How to extract a fridge from a hole that is exactly fridge shaped

https://imgur.com/Org4xnh

STW can solve anything right? This is my brother’s kitchen, the previous owners basically had the fitted kitchen built around the fridge, and now the fridge is dead. I’ve not been over yet but I know nothing about kitchens.

So he says it’ll rock forward but only a small amount before it hits the top. It’s very tight at the sides. The unit doesn’t have any obviously removable panels. It does look like it’s got something under the fridge lifting it up but I don’t know if that’s separate or built into the unit. I can see that we can take the unit doors and hinges off to make a little space

Any suggestions? Or, is there some sort of clan of fridge ninjas he can call? Like, if there are people building these nightmares (or ones like mine where the house’s main stopcock was impossible to turn because of a shelf), are there people who deal with the aftermath?. For sure the left hand wall/upright is immovable, it’s integrated right into the cupboards and is their upright/support. And I’m pretty sure the coving round the top is also all glued together, I doubt the right hand wall/upright is any more movable. I reckon we might be able to knock out the darker brown noggin thing at the top without causing too much visible damage and gain some space but that’s still not enough to tip the fridge right forwards and out. It’s not moving at all at the bottom either forward or back, other than to tip a little but that might just be years of nonmovement and kitchen goop.

I have various pry bars and some of those inflatable furniture lifter balloon things but I don’t think they’re strong enough, nothing else really lifty. Mostly of course it’s just super awkward to get any muscle on it. I was wondering about throwing a looped strap over the top of it and down so that we can pull it out right at the bottom? Or, getting a long bar right the way under it and trying to slide it out like on rails?

I’m most curious about what’s going on at the bottom, if that stuff makes any sense to anyone? It realyl does look like the whole shelf that it sits on might be movable but he thinks not (I can’t think why else it’s there, either). He’s not super practical, but not stupid either.

This is our one chance to convince him that I’m not wasting my life on that bloody stupid forum! (STW fixed my mum’s tomatoes once and that had the same effect)

If you take the hinges off, it looks like you could just pull it forwards?

I had a new washing machine delivered a couple of weeks ago. Top tip from the delivery guys – spray the floor with a soap/water solution and appliances glide across lino, tiles or similar hard surfaces….

Just a thought: That may help you drag the fridge forward without having to tilt it…

If it’s just years of nonmovement and kitchen goop sticking it at the bottom then the balloon lifter thingies are probably good enough to loosen that at least, with a bit of wobbling.

If the fridge is properly dead I’d think to maybe crack/drill a couple of holes in the floor of it to get some hooks in and pull it out from the bottom. Getting a strap round it sounds like a nightmare in itself!

Or less destructive: maybe screw something into the holes where the door hinges were and use that to pull.

Depending on how much space there is underneath (and behind it), maybe you could slide a balloon under with a stick or something and up the back slightly, that way blowing up the balloon would push the fridge outwards hopefully enough to get a grip on it.

You might have to move the hole and leave the fridge in place. (I’ve seen this done, but not with a fridge.)

Start by taking the doors off the cabinet. Undo the screws in the centre of the plates on the cabinet itself. The doors should slide forward and off. I’d then remove the plates from the cabinet sides.

once thats done I’d get some cone spanners, a torch and have a sqy under the front of the fridge. Odds on that there’s adjustable feet that you can retract to make it shorter.

if it’s properly dead I’d then take a brick or a claw hammer and just whack it through the base, claw first to give you some purchase, then just pull the thing out. They don’t weigh much, they’re just awkward.  Avoid whacking the pipes as you can cause a leak.  If it does leak ventilate it well – it’s almost certainly  butane/propane with some oil. Good for starting fires inadvertently.

Fitting the new one: I’d call a kitchen fitter. Built in fridges all have differing views on how their external doors should be arranged & they’re a bloomin nightmare to set up correctly

Hello

Take the doors and hinges off the carcass check there are no screws on the top under the plastic cover and in the bottom feet. Some appliances have a plastic retaining strap at the bottom just take the screws out if that’s the case. Most have adjustable feet so you can wind them up a bit. You should at this point be able to gently wiggle it from side to side pulling it forward. Keep as upright as possible when pulling out.
Don’t forget to take the milk out ?before you start.
Hope that helps.

It might be worth measuring the fridge to find out if it’s an odd size (looks narrow in the pics) – if not and you can’t get a replacement to fit, it might change how destructive you can be with the cabinets

Open door, arms in at the top, lift and pull?

once thats done I’d get some cone spanners, a torch and have a sqy under the front of the fridge. Odds on that there’s adjustable feet that you can retract to make it shorter.

It may also be you can hook something around the feet and pull from there, that should help topull it forward without it rocking and binding on the top edge

if not and you can’t get a replacement to fit, it might change how destructive you can be with the cabinets

The cupboard can still be used as a, well, cupboard even if the fridge isn’t there…. So don’t trash it!

Re the removal – it went in so it will come out.

This is the only stw case where removing the frozen sausages first helps

Are there any screws here?

I t really does look like the only issue is the hinges of the cabinet. And possibly a block screwed in where adam circled that would explain it tilting only a little bit.

Do anything you can to slacken wiggle any gunge free then forklift it with your arms on the roof of the freezer. A minty fresh pair of work gloves to increase gripage and it should slide right out.

If you’re still having trouble getting purchase on the sides, you could try a pair of suction handles on the flat bits.

