I always thought the fridge delivery people connected it as long as you had the appropriate lines set up prior. But it depends on what you signed off on, agreed to, paid for....etc.

All the answers are in your contracts. Not online.

If the appliance store is delivering and setting up the fridge in place, they should do the hookups. Was there an existing icemaker line? If not, that is often overlooked. Depending on the location, running water for icemaker could be $50 or a lot more. My cabinet installers won't install any refrigerator....we always tell our clients to have the appliance store deliver and install refrigerator. way too much liability. Imagine if your contractor dents the Subzero. He's out thousands. Whoever you buy it from should install it.

"With previous subzero install, the delivery people from the store did the install"

Most subzero ref installed by the store selling them some have in-house installers or they use a company who is authorized to install them... It's always been this way for a simple reason, they cost an arm and a leg and nobody wants to touch them because if anything goes wrong the company will blame the installer, the installer will blame the fridge, etc therefore nobody needs a headache.

If the contractor in question installed your kitchen, he will install the handle and the door panels, all other connections like water, etc done by a plumber (when it comes to reg fridges)

"With previous subzero install, the delivery people from the store did the install. I assumed the same was true here."

@Verbo: "All the answers are in your contracts. Not online."

Yup. "I assumed..."

Our appliance guys did our install of our Thermidor fridge/freezer columns including putting the panels and handles on. I wouldn’t let a contractor get within 100 feet of installation or even putting the panels on…

When we purchased our Sub Zero we had to pay a certified Sub Zero installer who was separate from the store. The installer was recommended by the store and if I remember correctly using the certified installer provided us with extra years of warranty. It was actually a lot of work for them to make it perfect. There is no way I would allow someone not familiar with these refrigerators to install them, I believe it was $600 for the installation but that was 8 years ago. Money well spent when dealing with such an expensive appliance.

Caroline, thanks for relaying your experience. I called sub-zero today and learned the same about the extra year warranty. I then called the appliance store and they are going to schedule a sub-zero installer for me who is also going to put on the panels and handles. The store did a fantastic job of explaining to me the three day process it takes to deliver, reassemble, and then install a fridge in an elevator building. They also helped me figure out how to keep my current fridge for two days of this process. I'm taking my contractor out of the loop entirely. The last contractor I worked with would have walked me through all the steps and options so I could make informed choices. Not so in this case.

Yup, read your contract and see what it says. My contracts are very specific about that. I always have either the store or a subzero installer install any Subzero( or other expensive appliance). They know what they're doing. The installer should be from the store (dealer) or hired by the store that way the liability of damages, to the appliance, or your home is covered.

That said if you were sold a SubZero w/ice and water and sold "installation" the contractor ( assuming the contractor sold it to you) should pay to have the fridge and the water/ice hooked up.

BTW check where the outlet for the fridge is located on the wall ( check the "cut sheet" for the fridge. Sometimes the outlet is located up top by the compressor ( been a while as we don't install sub-zero a lot, that location may have changed)

Steve, thanks for the heads up about the outlet for the fridge. I'll check it out. And, I'll ask my contractor too if when he installed the sink and dishwasher, whether the water hook ups for the fridge are in the right place.

Poor you. Renovations are stressful & tough, this is one headache you shouldn’t have. I always thought any good appliance store does the install and hookups as part of the delivery. I would contact the store and ask them to come out again. If they are big on customer service they should accommodate you. If they want to charge you for another delivery you should probably bite the bullet and pay. Better to get the store appliance guys to do the install than whoever the contractor hires. You know the store guys will know what they are doing.

Good luck Kendrah! It's worth it in the end, as you can see I forgot some of the details about the inconveniences of the installation. We did have to get an electrician to move the outlet as Steve stated above.

@Kendrah If he did the water hook-up for the fridge and it has to be in a certain location, I'm sure someone gave him the fridge specs so he knows and installs exactly where it should be.

As far as I remember the water line in sub-zero is behind a kick plate. Most fridges don't have internal shut-off valves and I don't think sub-zero has one unless the newer models do.

In case something happens the shut-off valve should have easy access some usually put them in the basement, or in the cabinet next to it... I have seen some install in-wall boxes with the shut-off valve behind ref if something happens and you can pull the fridge out quick enough to shut the water you be OK, if not you will flood the house, especially with a sub-zero you not pulling that one out.

