Its hard to tell. SOmething looks off but an overall "big picture" pic showing the whole thing would help. Initially, it looks like the fridge is not set back far enough. Also, what make/model is it? Mine is a SZ and the panels are almost flush with the cabinet. I guess they set out maybe to the surface of the cabinet styles and no further so they take on the loo of the other cabinet doors.

Here is a photo showing more of the area, plus photos of the doors open.

The problem is, if the fridge is set back any further than it already is, the doors won't open more than 90 degrees. I thought I planned out the kitchen for the maximum opening Kitchenaid allows (130 degrees) but it's physically impossible to do right now.

It's a Kitchenaid 42 inch -- KSSO42XTO.

Something is definitely not right... I was just at a showroom and the built-in are totally built in, and blend with the cabinets

Looks like your electrical or water connection isn't in the right place and is pushing out the fridge further than it should from the enclosure. And, they should have had a full height filler strip of at least 1 1/2" (preferably 3") on each side of the refrigerator in order to give the door the room to successfully swing past 90°. And, I know this is unsolicited, but they also should have placed a filler in between your upper cabinets and the refrigerator so that your upper can open and not have the door bang into the fridge side panel. Looks like the work on an inexperienced KD, as well as installer.

tinker, thanks for the input, it just didn't seem right to me either.
egganddart, I agree with your idea of extending the walls on both sides of the fridge, and covering the edges with some sort of molding. The only problem is going to be extending the cabinets above the fridge -- extending these is going to mean re-doing all of the crown molding as well.

live_wire_oak, I had wondered about that. I know there was talk about the water outlet being in the wrong place, but they were supposed to have moved it. And I had asked for decorative fillers on each side of the fridge, but instead they put fillers two feet in either direction of the fridge. Unfortunately, the "KD" was the cabinet company (who, by the way, had the model number for my fridge), and the installer just worked off their drawings. Except for the fact that the drawings DO show the fridge panels level with the top cabinets.

For those of you with a similar scenario, do you top cabs end up coming out more than 24 inches??? Mine would need to come out to about 25.5 inches in order for everything to line up and the doors to open. Does this sound right???

I disagree with all of you on this one. I think it is installed properlly and to specifications. Now that being said, I don't care for the look which is another matter entirely.

That brand/model fridge has really thick doors and a 3/4"panel on top of that. It's never gonna be flush or even close with the adjacent cabinet faces. I also think the counter overhang is a bit much which makes the problem worse. You need ed to choose a fully integrated ref. if you wanted a disappearing look. SZ 700 series, Thermador Freedom would fit teh bill. Liebherr and Viking's fridges would be more flush than what's shown too.

At this point you'd be opening a big can of worms trying to add, modify, or replace the cabinetry and/or panels to help this problem out. Perhaps I agree with Live Wire about the designer being a bit of a clod, but we weren't privy to the orig. meetings and the scope of work requested along with the constraints.

Thank you for your input, antss. But if it's installed to specs, why can't the doors be opened the full 130 degree width?? I agree that it could be a huge can of worms to try to do anything about the problem, but if I can't get the ice bucket out of the freezer without emptying the ice out first, well that seems a bit useless. :)

I've been looking through photos online, and as far as I can tell, usually the side cabinet panels on either side of the frig come all the way out to the edge of the counter top, am I right? If that had been done, then at least everything would have lined up from top to bottom, which it doesn't now.

And actually, my kitchenaid installation manual shows the hinge in front of the edge of the cabinetry, whereas mine is behind that edge -- which is why the doors can't open more than 90 degrees, I'm assuming.

I'd be upset. Paying the price you paid for a built in, and the look you have is more like a counter depth. I really don't know the mechanics of this, but the doors should open and it should look built in. I'd call your kitchen designer ASAP. I know it would be a pain to rip out things (on their penny - not yours) but this would drive me nuts forever!

