Face frame on the panel is one way.

Or Tapcon some angle iron to the floor & bolt the bottom of the panel to the angle iron would be another.

Not a big deal. Plywood will misbehave like this when it's not securely fastened.

Thanks, ci_lantro - what do you mean by "face frame on the panel"?

I'm baffled by the fridge panel anyway. I thought its purpose was to help support the deep cabinets over the fridge, but mine isn't resting all the way on the floor... it's just bolted to the back wall and there's close to 1/4" gap between the bottom and the floor. Does this give the cabinets enough support? (We had to hang my cabinets slightly lower, so I wouldn't be surprised if my carpenter trimmed down the panel and trimmed a bit too much.)

Actually, ya know... my KD's plans originally called for a support panel between the fridge panel and the dishwasher. This was supposed to support the weight of the countertop over the dishwasher (since there's no cabinet to the left). The carpenter decided to use the panel to build a small 8" wide "cabinet" to the right of the stove (so I could have a small countertop there). He put metal cleats on the fridge panel instead to support the countertop.

But wait, if the panel isn't actually resting on the floor, then how is it supporting the countertop???

Please tell me this isn't a total disaster.

Yes, the refrig panel helps support deep overhead cabinets, esp if they're secured only to the wall. Otherwise, they can be fastened to the ceiling.

The gap at the bottom of the panel needs to be shimmed tight to the floor.

Face frame like in framed cabinets. The frame is 3/4'' thick by 1.5 to 2 inches wide solid wood, fastened to the edge of the plywood. A face frame would stiffen up the plywood & keep it from going wonky. You may not have enough space around the refrigerator though.

{{!gwi}}

The panel should be secured to the floor by a bracket or cleat. A solid shim, (like a fibershim) should be driven in (and secured with some glue) to transfer the load, so the weight won't be converted into torque.
Plywood left to its own devices will turn into a potato chip.
Casey

Yes, Casey - it's a potato chip! That's a perfect description.

The shim sounds like a good solution. That thing needs to be supported. I called my contractor and asked him about it, but he didn't do the carpentry and didn't want to comment until he saw it. He's going to be here tomorrow morning (with the backsplash guy).

Ci_lantro, thanks for explaining about the face frame! I don't think there's enough room for it (and anything that involves more delay waiting for more pieces of wood to come from Kraftmaid... well, sigh).

I had the exact problem and needed a quick fix. I just spiked a nail into my cement floor, to position the bottom of the panel exactly where I want it, and it became quite solid. A small bracket might be even better.

You could try to reorder the panel, but I think that any large, thin plywood panel, even if it is flat at the beginning, needs to be supported side and bottom to avoid eventual warping during temperature changes.

One thing I didn't notice before was that your panel did not come with an attached face frame.. I ordered a Kraftmaid fridge cabinet set which included a 24" deep upper cabinet plus 2 side panels WITH 1 1/2 face frames (even then, there was some warpage hence the previous post) for a total of 39" width. I agree with the others that you need to shim the bottom to support the additional weight of the upper cabinet.

I had no idea fridge panels came with face frames! I spoke to several KD's, and no one ever mentioned it. OTOH, we were trying to cram a lot of stuff onto a short wall - the fridge, d/w, sink, and stove all had to fit in 117" - minus about 8" for the floor-to-ceiling heating pipe in the corner. I had hoped to fit a 24" d/w, but was off by an inch and had to settle for an 18".

That said, I somehow ended up with some extra space inside the fridge box. Well, if I ever want to swap out my non-counter-depth Frigidaire for that nifty F&P, I now have room. I'd rather have had well-supported cabinets and countertop. Sigh.

Why don't carpenters follow KD plans???

Hi,
We have a verb "to potato chip". Usage: "Don't use that plywood, Dick, for it has potato chipped."

My plywood fridge cap was so fiercely warped that even the 2" oak face frame strip would not hold it. It had to be attached to the adjacent cabinet, which had to be reinforced with a diagonal brace because the plywood racked _it_ out of square.

Ours is screwed into the side panel, and I agree with everyone else - if there isn't a panel, you need to find a way to secure it in place. Ours is screwed into the wall and cabinet next to it.

They just put a metal bracket on the bottom and screwed it to the floor. I told them I also want shims under it for weight support - my contractor didn't think it was necessary, but I insisted.

