Can built-in fridges be used free standing?

I found some very shallow depth fridges but they're built-ins. The description says one is stainless with black. I figured the front is metal and the sides are the black. Manufacturers don't show a side view all the time.

The metal with black sides wouldn't look bad but I figured to see if anyone had any thoughts on it.

Much as you can apply panels to the doors of most built-ins, their sides also accept panels. Without the panels, the sides are raw (completely unfinished and showing the 'innards').

The panels they accept are faily typically anything that is 1/4" thick. Even frame and panel millwork is shaved down to 1/4" thick along its edges to allow it to fit the fridge.

Now ... the one you mention that is billed as 'stainless with black' may well not be a true built-in. Instead, it is a shallow depth unit intended to be hused in a free standing surround. Nearly built in, but not truly so. The ones like this that I have seen would do very well as free standing units, too. The black side is, aesthetically, pretty bland and should just 'fade away' in use.

Do you have a link to the one you're looking at?

actually deeper than our regular fridge. It's the big "French door" with the bottom freezer. I loved the counter depth, but after looking at the two side by side, we decided we liked the larger one. Also, while we were looking, we saw the ones with the stainless door and black sides that you can shove into a built-in space. Though not the high end actual built-in, it's in the same range as the other refrigerators. If stainless and black work in your kitchen, I think they'd work just fine. We needed a bisque color, so I didn't consider the ones with the stainless and black.

Anyway, my husband cut out the wallboard behind the fridge and framed it. We gained 5 inches of space and we were able to set the fridge back so that it appeared "counter-depth".

That back wall actually backed up to our walk-in closet in the master bedroom, so we took a gamble. As it turned out, it didn't effect the closet wall at all.

My sister got lucky and did better than us. Their kitchen wall shares a wall with their attached garage. My brother-in-law cut a bay in the wall and built up a platform in the garage and enclosed it. They were able to shove the fridge into the garage, with only the door sticking into the kitchen, so it looks totally built-in. That left them with an opening in the cabinet wall where the fridge use to be and they made a small pantry there.

Mary

Recessing a standard fridge into the wall gives nearly the same look as a counter depth unit with any fridge.

I've seen it suggested that you screw a sheet of plywood over the remaining wallboard (that is, the wallboard that forms the wall in the room on the other side of the wall). The plywood is cut to fit the inside of the recess between the remaining studs. From the opposite side, screw through the wallbaord into the plywood with short drywall screws. This stiffens the wallboard to a strength that is actually greater than it was when the stub was there.

but he did line the area beind the fridge with, I think that thin board that you can actually roll (skin?) and he framed around and above it with studs. Also, ours doesn't jut into our closet, since we only needed to get to cabinet depth. There was plenty of room by just using the dead space between the walls.

What you're saying about the otherside is a good idea, especially if you plan to do things like hang pictures or have furniture that could be pushed against the wall. Our wall is behind clothes rods and it's Jim's part of the closet anyway, so if he bangs up the wall behind his shirts, it's on his head (possibly literally).

BTW, I forgot last night when I was posting, my cousin, seeing what my brother-in-law did, recessed his fridge into the familyroom and did the family room wall as a full entertainment center and bookcases. The part that is actually the back of the fridge just has fake cabinet doors on it that match a scathering of closed cabinets along the wall. It made a beautiful wall unit and you'd never know the fridge is actually hidden among the big screen TV, etc.

Mary

You folks are really imaginative in your family!

Sometimes we wonder why we stay in this house. With exterior and interior cinder block walls and a slab foundation, we've met many challenges head on and come out on top. But it has been an ordeal at times. The area keeps us here with good neighbors and nice atmosphere.

My dilemma is that the fridge needs to be somewhere on a wall that's an exterior wall. With the kitchen being somewhat narrow, I need to find a shallow depth fridge. Right now, the one that solves the problem is about as pricey as they get. It's a Sub-Zero 24" depth, 36" wide, 84" high fridge that can be paneled with knotty pine panels similar to the walls. That would make it look like a pantry cabinet in the kitchen. It even has the freezer on the bottom. But you know what Sub-Zero can cost. Nice to dream. Cheaper than buying a new house and having a giant mortgage. But still.

Seeing how the shallow depth fridges are gaining in popularity, I think that we could even wait and I bet someone else will try to copycat that shallowest design. They've been falling over themselves with developing the french door fridges. Even KitchenAid now has one.

