The old refrigerator had developed problems. Water accumulated under the meat/cheese drawer. There was a large rust spot on the back. And the ice maker stopped working. So it seemed time to get a new one.
Consulting Consumer Reports, suggested either a Whirlpool (which is what we have) or an LG, from either Home Depot or Lowe's. A trip to Home Depot to view the suggested units, and we bought a new Whirlpool refrigerator. Around $2500 with delivery, pick-up of the old refrigerator, and a 5-year extended warranty. Our previous experience suggests that if you don't have an extended warranty, the unit breaks quickly. But buying an extended warranty (which you won't use) will appease the Refrigerator Gods, and it will continue to work fine.
In the meantime, we moved the old fridge out of it's place in the kitchen, to allow for the new one. This required disconnecting the water line to the non-working ice maker. The cut-off valve for that line did not quite stop the flow of water. But it looked like a slow leak, and so I just put the water line into a bucket for the one night until the new fridge was delivered. That was a mistake. It leaked more than that, and by the morning, the bucket was full, and had overflowed onto the floor.
The water then flowed back towards the wall, under the wall and into the pantry, the utility room, and out into the garage. I mopped all that up and set up a fan to dry things out.
But it was also clear that we needed a new cut-off valve. Carlos (the plumber) found that there was some strange plumbing in the line, and so the new simplified line did not reach down to the plastic box that held the cut-off valve. I suggested that we just move the plastic box up to where the new line was.
We did that, but that left a hole in the sheetrock below the box, and above the box.
I patched those holes.
and painted it to match the existing Hemp paint color.
The new refrigerator was delivered the next day. The problem we had, generally, is getting the refrigerator thru the doors to the kitchen. Removing the handles from the fridge helps. Then it can be brought in thru the front door (if you take the door off).
Then, removing the lower freezer door, the fridge can be lifted up to clear the kitchen island. (This also required removing the handle from the dishwasher).
and then positioned in it's proper place. The same path was used to remove the old refrigerator.
The water line for the ice maker went on easily to the new cut-off valve, in the relocated plastic box, and we have a new functioning refrigerator.
