compact appliances

[Sweetfire]

I was thinking of a single door hinged on the right side, but the two door idea sounds interesting. I think I'll first cut the bi-fold door and see if I can dig out the cardboard or foam and glue in a full length 2X2 or what ever will fit and re-hinge the door. But if someone can lead me to the 2 door conversion I would appreciate it.

[Jim and Marcia]

Sweetfire, we ordered our freezer from Sears yesterday for delivery on this Thursday. Again thanks for the info you passed along.

Jim and Marcia

[Roman4]

Sweetfire:
Regarding the two-door conversion, it was easy to do. I went to Home Depot and got two pair of non-mortise hinges. These are light-duty hinges that resemble a standard residential door hinge, but are of thinner material and are cut out so that the two leaves nestle inside of one another when the leaves are folded together. The door is very light weight, so a heavy-duty hinge is not necessary.

I used the existing bi-fold doors, and added [s]three[/s] two hinges to the left side of the left door. The wood of the door jamb was sufficient to give the screws a good bite. The only difficulty was in taking care to get the hinges in the right position so that the two doors will ultimately line up right.

I then removed the two piano hinges that joined the bi-fold doors together, and added a pull knob on the left door. I retained the original hinge points on the top and bottom of the right-hand door, and that door swings well using those hinge points. I also retained the original inverted-u-shaped device that holds the doors closed.

My original intention was to add hinges on the right-hand door to match those on the left, but in the actuality I came to believe that it was an unnecessary complication to do so. I also expected to add a magnetic catch to hold the doors closed, but decided that the inverted-u system works well.

It was a very easy change, with the only cost being for the hinges and the door pull (actually I got two so that they would match). You end up with two surplus piano hinges and a bunch of square-drive screws for your parts bin.

The revision makes it much easier to get things in and out of the washer and dryer, as the doors will stay open rather than attempt to close up on you as the bi-fold doors did.

By the way, this idea is not original with me; like so many other things it was imparted to me through the kindness of other members of this forum.

[Sweetfire]

John and Harmon,

Thanks for the info. That two door idea looks interesting and a lot easier. I need 21 inches of open space to open the freezer door. Harmon, could you measure the opening between the doors and tell me what it is?

[Roman4]

Sweetfire:
As a point of reference, in case yours might differ, our framed opening is 24" wide. The available opening, if both doors are in place and fully opened, is approximately 22-3/8". [The left-hand door will open a full 180 degrees; the right-hand door will only open 90 degrees due to the exterior wall being there.]

One other factor to consider: on our unit the electrical outlets are on the left side of the utility closet, about waist high. With our washer/dryer plugged into the outlet closest to the door opening, there remains about 21-1/2" between the plain of the back of the electrical plug on the left and the half-open door on the right (if that makes sense). That might or might not be a factor for you, depending on where your outlet is and on the shape of your freezer's electrical plug.

Good luck with whatever approach you take.

[Sweetfire]

Harmon,

I've also been talking to a friend of mine that was once a Cabinet Maker. I think I’m going to do a combination of the two ideas and see how it works. He’ll cut the bi-fold doors for me and insert a wood block in the cut end to give me something to screw into. I will then re-hinge both doors as you did the left side in your conversion making it into a kind of French door. I just don’t know at this point if re-hinging the right side will create too much of a gap in the middle. If this doesn’t work I'll look for a pre-made door or have one made.

[dsprik]

Harmon, can you post a pic? (Thru tinypic.com).

[Roman4]

Dave:
I will be happy to make the attempt. It may be a couple of days, though.
Harmon

[Roman4]

Dave:
Photos . . .
1) Doors Closed (note metal rail still in place at top):

2) Doors Open (from left) note screw holes remaining after removal of piano hinge on inside of door:

3) Doors Open (from right):

4) Hinge detail:


By the way, I told Sweetfire that I used three hinges on the left door. After checking, I found that I had only used two. I must have been thinking that I had noticed that Keystone used three similar hinges on the bathroom door. Two seems sufficient for the bi-fold, though.

[Sweetfire]

Nice job Harmon. Those pictures are great. I showed them to my Cabinet Maker buddy and he thinks we can cut my doors, re-hinge, and re-hang them without any problems. Thanks again.

[Sweetfire]

Jim and Marcia,

You're more than welcome. As soon as we finish cutting and re-hanging the doors I'll post some pics.

[dsprik]

Great Harmon! Thanks!

[Go Pokes]

We have 7 cubic foot Sears upright freezer in our washer dryer closet. We had to change to bi-fold doors to center open which is the only modification we made. It works great. Keep things much colder than the freezer above the refrigerator.

[dsprik]

7 cf? That's a lot larger than the 5 cf units, I've been looking at, Go Pokes. Do you have a problem with heat build up at all with that freezer?

[Dustytuu]

Richfaa, why wouldn't you want a washer dryer in the washer closet? We like the convenience of ours and not having to go to the laundry. Works great too.
Dusty

[Dustytuu]

My husband said one of the very small freezers may fit in basement.
Don't know???

[Sweetfire]

The 7 cu. ft. freezer from Sears has the same footprint as the 5 cu. ft. freezer, they are just taller.

[dsprik]

No problem with heat buildup, Dennis?

[Parrothead]

Someone mentioned that they have a vent in this closet. According to Keystone that vent in the ceiling of the closet is for the electrical panel that is on the other side of that wall so I'm not sure that vent vents anything in that closet. Also some of the units have louvered doors on this closet which should help with any heat build up. I think the newer units have solid doors.
Happy trails...................

[jrgwdenner]

Replacing the doors with louvered doors might help with the heat build up. Our model is 2004 and I thought everybody already had louvered doors like ours. Live and learn.

Nice pictures, Harmon.