How about some type of L shaped bracket against the wall and panel to hold it better in place? Depending on how your fridge is, it may be ok, but I'd prefer more support. Or, maybe some type of heavy sheet metal on the side with the dishwasher to make it more stable? Shims are thin pieces of wood in my mind - I'd want something more heavy duty but we are DIY and over engineer and overdo everything .

There were two L-shape brackets holding the panel to the wall in the back. The tile guy borrowed one of them to anchor the panel to the floor near the front (he didn't have one with him)...so that reminds me, I need to remind *them* to replace the one in the back. (Just emailed myself. ;-))

Don't know what they're going to shim it with, but anything wedged in there will make me feel more comfortable with the idea of it actually being a *support* panel. I have this fear that in 2 years, my over-fridge cabs & countertop will collapse. Crazy. I can't believe what *I've* had to become expert at when I thought I was hiring professionals who knew all that stuff.

Next time I do a kitchen and I'm trying to hire a contractor, remind me to insist on interviewing the subs first...

Looking at the top picture - I didn't look that carefully - are they going to fill that tiny gap or use trim molding on the floor? It looks funny having a tiny gap at the floor although no one may notice but that could also be part of the problem and why you are talking about shims as the panel is basically floating at this point and not sitting firmly on the floor - you still need it supported against something, but it should be sitting on the floor. The tile guy should not have removed the bracket - he should have gone out and bought his own. They may put a small piece of wood under the panel to make it more stable - that may be what you are calling a shim.

I wouldn't worry about the countertop as it is a very small section as much as the panel staying straight. If your frig cabinet is screwed into the cabinet or wall to the left and the wall into studs with several screws you will be fine - that is how we did ours.

Do you have any other pictures?

What we have learned after DIY is that there are some professional who really know their stuff, but most don't and aren't any more knowledgeable than we are sadly... and most don't even keep up by reading (with the exception of those on here, etc) with the new products, etc. Every time we try to pay someone we find it takes more effort to try to find someone than to DIY.

The fridge panel is attached to the back wall with two L-brackets (one of which the tile guy borrowed, but it will be replaced). He attached the panel to the floor a few inches from the front with the borrowed L-bracket, and it's now straight and vertical. The dishwasher will be attached to the panel on the other side. They're going to shove something under the panel to cover that 1/4" gap between the bottom of the panel and the floor. The gap will still show in the front, but I'm less concerned about that than about it just staying straight and providing all the support it's supposed to for the upper cabinets and the countertop.

I think this is the best we can do with it at this point. When the carpenter veered from the KD's plans and used the dishwasher support panel for something else, I should have cried foul and insisted he follow the plan. But he still would have cut the panel too short so that it didn't rest on the floor. If I'd noticed it earlier, I could have insisted that they order another panel - but at that point I was totally focused on the mistakes he'd made on the *other* side of the kitchen, which blew up into a whole big fight and necessitated ordering replacement cabinets.

That side finally came out well. This side will just have to be patched. So long as it holds up, it's not nearly as big a deal as the other side was. (So long as it holds up...knocking on plywood.)

What you are saying makes sense and anyone skilled should have known what the cabinets are and what the pieces were - we cheated and got a cabinet guy who did my mom's kitchen to help us hang the cabinets and he saw the few minor issues right away and we got them fixed - he fit us in by the day so it wasn't a big deal - had to rework the molding (order fillers) and one cabinet was not plywood sides and it was exposed so he said to fuss and get that replaced. And, our fridge panels were not ordered right, but he figured out how to make them work in our space so you wouldn't know looking at it but one should be another style.

There probably is a way to put a small support in for the countertop but of course the best way is to use the piece ordered by your KD. Oh well. I'd go to HD or Lowes and look at the metal bars if you are that worried and see if you can find some to glue onto the inside of the panel once it is 100% in place to help support the panel and countertop, but my guess is that it will be ok, but I am not a countertop expert. If you get it think enough, your dishwasher is thiner in the inside so you should have some room. But, check with someone who knows more before taking my suggestion.

For the floor, I'd insist at their cost they put trim molding - Kraftmaid makes several types.

Here is ours with the panel - my husband did trim around the panel so you can see it and they can't say it can't be done and he's DIY and never did it before: