Anyone ever change the paneling on their fridges?

Skuza

Skuza

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Nov 1, 2006
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Lake St Clair, MI
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In changing the TV's I considered removing the one above the fridge and converting it to a storage compartment. Problem is where do I get the vitracore to match the old cherrywood? Well my brainstoming came up with an idea to remove the pieces that are on the fridge and use one to make a door for the hole left by the TV. I would then replace the panels on the fridge with some faux stainless or something a little more modern looking. Thoughts??
Gheriksen where are you?
 
Skuza said:
In changing the TV's I considered removing the one above the fridge and converting it to a storage compartment. Problem is where do I get the vitracore to match the old cherrywood? Well my brainstoming came up with an idea to remove the pieces that are on the fridge and use one to make a door for the hole left by the TV. I would then replace the panels on the fridge with some faux stainless or something a little more modern looking. Thoughts??
Gheriksen where are you?
Click to expand...

That was going to be my suggestion.... good luck and post pics and results please!
 
I changed the pannel on my outside fridge. I bought a piece of stainless from Lowes. Kitchen department, they sell stainless pannels as back splashes for behind a a stove. I cut it down to size using tin snips. You need to remove the screws on the bottom of the door to take out the pannel.

If I remember correctly the piece of stainless was about $35. You can buy a bigger piece for about $5 more and do 2 fridges.

Good luck!

P1030095.jpg
 
Vince_nj1 said:
I changed the pannel on my outside fridge. I bought a piece of stainless from Lowes. Kitchen department, they sell stainless pannels as back splashes for behind a a stove. I cut it down to size using tin snips. You need to remove the screws on the bottom of the door to take out the pannel.

If I remember correctly the piece of stainless was about $35. You can buy a bigger piece for about $5 more and do 2 fridges.

Good luck!

P1030095.jpg
Click to expand...
Looks sweet!!!
 
Vince_nj1 said:
I changed the pannel on my outside fridge. I bought a piece of stainless from Lowes. Kitchen department, they sell stainless pannels as back splashes for behind a a stove. I cut it down to size using tin snips. You need to remove the screws on the bottom of the door to take out the pannel.

If I remember correctly the piece of stainless was about $35. You can buy a bigger piece for about $5 more and do 2 fridges.

Good luck!

P1030095.jpg
Click to expand...

Great mod Vince. My fridge door is all scratched up from previous owner. Heading to Lowes!
 
Well last night I swapped our panels out. They are aluminum panels and not stainless. The aluminum is VERY flimsy and scratches VERY easy but was only $22 for a 36" square piece. I bought a piece of clear plastic and cut it out to put over the top of the aluminum to protect it from dents and scratches. To install them on our fridge is was very easy. Just remove the 4 screws that hold the handle/latch onto the end of the door. They are located at the top and bottom of each door out where the handle is. Then you have to pull the old wood or whatever away and slowly pull it away from the foam tape that its glued to. Ours came off easy. I then had to remove the foam tape as it would not allow the new panels which are thicker to slide in. Once I did that it was as simple as sliding in the new pieces and reassembling.
A couple of cautions are working with the aluminum was tough as it scratched with any dirt on it. When sliding the pieces into the door put the plastic over the aluminum and slide them in together. If done seperate the plastic along with any dirt will scratch lines into the aluminum. Getting the panels clean prior to mating them is essential too as any dirt/dust will show. I plan on sealing the edges with electrical tape to keep the dirt out and keep them from moving. Also I had to use a piece of the old foam tape to keep the upper panel from sliding side to side in the track. I cut it a hair small. Overall it was very easy and a cool mod. If you can use stainless go for it as it would be a little more forgiving. The plastic over it gives it a shine and will protect it.
Heres the results.
 
