridge with the compressor outside the building. Plenty of ventilation outside in the wind.
Bill D
Bill D

[Dave Sabo]

Top or bottom vent needs intake air from somewhere. My Mom's apartment around 1940 had a built in fridge with the compressor outside the building. Plenty of ventilation outside in the wind.
Bill D
Bill D


Um…………..yeh.
They take it in from the top or the bottom.

Which means they don’t need space on the sides for airflow.

And that leads us right back to checkin the specs for your particular fridge instead of relying on a rule of thumb or a well intended posting on the interweb.

[Tom Bender]

Think about how you might have to change the height when you replace the fridge. A replaceable top cabinet could work.

[Derek Meyer]

Think about how you might have to change the height when you replace the fridge. A replaceable top cabinet could work.

This is good advice. We replace our fridge last year, and even though the new unit is the same height at the old one, the door hinges are about an inch higher, which interfers with opening the doors on the cabinet above the fridge. Stuck between deciding whether to move the existing cabinet up, cut the doors down a bit, or replace the cabinet with a new one, we haven't done anything yet.

[Tom Bender]

We have about 10" of space above the fridge. Great place for boxes and bags of cookies, chips etc.