Integrated fridge freezer doors not opening fully

Discussion in 'Kitchen Fitters' Talk' started by Newbie to diy, Nov 15, 2020.

  1. Newbie to diy

    Newbie to diy New Member

    I'm struggling with my integrated fridge doors. Independently the cabinet door and the fridge door open beyond 90° but when they are together with the sliding fixings they open less than 90. Its so frustrating as I cant get the drawers in and out easily at all. Do I need different hinges? Does the fridge need pulling forward/ pushing back or over some more? Any advice gratefully recieved!
     
  2. Newbie to diy

    Newbie to diy New Member

    Photos to illustrate the problem
     

    Attached Files:

  3. Dream_Home

    Dream_Home Active Member

    If the doors are fine without the sliding fixings then the fault is not with the doors or hinges, looking at your photos, are the white plastic rails the door slides on in the correct positions and square to the doors? As they can bind up if they aren't.

    Also check the fridge is perfectly level....again if it isn't this will fight the doors when they are joined
     
  4. WillyEckerslike

    WillyEckerslike Screwfix Select

    I think it's because they're butt hinges and not concealed (inset or overlay). The latter (concealed hinges) are designed to lift the door out and across giving more room for the fridge door to swing.
     
    kitfit1 likes this.
  5. kitfit1

    kitfit1 Screwfix Select

    Yep, 100% correct. Butt hinges mounted to the frame will not throw the doors to the right. OP, you need to fit the decor doors to normal Appliance hinges. In fact i would have thought that the butt hinges you have fitted would actually cause the doors to "bind", but i could be wrong.
     
    WillyEckerslike likes this.
  6. WillyEckerslike

    WillyEckerslike Screwfix Select

    If you don't want to change the hinges you can just use them separately - open cabinet, then open fridge. My parents used an arrangement like this for donkeys' years although theirs was more of a concealed rather than integrated fridge so it had a usable handle. I found it annoying tbh but you soon got used to it.
     
  7. Tilt

    Tilt Screwfix Select

    @Newbie to diy
    Unusual set up, but if they both open enough individually then the problem is with the runner and guide IMO.
    Are you sure it is not the screws in the guide rail (the plastic bit attached to the wooden door) catching on the guide runner (the plastic bit attached to the fridge door)????
    Or these fittings might just be too tight.

    If the guide rail has a screw / screws in at the back (unscrew the guide runner from the fridge door to have a look) remove just this screw (on both top and bottom guide rails) replace the guide runner, and then see if the door then opens further.
     
  8. The Happy Builder

    The Happy Builder Screwfix Select

    Most kitchen manufacturers fix the appliance door frames to the door rather than fitting face frames, so the door and frame become a slab door opening as one.

    Do you have an integrated dishwasher, if so what has been done with the door on that?
     
  9. Dream_Home

    Dream_Home Active Member

    Can't say I have ever seen an integrated fridge/freezer with the door not hinged on the carcass, and hinged like a dishwasher/washing machine....IMHO
     
  10. Tilt

    Tilt Screwfix Select

    Same here ......... Undermounted, yes ........but tall larder integrated fridge / freezer, no.

    Unusual though as the door seems to be inside the frame???
     
  11. WillyEckerslike

    WillyEckerslike Screwfix Select

    Here you go gents -
     
  12. Dream_Home

    Dream_Home Active Member

    I stand corrected.....learn something new everyday
     
    WillyEckerslike likes this.
  13. The Happy Builder

    The Happy Builder Screwfix Select

    Normally when fitting an integrated dishwasher into a face frame kitchen the door has the frame attached to it do it drops down with the door.

    Because the face frame hangs down below the bottom of the cabinets so that the inner edge of the bottom section is level with the floor of the cabinet the face frame is taller than a door.

    So the dishwasher has to be dropped with a piece of plinth lay flat or some other colour matched trim as a Packer between the top of the dishwasher and the underside of the counter top, then the combined door and frame is fitted so it stands higher than the appliance door.

    If you don’t do this when you open the dishwasher washer door, pull the basket out and start loading it the frame on the facia door will be pushed against the bottom of the appliance resulting in it falling off.

    All of which is something the experienced kitchen fitters already know. :)

    You are not going to be able to do much with that fridge door, it is what it is now the cabinets have been made with the frame fixed to the cabinet rather than the door.
     
  14. The Happy Builder

    The Happy Builder Screwfix Select

  15. Dan Parkinson

    Dan Parkinson Active Member


    The last Wren kitchen I did had doors hung on the fridge freezer, like a built under fridge. Wasted a lot of time lifting trying to get the fridge past the cabinet hinges before I realised. Think it was CDA
     

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