Skuza - that looks like a pic right out of a brochure! Looks great!
 
vitracore is no longer avail, even if you can locate some, it is crazy money. The idea of removing the frig panel is cool. Just be careful remove the panels, vitracore like to crack very easy.. You can also look for mica that may be a close replacement to fit back into the refrig. Good luck
 
I bought the aluminum from Home Depot. It was a 36" x 36" sheet. I had to buy two sheets as I couldn't lay it all out on one to get my pieces. Only ~$24 each so not bad. I bought the acrylic there too, a 36" x 48" piece. One of those was enough to lay everything out on. The acrylic was maybe ~$20. I will repeat that if you can get real stainless it would be better as it will not be so fragile. The aluminum scratches very easy. The tricks are to find a perfect piece at the store, cut it and get it installed without scratching it. I used a thin cutoff wheel to cut the aluminum. I tried an air powered reciprocating saw but it grabbed the aluminum and bent the edges all up. For the acrylic I used the reciprocating saw and it worked great. Didn't melt the plastic as a cutoff wheel would. The plastic panel protects the thin aluminum from fingerprints and dents.
Also when you get everyting cut out clean the plastic and aluminum real good. Then lay them together and DO NOT SLIDE them against each other as any little bit of dust between will scratch the aluminum. I was thinking after maybe I shoulda used electrical tape on the edges to hold them together and not get anymore dust between. Once together slide them in as one. You will have to remove the vitracore. I did it and it wasn't hard. Just removed the latch end of the door and slid my hand in there and carefully pryed it from the foam tape. After you get the vitracore off simply pull off all the old foam tape as its thickness may interfere with the new panels. Once off I was able to slide in the aluminum and then actually slid the original vitracore panel back in behind everything to keep it for future use. At least its safe behind there if I ever need another piece.
I too think its one of the cooler mods. Cheap and easy too! Glad you guys liked it!
 
I applied cherry veneer to my fridge panels (as well as the cabinet that the stereo is in) and stained it. It turned out great. Cost for a 4x8 sheet of veneer is about $75-$100 depending on the wood chosen.
 
Skuza said:
I used a thin cutoff wheel to cut the aluminum. I tried an air powered reciprocating saw but it grabbed the aluminum and bent the edges all up. For the acrylic I used the reciprocating saw and it worked great. Didn't melt the plastic as a cutoff wheel would.
Click to expand...

A tip for anyone else that plans on trying this. Clamp the pieces (aluminum or plastic, I wouldn't do this with real SS) between 2 boards and use a router to trim them. The trick is to get 2 boards with perfectly straight edges. If you have a jointer available, use it. If not, use a table saw to rip the edges straight. Next, draw your cutoff line on the part to be trimmed using something that you can wipe off. A Sharpie marker can be "erased" from metal with Acetone. Once your cutoff line is drawn, put one board under the part and the other board on top. Line up the edges of both boards on the cutoff line and clamp the boards in place. Make your boards a little more than a foot longer than the parts you are cutting, and put the clamps as near to the ends as you can get them so you won't hit them with the router. Put a straight cutting bit with either a top or bottom bearing on it into your router. Now all you have to do is start the router, and run it down the edge. The bearing will ride on the board, and the cutter will trim the edge without distorting it. If you need to trim more than 1/4" or so off of the panels, either trim the part to within 1/4" after it has been clamped betweeen the boards, or make several passes by starting 1/4" from the edge, and move the boards back 1/4" each time until you get to your cutoff line.

If you have a local Woodcraft store, check their website every week or so and watch for the $5 router bit sales. They usually have a 3/4" straight bit with a top bearing that will work dandy for this job. Get 2 or 3 if you have to make a lot of passes, or trim more than 2 edges. They'll cut aluminum just fine. They are about an inch long, so you can adjust the height of the bit a little on each pass to use a fresh cutting edge.

Another tip. If you cut the acrylic with anything, it will leave "foggy" edges. If the edges will be visible, you can use a propane torch to carefully heat them up (works best if the part is still clamped between boards). It will remove the fog, and leave a nice, clean, clear, edge.

Like Norm says, be sure to read all of the saftey rules that come with your power tools, and always wear safety glasses.

Michael
 
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Does anyone know what the thickness is of these panels? Thought I would ask the question here before taking the door off. Would 1/8" be too thick?
 
The total panel thickness could be maybe up to 3/16" in due to the width of the track in the door. The aluminum panel and clear plastic that I used totals maybe 1/8". As I stated I had enough room in the lower door to slide the old veneer back in behind the new aluminum and plastic just to store it safely.
 
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