From what I can ascertain, it's sold as a built-in fridge, but the depth is listed as 26.5", so it's gonna stick out somewhat. The granite will have to be trimmed for the doors to open all the way. You could have the "fridge box" portion of your cabinetry brought forward so the cabinet above is flush to the fridge panels, but the granite would still need to be trimmed. The solution there would have been a faceframe-style fridge box that would keep the granite 3" off the doors, but that space would have been stolen from the adjacent cabinets.
Casey

ldlady - they can't be opened 130 deg. because YOUR install wasn't designed for that. The manual shows several variations for that unit, varying form 90 to 130 degrees. So it is within specs, but like I said it may not be ideal, and you don't like the function. I don't care for that look either, but that's different from: It's installed wrong and/or my designer- installer screwed up. Could they have done it differently, absolutely. Also, part of the prob. is your counter overhang is really large, don't know who chose this but It's not how I'd do it for the reasons you cite.

There is no preferred way to size the depth of the side panels when doing an install this way. Like you say many pics yo see will have the side panels/gables extending even or past the counter overhang. This is one way to do it. The Euro crowd like Boffi, Bulthaup, Poliform like to have totally flush counters so a 24" deep gable would be just fine in that instance, SieMatic does it both ways, flush and overhung counters. Sometimes a factory's constraints go into how deep a panel you can use. All of these factors and others go into how the final look comes out.

Here is a link that might be useful: KA install guide 110 & 90 deg.

antss, I have already pored over that installation ml. On page 11, it has a diagram of how the hinge is supposed to look in relation to the frig side trim and the cabinetry. I actually climbed up on a step stool with the diagram, and compared it to the way my frig looks. Per kitchenaid's diagram, the swing part of the hinge is supposesd to be outside the edge of the cabinetry. On my install, the swing part of the hinge is behind that edge.

Thanks so much for everyone's input. I'm hoping to speak with my contractor today!

I have a SZ builtin with cabinet panels and mine sticks out like yours. Thats the right look unless you get the SZ that is fully integrated (can't rememember what that one is called). Yours looks right to me.

Now for what I think looks wrong--

I think you have a flaw in your kitchen design. I think you needed space between your fridge and the cabinets on each side of the fridge. I have a 3" space on each side and that may be too much, but how could the fridge possibly open any further without a space there.? Me thinks I would be calling up the kitchen designer, to see if this might be the issue.

I hope I am wrong and there is an easy fix.

Here is a link that might be useful:

I really believe that your only problem is the lack of spacers on each side of the fridge and I do not know how that can be remedied.

The problem might be minimized by grinding down the granite that's in the way but I would not be happy.

Let us know what you find out.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1427073}}

If you have to foot the bill; it might be easier to get the corners of your counter trimmed off and polished rather than re-do the whole cabinet.

Ldlady - I think you are mis-inturpreting that cut sheet a bit. Yes it shows the unit in front of the cabinetry/gable, but also shows it flush. It actually shows 5 different combinations. The next page shows an entirely different set ofd spex for a different door opening angle. Page 17 shos 5 different ways of placing the unit in relation to the gable. One shows how to accomplish the look that red lover has w/the SZ.

Don't take me wrong, I 'm not saying it's great or ideal or you have to live with it, only that it's not WRONG per se. Certainly it's woth getting it fixed if it bugs you and will bug you for the life of the kitchen. Replacing the gables with deeper ones and pulling the unit foward can be done, it will present some problems and risk and costs which you very well may wish to take on.

Personally, I'd fix the cabinet.

To me, the cabinet is 'misplaced' in relation to the counter. The cabinet should be moved out so that it is flush ( or nearly so) with the edge of the counter top. The fridge then can be slipped further back so that the face of the trim panels will be flush with the face of the doors above.

This would still mean that the fridge would sit out in relation to the floor cabinets on either side. If this is not desired, then I think you would have no choice but to cut the granite, probably flush with the cabinet front. Then the fridge should be able to scoot back and the doors still open as you desire.

The crown molding should not be a big issue since it's only two pieces that get lengthened, unless that overhead light gets in the way.

