Kitchen renovation appliances

[Ucsdryder]

I need to replace my fridge and keep hearing to stay away from lg and Samsung. But if you google any make you’ll find horror stories.

 

[WiscoHoundsman]

We built in 2020 and went with what I think is a mid range price set of appliances from Cafe which is made by GE from my understanding. Love the appliances we got. Time will tell on if they hold up.

I also learned about different fridge depths the hard way… I have a 6” gap behind it hidden by a microwave

 

[TaperPin]

You can have the cabinets in the kitchen match the fridge. The cabinet maker can make the panel to match the “panel ready” fridge. I’m still working out whether I/we care about that.

More than one client wished they hadn’t gone with counter depth panel ready fridge/freezer because of limited interior space. Of course the kitchen layout has a big bearing on what makes sense.

 

[Dos XX]

GE makes some refrigerators in the US, Louisville, KY. That is what we have. It is the one with the ice maker in the freezer drawer, which is on the bottom of the unit. It is not CD / panel ready. It is a standard stand-alone unit.

Whirlpool has no refrigerators being made in the US. I think Frigidaire might still make some in Carolina. We had a Fridgidair, not sure it was USA made, and it was a piece of shit. It had an ice maker in the refrigerator door.

The counter depth units are shallower than the stand-alone units. Measure how big a pizza box you can stick in there. Some are taller than most stand-alone units and that makes up for some interior space.

EDIT: Whirlpool is still making fridges in Iowa. I think it may be french door models, and maybe counter depth models only.

 

[wapitibob]

Thank you. The “panel ready” (a term unknown to me before today) option doesn’t seem to have a no ice/no water dispenser option. Looks like it’s rabbit hole time!

You don't need to hook the water up.

I bought Kitchen Aid 20+ years ago, all are still going strong. Best thing ever with kids was the combo oven/microwave with the microwave door opening downward. Makes a shelf if they grabbed something hot and needed to set it down in a hurry.

 

[Dos XX]

You don't need to hook the water up.

I bought Kitchen Aid 20+ years ago, all are still going strong.

I have a made in US Whirlpool in my garage. It has been in there for 19 years and is still keeping my beer as cold as when it was new.

 

[fwafwow]

You don't need to hook the water up.

I bought Kitchen Aid 20+ years ago, all are still going strong.

Yep. The trade off is that we then have wasted space in the fridge/freezer. Maybe the solution is to go with ice maker in the freezer.

 

[fwafwow]

High end kitchens are my bread and butter.

If Subzero/Wolf are in the budget, get them.

Better appliances, and actually serviceable.

I think they can be in the budget.

 

[Reburn]

More than one client wished they hadn’t gone with counter depth panel ready fridge/freezer because of limited interior space. Of course the kitchen layout has a big bearing on what makes sense.

Holy crap.
We just agreed and you made a point in two sentances.
There is hope and a God.

 

[Reburn]

I think they can be in the budget.

My response was cryptic but correct.
Is wolf and subzero better. Yes. Do they have great marketing. Yes. Do they break and make turds sometimes. Yes. I would make a small reccomendation to see what service companies are around. You dont want to buy something that doesnt have service where you live. That makes for a spendy service call.

 

[fwafwow]

In my career as a finish carpenter we didn’t trust the appliance installation guys from most suppliers so we’ve seen most of the middle and top end models.

Be careful with Wolf, Viking, Subzero and others in the top price ranges.

The Subzero’s we’ve installed the past 3 or 4 years were built like tanks, can be serviced without removing them, but the insides made us a little puzzled in how they were laid out. Counter depth fridges don’t hold much. If the fridge and freezer are separate units that are joined, make sure to use a good installer that can make sure the cabinet opening is sized correctly before the cabinet guys leave.

We almost stopped going by the rough openings given in the installation instructions (best to have appliances on site when installing cabinets).

Viking and Wolf (any higher end appliance) will have gas/electric/water locations spelled out in the installation instructions and they can be different from what most electricians and plumbers use when roughing in. I seem to have faught mostly with plumbers on the gas line locations, but electricians will surface mount a big 4x4 box that has to be recessed in a certain location.

