I think something like that, when is a change, especially, is something that could easily be missed, and since it would be a relatively simple solution to get a different fridge which does fit through the door (I am assuming the only refrigerator is not this one, buried in the specialty kitchen) I think this will be an uphill battle with your builder.

I really wanted to keep my larger more spacious fridge. I built the cabinets etc around that fridge. Main kitchen will hv the counterdepth ones. Afterall, that should hv been for the experts to consider, in my opinion.

Is an architect involved in this project?

Will removing the door(s) off the fridge to fit it through work?

Yes, it should have been something for the experts to consider. Did they know that you were putting in a full depth fridge in that new spice kitchen though? Did they have the specs for the the fridge? I don't know exactly what you mean about designing the cabinets around them, though most newer full depth fridges stick out almost a foot from cabinet depth. Are the cabinets also deeper?

@ Mark Bischak, Yes, the request for the conversion was approved through an architect. Every structural change goes through one apparently. We wouldnt have known much if they didnt come back with the costing for everything that would be required.

@Anne Duke, Yes, without the doors my fridge measures 28.5”. Theirs is supposed to be a 28” door but so farvthe opening is exactly 30”.

@Palimpsest, I was bringing existing appliances for there so no specs were asked of us until months later when the gas and water points were to be set up. But a mudroom or a main entry door is never 28” wide for a reason. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Well residential code requires 32" clear for egress doors with the door open at 90-degrees, which would be obtained by a 34" door but since that's not a standard size, by default 36" doors get installed. Interior residential door openings except in paths of egress, particularly for a powder rooms and walk in closets and a pantry, as this started out, can be as narrow as 24" (at least in a lot of areas they will let you) and with this being a pocket door, the entire opening is clear so it acts more like a 30" swinging door. I am not defending them in anyway but it's not exactly a given that this door size would have to be changed. Hopefully you are not putting some deep commercial style range that won't fit through either.

The problem is that the entire opening And pocket will have to be reframed , right now it's probably 56" roughly 28 for the opening and 28 for the door cavity, and if I were making it bigger anyway I would go to 32" at least and that will require 64" a difference of 8 inches. The extra inches at the end even if you only go to 30" may require movement of electrical, and hopefully no HVAC or plumbing is butted right up against the existing pocket. You may be able to Make them do all of this but is it worth it for the 4-6" at the back of the fridge where things just get buried? Only you can answer that question of how many hoops you want to jump through.

A corollary question is what is happening outside the spice kitchen on each side of this door, is there any cabinetry or things that will have to be modified if the door is wider?

Not knowing al the facts, my guess is your best action is to buy a smaller refrigerator.

Changes are tough as there are often surprises and unknowns. Custom vs production? Typically we are using new appliances for planning & assuming the client will attempt to obtain appliances that fit the space planning. Refrigerators require lots of space including door swings and a lot of depth for full sized units. So far I haven't seen a full sized refrigerator fit in any pantries up through 5000sf homes.

Moving your refrigerator into that room might require removal of the doors to get it through sideways.

Looking at the photo of your pantry below, it looks pretty small for appliances. I'd paint them out on the floor including the refer & door swings.

Doing a tiny poorly ventilated kitchen in a closet is what should be bothering you. Not the fact that you cannot fit a monster fridge in it. That's a good thing. It would overheat, and there wouldn’t be room for any people if it did fit in there. The kitchen in a closet needs to be ditched as a safety hazard.

@ Palimpsest, thank you for all the detailed info. The range is a basic 30” gas, not commercial at all. The depth is just under 28” so I’m good with that but the fridge without doors is 28.5”. At best I’d need to have them give me 1-2 inches. The main kitchen is right outside the spice kitchen. Upper and lowers to the right (which is an exterior wall) and then wall oven combo on the left followed by a range etc. I’m not sure what impact that would have really.

@Jeffrey R. Grenz, Thank you for the input. The doors will have to be taken off for certain. Also, you’re right, it is a small space about 10x6 and there is a large window as well as separate venting for this space too.

@Verbo, thanks for raising the concerns. Its apparently not a hazard as all the approvals and city permits are in place. Plus, they’ll likely be only one person cooking at one time. -And there’s always the main kitchen too if need be. 😊

Heres a pic of the floorplan for the 2 kitchens and breakfast nook. Note we took the tub space and added it to the spice kitchen area.

Terrible design. Ive done plenty of spice kitchens. None in closets. And unless they recalculated the HVAC system design supply, returns, and filtration, it is going to be burning out fridges and axphyxiating the cook with heat exhaustion and chile vapors.

To some extent it may not be a comfortable kitchen to cook in. In the first condo I owned the kitchen was approximately this size, under 35 square feet

It had adequate ventilation but it got very hot. It was probably exacerbated by the low ceiling (7), and while the refrigerator worked, the frost free cycle was so active that it evaporated the ice cubes right out of the trays. There was also some trouble with keeping out pantry moths because the storage was not cool and dry. Part of our problem was the location in a higher part of a loft apartment and the low ceiling, which you don't need to worry about, but you will be closing that door, since containment of cooking smells is part of its purpose.

Is there air conditioning added? My concern is not so much about whether you can tolerate cooking in a hot kitchen occasionally, that may not bother you at all, my questions are more about long term food storage and refrigeration/freezing in that same environment.