When having a washing machine delivered, the delivery guys worked some magic by sliding a piece of thin plywood under the old one and sliding it out on that.  Not sure if it would work in your situation, but possibly an option

Integrated stuff is annoying, but you should be able to separate it from the carcass, it looks like an integrated job that’s sitting on a (strong!) shelf. I’d probably do a mixture of things

– remove all the hinges from the cupboard

– remove the plastic cover at the top of the fridge

– see if the top above the fridge is removable (appears lower than the top of the carcass)

– put the air wedges under the fridge (they’re plenty strong enough) and raise it a bit to see if you can retract the feet

– spray something slidey under the fridge, or even put something thin and slippery under the feet (e.g piece of milk bottle)

– build something up in front of the fridge to pull it onto to take the weight (wooden boards, books or bricks with plank on top)

– pull the fridge out from the bottom – use the feet or something underneath at the front

Open the door and remove any elephants (check the butter for footprints if you’re unsure)

Crank it to fully cold, the fridge will contract

Use a fridge magnet to extract it

Simples 🙂

Friendly with the neighbours?

Go round and drill a hole from their side like Hatton Garden so you can push it out from the back.

Perhaps sell it to the neighbours as a feature niche?

A Tirfor fitted with a harpoon.

Anchor the Tirfor to opposite wall,fire harpoon* ,winch fridge out.

* warn the neighbours

Edit >> as this is Northwind,maybe a ‘Gnarpoon’ would work better.

#muchlolz

You can get strips of hdpe which you can get under the feet by rocking it. You can then pull out the fridge – this is how installers do it. About 20/30 quid on ebay/amazon – https://www.amazon.co.uk/bartyspares-Universal-Appliance-Freezers-Dishwashers/dp/B09PYN6B74

If you can stand in the cellar, cut a square the size of the fridge and let it drop down. Then you can stand the new fridge on the old fridge…

My mum and I have discussed the possible solutions (our ideas were also suggested above, but she dismisses @ossify’s balloon idea as ‘fanciful’) and we are now eagerly awaiting an update. As this is Northwind: if you decide to fit the new one yourself, remember the doors go on the outside.

Squirt a few cans of propane behind the fridge, light a match…et voila….

I’ve not pulled one out (matron) but given this is a fairly standard integrated unit installation, there must be a way?

I put integrated fridge, freezer, WM and DW in my last kitchen (under counter so easier). Would there be leeway to slide something under its feet to pull it out on? I’m thinking of some thin metal strips.

As this is Northwind: if you decide to fit the new one yourself, remember the doors go on the outside.

Oof!

Whichever option you decide on, check to see if there’s a former Prime Minister anywhere in situ, perhaps whilst checking for elephants, as per timba. If so, lock him in please (not timba)

I had a new washing machine delivered a couple of weeks ago. Top tip from the delivery guys – spray the floor with a soap/water solution and appliances glide across lino, tiles or similar hard surfaces….

Sounds like a workplace accident waiting to happen. There are appliance slider strips available for exactly this purpose

It’ll be screwed in at the top somewhere, unscrew, remove doors and slide out. Simples.

If it was my fridge i’d be sliding some cheese in underneath the fridge and using a long ruler to poke the cheese all the way to the back.

After a short while mice will come looking for some of that tasty cheese. The mice will be able to squeeze into the space behind the fridge… just.

But they will be closely followed by snakes.

The snakes will eat the mice and expand.

The expansion of the snakes will be just enough* to push the fridge forward.

.

*If it isn’t, add more cheese until it is.

Screw a couple of screw eyes into the bottom, tie some strong rope, paracord to the screw eyes in a loop, pull hard.

Thanks folks, EXCEPT YOU HANNAH, looks like I’m going over to help tomorrow, assuming he hasn’t been crushed under a fridge or burned the house down

Don’t forget to take some milk.

I don’t think that left hand wall is supporting anything, the wall cupboards should be fixed to the wall.  The panels around the fridge are decorative and simply there to hold the doors that disguise the fridge.

If it turns destructive I would saw the coving at the top so you don’t damage the stuff that’s staying, I expect the left panel is screwed to the carcasses in a few places.

If the fridge has adjustable feet you might be able to wind them in by tilting the fridge, looping an inner tube over them and pull it taut (rightytighty) to get more wiggle room.

I’m going over to help tomorrow, assuming he hasn’t been crushed under a fridge or burned the house down

As the doors are already off its more likely to be an entrapment situation, he’ll be fine until you get there… Aslong as it doesn’t spring back to life when it falld.

We need live updates.
#PrayForNorthwind

My suggestion is to pay whoever he buys the new one from to fit it and dispose of the old one, resolving two issues in one go.

Ours looks almost identical and that’s what we did. FWIW ours had screws top and bottom. Once those are removed, the unit can be slid forward by pulling on the (still attached) doors.

I think you should eviscerate from the inside until all you’re left with the hollowed-out husk of its sorry, thin steel carcass and which point you should be able to contrive a way of crumpling it inwards then removing it completely. I don’t for a minute think this makes more sense than simply pulling the thing out, but it’ll be a lot more fun, which is what really counts and allow you to get to grips with the anatomical vagaries of the modern fridge in the process.

More practically, I had a similar dilemma with our fridge and it basically involved brute pulling force and some handy blocks of wood to slide it onto. It was awkward but doable. Make sure there are no hidden screws holding it in place first.

You could climb in then with a series of little jumps shuffle it forward.

Ideally you would skoot across the floor before canoing down a set of steps but that might be a tadmore work than you fancy if masonry os involved.