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=APPL&pid=04605860000

It's basically the same price ours was, but of course, not a sub-zero.
We bought ours at a Sears Clearance center and though the regular price for ours was about $1,900, at the clearance center, it was only $1,150. I had a few scratches on the sides, but one side is against the wall and on the other side the scratch was low enough that it was hidden by the cabinet.

Because we needed the bisque color, it took a number of trips to the store, lol every Monday and Thursday for a month. But during those trips there were always lots of white, black and stainless and they were Kenmores, Amanas, Jenn-aire, GE, etc.

One other thought, are sub-zeros more expensive to run? We once had a refrigerator (not fancy) on an exterior west facing wall. This was in Ohio and even so, it ran almost non-stop, until my husband finally padded the wall behind it with heavy insulation board.

Mary

And the price is so right, too.

I didn't consider that outside wall being a problem. I think it helps that we have the tongue and groove cedar on the kitchen walls. They must create an air pocket to help keep warmth in the room.

They were there, but we opted for a bigger fridge, 26ft I think. We got the Kenmore Trio or Frenchdoor model. The top 2/3 look like a regular side by side and then it has the single drawer pull out bottom freezer. It's deeper than the counter depth, so much roomier and the reason my husband cut into the wall, so we could slide it back. But we saw plenty of counterdepth. If you go to the link you can see them by several manufacturers.

Also, our problem with the west exterior wall wasn't keeping the kitchen heat in, it was keeping the hot sun shining on the house from getting the wall behind the fridge so hot.

Keep us informed on your hunt and good luck!!

Mary

If only we had the room. Oh, I see about the heat affecting the fridge.

I've been hunting and found a french door KitchenAid that's counter depth. I'm sure it will work. Now to find one in a store so we can see it in the flesh. It's 19.6 cu. ft., standard height but wider at just under 36".

I'm going to make some calls around to stores this week.

I know ..... I snuck in. No one saw me. Honest. And I had on my DU/Hero-Zero t-shirt on. Honest.

And I didn't spend anything. Notta dime.

Aaaanyway .... they have a GE (profile?) 22+ CuFt counter depth stainless dutch door, bottom freezer, black side model for under $3K.

And I do appreciate it. I was at Lowe's and considered driving over to HD but went home. Thanks so much.

I have a dilemma, now. KitchenAid has a french door fridge coming out in a few weeks. It's 23 1/2" deep without the door and 28 1/2" with the handles. No info available of the measurement including just the door sans handles. But I figure the handles are probably 2" deep. That makes this model a good fit plus the price is around $2500. Probably less since that's the price on the KA web page.

My dilemma is that I spoke to someone at Sears who is literally took me under her wing. I called there to see if the KA would be on display soon - had to leave a voice mail message. The woman called me back within minutes and interviewed me about my needs regarding a fridge. She said she would research and find me one that best suits the kitchen. Sears is a "red" company. They were like this when I got the dishwasher. Totally service oriented and knew their products.

But your find is a 22 cu ft. That's bigger than the KA. I'll go check out the GE's. If I recall, this is also a new model. Things are looking up. Especially since we ditched the Sub-Zero idea. They seem like excellent fridges. I just don't think I could peel my hand away from over my heart to spend like that for a fridge.

peal my hand away from over my heart to spend like that for a fridge.

DH has to peel my hand away from the door, sling me over his shoulder & carry me away to stop me from spending.

best

.... and I'm not speaking about price. We have one. The 36" wide jobbie with the lower freezer. Its probably coming up on 20 years old. We left it in place when we just redid the kitchen cuz it still works and could accept a stainless steel skin on the doors.

At its age, it isn't the most effecient fridge in the enighborhood, but it gets the job done.

The thing has been some trouble over the years. We needed to get it recharged four times ... so far. I think the last time they found the microleak and fixed it, but we'll never be sure until we get rid of it. I always open the frezer and to this day check the ice to see if its staring to melt ... yanno?

Contrast that to the nearly 35 year old Whirlpool fridge-ordinaire in the basement. It just keeps it sweet old Harvest Gold heart pumpin' and keepin' them beverages cooooooool. Not one whit of troble in all those years

I started reading Epinion reviews and began worrying. One guy said he opened the door of his Sub-Zero, took something out, turned to put it on a counter and the door fell off.

Now, Epinion reviews could be like Amazon reviews. Anyone can write one and for all I know it was a rival manufacturer's sales department who penned up something horrifying. But it worked and got me concerned.

Meantime, I've got an old 1980 fridge in our unheated workshop shed. It looks almost brand new and runs well. The one in my kitchen is a 10 year old Whirlpool that's also never given me a minute of trouble. I just need a new one to fit the new spot.