Replacing fridge panels?

[Brian Penning]

Anyone built or replaced the fake wood panels on a fridge doors with real wood?
Note:I haven't pulled off the fake ones yet to see what's involved.

[Steve Schoene]

Don't think I've ever seen fake wood panels on a refrigerator. What brand and age is it?

[Timothy Juvenal]

Yes. Sort of... depends - is veneer core fake wood?

The panel frame on the fridge is made to take a 1/4" panel. The ones I've seen come with a sheet metal panelwith a sheet of cardboard behind to pack it out to 1/4".

The panels we've made were just a raised panel door (matching the cab doors) attached to a sheet of 1/4" VC with matching face veneer. The only trick is to make shure the raised panel door "applique" is sized to allow clearance for the fridge door pull.

Of course, you could also just use the 1/4" VC without a door applied to it, or you could lay up your own veneer on an mdf panel. The bottom line is the frame on the door accepts a 1/4" panel. I'd double check the panel thickness on the fridge in question first.

Timothy

[Jamie Buxton]

Some fridges are designed and shipped ready to accept wood panels that are 3/4" thick, or even thicker. You'll have to do some more investigation about your particular unit.

[fRED mCnEILL]

When I redid our kitchen we wanted to panel the fridge to match the cupboards so it looks built-in. The fridge was a vertical 2 door and the front was flat. So I made two panels identical to the cupboard doors only instead of using 3/4 rail and style I machined it to 1/2 inch. Its one of the items in our kitchen that gets the most comments when people see it. Looks as good as a factory install (probably better) and it cost peanuts.Then I simply "glued" it to the fridge doors using Sikaflex. (construction adhesive is probably just as good) Its been over 5 years and no problems at all.