Gas cook tops are the biggest pain, because it’s easiest to install it over a blanked out top drawer, rather than carefully routing the gas line with a few elbows to allow a full depth top drawer. Cabinet sales people will try to sell you on a blanked drawer, lazy installers will try to sell you on a blank drawer, plumbers will act stupid and often refuse to add a few elbows to the regulator to allow the gas line to fit tight to the wall. It’s rare that a top drawer can’t be used and after it’s installed is too late to fix it cheaply.

There’s an appliance repair guy on YouTube that’s really good about which models to avoid.

Solid basic cooktop and convection double oven from kitchen aid is my preference. These are a couple years old, but were still being sold not long ago. Expect $2500 for the 5 burner with mega burner in the middle, and $3500 for the double oven with convection in the top. Maybe $500 more each with inflation.

View attachment 702862View attachment 702863

Thanks. The dishwasher is KitchenAid and it would save loads to just get more of that. Good news on counter depth is that we have other fridges (especially after the remodel). No worries on installation or coordinating among the various people - at least that’s not a worry of mine, as I’m outsourcing that to the GC.

 

[Castronova]

5 of the last 6 houses I’ve built have had thermador appliance picked/spec’d. It’s the hottest thing going. Seems to be a great product and readily available.

 

[TaperPin]

Avoid this Kitchenaid cooktop - it seems to match the look and feel of a better premium cooktop at a cheaper price, but these are a horrible design with tiny support lip that require the countertop cutout to be exact - I’ve seen as many improper counter top cutouts as good ones. To an installer it seems cheaply made. It seems appliance stores get people excited about a Wolfe and then when budget gets in the way, they talk them into this.

 

[yfarm]

My appliance repair guy gave me the same advice as above, no LG or Samsung. Boards go out out of warranty and cost more than the unit is worth. Said to buy units with fewest electronics, Maytag or whirlpool. Recently replaced washer dryer with Maytag commercial, white top load washer. Refrig double door refrig and double oven whirlpool. Also have surge protector on feeds to appliances as that is what cooks the boards.

 

[Yoder]

I bought all GE appliances about 7 years ago. The dishwasher blew up and leaked destroying the ceiling in my basement. The microwave, all the paint is peeling off the bottom inside, the big burner on the stove burned out. Fridge is still OK. The guy from the insurance company told me GE dishwashers are the worst. I replaced it with a Bosch.

 

[Dos XX]

We bought a Kitchen Aid dishwasher about 6 years ago. We bought a 5 year extended warranty on it. I'm not sure why we did as we don't usually buy extended warranties. It died almost 5 years to the day. They replaced it with a new one at no charge. I bought the warranty on the new one. We will see if my gamble pays off this time.

I will say that this dishwasher is very quiet. You can barely hear it run. It has all kinds of electronic crap on it. You can program it to come on whenever you want. My wife likes to make it come while we are asleep. It is so quiet that I don't see the point of running it overnight.

 

[yfarm]

My double ovens were 24” wide model from GE, installed in 1991, board went out unavailable. Order new double ovens from Lowes. Took out the ge, one piece unit, used a floor jack so heavy. New ovens arrived, 2 separate units with brackets to install inside the cabinet to hold the upper oven. Problem was the walls of the cabinet too wide to mount the brackets and trim edge was 1” to narrow for opening. Had to fabricate supports for the brackets extending from the floor andmake and stain new side trim to cover the new opening. Expected 2 hour job was 8 hrs. Lesson learned descriptions and online specs are never as detailed as installation instructions with the appliances, read the latter when buying cabinet fit appliances.

 

[MuleyFever]

We moved into our home about 7 years ago and got LG appliances. Last year the stove and fridge died. It was actually the 3rd time the stove broke but I fixed it the first 2 times. Unfortunately, we got the LG black stainless so we had to get new LGs to match. So my tip is don't buy a fancy brand specific color. There are other black stainless options but they dont match exactly.

I think the fridge in our last house was either a Whirlpool or Frigidaire. It lasted 5 years.

 

[SWOHTR]

So my tip is don't buy a fancy brand specific color.

I like this, thanks!

 

[7mm-08]

We did a major house/kitchen remodel in 2019 and went with a Bosch appliance package. Five years later, we are very pleased with our choices.