@Palimpsest, Fingers crossed! 😊I guess we’ll find out how comfortable it is. The ceiling is 9’, there is AC and all the Hvac supply. Plus the exterior wall with the sink has a large window that was added. I wont be using the cabinetry in there for pantry food storage, those will be in the main kitchen. Mostly pots and pans plus any daily spices in here. Where I live, the climate is generally cooler so hopefully it wont impact too much on the cooling/freezing factor.

I think having a window will be helpful on a number of levels The refrigerator section where things cycle through fairly rapidly should be fine. You may find that long term storage in the freezer compartment in there is not the best.

I guess part of the equation will be how often the spice kitchen is used, almost daily, or just on occasion.

@Mark Bishuk, yes of course! It is a real home being built by a builder and the proposed changes were assessed and approved by an architect. Thank you! My fingers crossed comment were more to the personal preference or comfort level. 😊

Thank you palimpsest! I agree with the freezer piece. There will be a full size fridge and freezer in the main kitchen so I won’t be overloading the one in the spice kitchen. I have written back to the builder; hopefully we find out soon how they will seal our fate. 😊

There is no "standard" for an added refer in a converted pantry. This is an apartment/ADU sized efficiency kitchen where smaller appliances & sinks are often used.

The 30" opening at the pocket is before trim (pocket doors still need a finished jamb and possibly trim pieces on the pocket side). If he told you its a 28" door (2'-4") , the net will be under 28" by 1/4+1/2" as the door still recesses slightly in the pocket when closed. If it were a 28" swinging door the net opening would also be less. That is what this appears.

Because its a pocket, the location of the opening is restricted based on the ability to frame a 58" opening to install the pocket frame, pushing the final opening 30" away from the exterior wall, which also impacts your main kitchen range cabinet wall if you make it a larger pocket by 2x the door size as the pocket for a 30" door is also 30" moving the range wall 4" down where other obstacles may already exist.

Lots of detailed planning is required to get this right when its planned ahead of time.

You will need to get a smaller/shallower refrigerator. You will want to plan out the pantry with an offset to the left side of the refer so the doors will open for full access to slide shelves in and out, usually that number is in the manual. With a 36" wide refer likely needing 7" of offset, a 30" range likely needing 18" each side (see product manuals). At this point the cabinet designer should have this planned out and cabinets ordered.

Is the 'architect' working for you or for the builder?

Did you inform the 'architect' how that space is planned to function and ALL the appliances that are planned to be in the space?

@Jeffrey R. Grenz, solid points you raise. Thank you! I guess worst case scenario is I wont be able to get it in and will have to purchase a new one. From that picture I inserted of the 30” opening and the black writing indicating a 28” door will go there, do you think there could be an error w the 28”? I found an email from the Design Centre person who said all interior doors were 30”. Hopefully there’s just a huge misunderstanding here.

Is the refrigerator in your spice kitchen placed right next to the wall? (It's hard to tell, but from your picture it looks like it.) Make sure you have enough space between the fridge and the wall to fully open the door and remove the drawers for cleaning. Check the specs for your model. (For example in the one below, it needs to be 15" away from a wall to fully open the door.) Also be sure to account for the space needed behind the fridge for ventilation, and see what the specs say about proximity to a heat source. There are more considerations than just getting it through the door.

@chicagoans, Thank you for posting those images. Super helpful! I think when approvals were happening all that was covered. We originally had an 18” dishwasher to the right of the range but had to forego it as there needed to be min 16” between the range and a combustible material (the fridge). There will be 6” to the left of the fridge so it will allow the door to open enough to pull drawers etc. The right side will open all the way. I will double check my specs for the ridge just in case. Thank you!

I hate to be negative, but if this was a horse race, I would be betting on the horse named, "Huge Misunderstanding".

@Mark Bischak, that’s okay. You can be negative. The intent of my post was to see if anyone else dealt with such a situation with a builder and was successful. A lot of insightful information has definitely come through which probably would have been great for me at the beginning of this process but its still great info to have and share should my friends or children ever consider doing something like this. ☺️ Whatever happens happens.

It's very easy to install the jambs so that they are easily removed. Your builder/finish carpenter should be able to do this. They can trim the opening after the fridge is in place, you won't have to worry about it for a decade or two...

I would be worried about only having 6" on the side of the fridge. While you might be able to open the doors somewhat past 90-degrees, you usually have to open them all the way to 135 to be able to install and remove the drawers. First time you spill something in those drawers, you'll be regretting this design plan.

I think the pocket door needs room to recess which limits the size of the door opening. To make it bigger means redesign of kitchen or bumping exterior wall out

As @LH CO/FL said, I'd be worried about only 6" on the side. @Sn Sn you mentioned that you'd check the specs for your model and I hope you do. Be sure that the swing accounts for the depths of the handles - which can take up a few inches on their own.

@LH CO/FL, I checked our actual fridge to see how much space would allow for the drawers to pull out and including handles 6” will be good. I’ll need to find out from the foreman on how much space there actually is. Worst case, we either go for a smaller fridge or place it opposite the window. Thank you to everyone for their expertise. 😊