Good luck

So my to do list:

Check to see where the electric to the fridge is and what the sub-zero requires.

Check to see what is needed for water hook ups. (Do most fridges get their water from the sink hook up?)

Figure out where a shut off can go. We are in an apartment and have no basement so it will have to be located somewhere in the kitchen. Under the sink?

Is there anything else I should check on or be thinking about?

(I would think this is what I am paying the GC to do but he seems uninterested in focusing on details and is unable to provide answers when subs ask him questions about our electric, plumbing, etc, all of which he has worked on. We moved into this apartment 6 months ago. A pre-war building in NYC. I know zilch about electric and plumbing - especially how it works in a large, old apartment building.)

While we have hired certified Subzero installers in the past, the last few homes the dealer provided certified installation as a part of the sales price. Since sales price is determined by MSRP the install is free. Some dealers may not offer but we have not seen that for a few years.

Meanwhile, a client bypassed our recommended dealers and contracted with another local dealer to provide & install Monogram. They were very poorly installed and he now wants us to fix. Same client also contracted with two big box dealers for washer dryer delivery & install, another for small oven and roll in refer install.... all botched. (gas leak at connection, left water off at ice maker).

Don't take it for granted.

I'm embarrassed to admit, I bought a new gas dryer from HD...installed! What a joke! They showed up, set it in place and hooked up the existing gas line...but said they couldn't hook up the dryer vent to the outside because they didn't have the proper venting materials in their truck...so they left....we were left to do it ourselves. Never again...beware of box store installs like Jeffrey said above!!!

I never purchase from box stores. I always go with a tried and true Mom and Pop appliance store that has been around for decades and has a good track record. They are growing harder to find, but they do exist. Some of them are in the second or third generation of management and not being run as well anymore. When the install folks came to do my dishwasher, my contractor had not put in the appropriate connections. The install folks went on foot to three different hardware stores in my neighborhood to find the right parts. Serious dedication.

@The Kitchen Place: "said they couldn't hook up the dryer vent to the outside because they didn't have the proper venting materials in their truck"

The HD website makes it clear that it is the responsibility of the purchaser to obtain the "venting materials" for a new gas dryer and that the installer will not reuse old components. Did you read the dryer's installation guide to determine what would be needed to install the dryer before you received it?

1. Thank you

I've learned that the new sub-zero requires an outlet to be 4" off the ground. Our current fridge outlet is 57" off the ground. Holy smokes, I'm glad we didn't find this out the day the installers arrived. I'm so pissed that my CG didn't think about these details and do something about it during the 9 months we have been waiting for our fridge. At least we have a about a week and a half to remedy the situation.

2. What is a water supply line

Next, please help me troubleshoot if I have a water supply line, and if my set up is ready for the Sub-Zero installers when they arrive. I really don't understand what a water supply line is. What is a water line exactly? Is it just a tiny plastic tube that branches out of or off or the water supply under my sink that goes to my sink and dishwasher? Or is it a dedicated water pipe that comes from elsewhere? We are in an apartment so it's not like they can go down in the basement and run a pipe. Pretend you are explaining this to a 4 year old please! And remember, this is a building from 1938 with concrete walls.

Sub-zero install spec:

Pic of under my sink

Close up of water supply lines

Is your sink near the refrigerator? At our house, we have a connection which looks similar to this behind the fridge. If that isn't there, you probably need your contractor to run a water line to the fridge. The complexity is based on the distance and what is in the way. I've never had a connection directly from sink to fridge. We've had two fridge leaks, so I'd be wary of anything that increases the risk of a leak.

I'll leave it a pro to answer the specifics, that's definitely beyond my ability.

Subzero water connection is behind the kick panel and I don't believe they have an internal water shut-off valve unless newer models started making that feature if not you don't want that behind it, you want the valve with easy access because if you need to shut the water you not gonna move that thing out as you can do it with a fridge. Usually in a sink cabinet and you can run the line to the fridge under it.

The fridge, luckily, is right next to the sink. I think I might ask the super in my building about what the best sitaution is to prevent flooding, which is a real problem in apartment buildings.

I did some digging under my sink last night and realized that the waterline is there, it was just curled up underneath the dishwasher in the opposite direction of the fridge.