My opinion is there is a mis comunication between the designer and the home owner here. She bought and installed a built in fridge and overlay door panels. Thats what she got. Properly installed. She did not buy a fully integrated fridge. She misunderstood what she was buying. There are ways to make this look better but at this stage all are going to require major reconstruction of a finished area of the kitchen at significant cost to someone.

Aloha Labradoodle! (Sorry to hijack but I couldn't resist!) I just found out via the home building forum that you live on Kaui. We will be building a home on Maui starting August 2008 - would love to "chat" via email. By the way you have a lovely kitchen and I hope you can work out the problem with your fridge. This is what scares me about building. Unfortunately, we won't be on island during most of the building (we are US expats living in London, UK) and fear all kinds of things will happen. Let me know if I can contact you via email. Again sorry for the hijacking.

For me, the aesthetic issue isn't nearly as important as the functional one. If the frig sticks out a bit (which according to Kitchenaid's installation manual, it will) isn't a big problem. The fact that I can't open the doors enough to get the shelves and ice bin in and out properly is a PITA.

I don't know if it's a miscommunication, or just a case of somebody making a decision without asking me. I suspect the latter. The cabinet company, my GC and the finish carpenter who installed all the cabinets had all the installation specs for my frig, I made sure of that. One of the carpenters mentioned to me the problems they had getting the frig installed, and I honestly think that the specs were just essentially ignored when they framed out the area for the frig.

Interestingly, when I brought the matter up with my GC yesterday, he didn't blink an eye. I suspect he knew, and was just hoping I wouldn't complain.

Hi kulagal! I just sent you a private email. Let me know if you get it. I'd be happy to "chat" with you about your building process. Building in Hawaii involves some interesting elements that don't matter when you're living on a larger land mass. :)

labradoodlelady--I doubt that the kitchenaid specs would tell the KD to put space on each side of the frig so that the doors would fully open. That is (to me) what should be a common sense piece of knowledge to any KD that knows what they are doing.

I also do not think it was your responsibility to make sure this happened.

If you put a frig in a corner with a full wall in the way, without a space on the side of the frig, will the door open any further than 90 degrees? No, in fact it will not even open 90 degrees, because the frig handle will keep it from opening even that far. This happened to me in my last house and I could not get my freezer drawers out to clean out the freezer side of my frig without pulling the whole frig out from the wall, so that I could get the door fully open!

That is why this thread struck such a chord with me.

I was stuck with that situation as there was not much we could do to fix the problem unfortunately.

I hope you have better luck than I did.

Ok, I would like to revise my statement.

After looking at the pictures more closely and the installation guide again, I would have to say that the install is correct for the cabinet.

The problem is the counter top. Assuming the thickness of the front panel is 3/4" and the counter top overhang is 1 1/4", the distance from the edge of the fridge to the counter top should be at least 1 1/4" or a bit more (a guesstimation from the drawing on page 11 and leaving a 1/2" of space between the counter top and the door). From the pics, I'm guessing this distance is now about 1/2".

OK, as per usual, I did not read all of the posts thoroughly so forgive me if this is a repeat. IMO, the cabinet enclosure is not constructed correctly. On my built in, the fridge cabinet enclosure extends just slightly past the granite counter top. The back of the panels are flush/even with the cabinet styles on the face of the enclosure and look very similar in fit and finish to the rest of the cabinet doors. Since the enclosure is not compromised by the countertop overhang, it does not impede the opening angle of the doors; they open at a full swing of 180 degrees.

I just got set up on photobucket but don't have a good pic yet. I will try to post a pic soon but your cabinet s/b deeper.

Labradoodlelady: I didn't receive your email. I have looked a couple of times both regular email and junk. What is your email user name that would show up? Pls try again! Kulagal

I don't know who installed it, but someone should tell the installer that refrigerators have leveling legs and if do not adjust them the unit does not fit. Lower the rear legs and watch the magic begin