Well, you'd need a forklift in your kitchen to install it...

fori: lol. Actually, I thought we could just ramp it up into the hole on something ramp-like. They do have wheels, right?

How about laying it on its side?

I designed a Universal Access kitchen once (not for a real client) where I raised undercounter fridge and freezer up to "raised dishwasher height, with a pull out counter underneath each. I don't know why it couldn't be done with short units.

You can't use the over the fridge cab? How would you use the top part of the fridge/freezer? That would be worse than not being able to use the cab. =)

The weight of a refrigerator full of food is not inconsiderable. You'd have to have a center brace and use at least 1" plywood for the cabinet box. Then you'd need access from all sides so the couple of very burly men could grasp it and lift it to the platform. Trying to slide it in a slot between cabinets on top of a box would be hazardous as they don't have any handles to grasp to aid in positioning it. Then you'd need a method of securing it so it wouldn't roll forward off of the box every time you tried to open the door. And you'd have to go through all of that rigamarole every time it needed to be serviced or you needed to clean underneath it.

Not saying it can't be done, but it involves a lot of design parameters that you perhaps aren't considering. I think that unless you yourself can pick up the unit, such as a small dorm type fridge, then this isn't as user friendly a design as you imagine.

Consider a French door fridge instead. It puts all of the refrigerator contents at the easiest height to get to, and then the drawer pulls out to bring all of the frozen stuff to you without you having to crouch down and hunt.

So, if this is a standard height fridge to start and you raise it up, that would mean that the top area of the fridge (or freezer if using a top freezer model) would have the inaccessibility issues that the over-the-fridge cabinets have, right?

Also, I'm not certain how much reinforcement would need to be there for the raised box, but I'm thinking that the reinforcement would take up a significant portion of any storage space you might hope to use.

Lastly, if you do pull your fridge out from time to time to clean underneath it, I think it would be almost impossible to do do so with this idea.

If you're going for a smaller fridge, these concerns may not be as much of an issue, but if you're looking at a standard sized one, it might be a bit more challenging.

I guess I was thinking of a 30" wide standard depth recessed to counter-depth. Those are in the 67-68" height range mostly.

Alright, well I asked you all to tell me why it wouldn't work so at least now I have some idea of the probable issues.

I guess I was thinking about a 68" tall fridge on a 8" or so drawer base... so 76" tall overall to the top.

Okay. yeah. I'll think about it some more.

Dang. I liked those drawers under there....

I have a freezer (admittedly small, ~5' tall) in my basement that I placed on a platform. I did it by my lonesome. First I built a stout platform out of 2x4s. Then I tilted the freezer to one side, and stuck a 2x4 under that side. Then tilted the other way, and stuck a 4x4 under that side. Then tilted the first way again, and put something larger that a 4x4, etc. Although not easy, it could be done for a full-size fridge.

Our last fridge was raised. Standard size, but short. 64" or 65" tall. Same as Angie, we just built a frame of 2x4's and covered with plywood covered with a piece of linoleum. Stuck a couple 2x4's and a piece of OSB down on the floor to make a ramp. Pushed it into place. Reverse process to clean underneath. Made access to produce bins and bottoms shelves so much handier, and because it had a top freezer, we didn't use for anything but a bag of ice, frozen water bottles and a handful of frozen pizzas, reaching it was no issue.

I knew getting in up on the drawers could be done without a forklift, lol. Thanks for the info.

I've been looking at some of these fridges.. they're 84" tall! DH is 6'5" and I'm 5'8" so maybe a smaller fridge raised up would work? Just trying to find any possible area for storage. Plus, we have an old top freezer in the kitchen that will be remodeled and I "HATE" bending down digging for stuff in the fridge. I kinda like having the freezer at eye level, though and not having to pull open a big heavy drawer like in my 36" french door model. That's why I thought a top freezer lifted up might be the best of both worlds.

Deedles, I don't know whether you've ever used a tall bottom-door-freezer model, but we're a midge taller also and absolutely adore the accessibility of our Liebherr with a bottom door freezer. It's got drawers inside that are lightweight and easy to pull, or you can take them out entirely and just use the shelves like in the fridge proper. Check it out?

Hmmm, ice maker leaking into the bottom drawer...not a pretty picture.

Don't compressor fridges weigh more than absorption? That might be why the only photo you've found is a gas model.

I like this idea and I have often wondered why no one is building this. I looked into this a few years back and I even spoke to SunTouch about it. The lower drawers could be some kind of potato and onion storage volume.

Before I bought my new fridge I raised by old clunker fridge onto a platform (made out of a Metro wire shelving unit). This was fun to do and was easy as pie. It was fun to open the door on a raised fridge too.

When I began my renovations I had the best answer all figured out.

In the end I got the kind of fridge freezer that they call "bottom freezer". This was the answer to the question. It also costed less than any other alternative. I would never go back to a top freezer model unless it were raised.

Hth

We considered doing this to eliminate that space at the top of the fridge before the upper cabinets start. We only needed about 3-4 inches to make it look built in without a space. I looked and looked for a counter depth FD that was taller than most and found the KA model which is a couple of inches taller than all the others maybe Jennair is a little taller too (ones in our price range) and that pretty much took care of our problem, still a little bit at the top but nothing like before with the older model fridge.

This is really no different from washer/dryer set up. I think it should not be that hard to pull off in terms of building something stable enough to hold the weight. It doesn't spin and shake like a washer does, so if anything, it should be easier. :-)

Although this is a very old thread - I have been thinking about how to raise a 24" refrigerator enough to have a pull out or drawer underneath. I don't need an 80" high refrig - I'd rather have a 20" high space underneath the refrigerator.

Did anyone achieve this?

First things first iam a novice in all aspect of renos . Iam currently redoing my kicthen I plan on placing three 4.3 stainless steel bar fridges at traditional cubard level with two stainless steel table at counter top level . With three different cooling compartments I will be able to have three different temp zones for my food and it's gonna look bad ass :) and very handy.

I'd bet you were single Scott. Right? And you've never really used those non self defrosting dorm fridges?

I plan on elevating my normal size refrigerator in my laundry room. I have a chest freezer and my refrigerator will make better sense lifted. Got any pics of elevated refrigerators? Any advice?

You need to decide on the purpose you are raising it for, are you raising it to game storage space underneath or are you raising it simply for your convenience. It will be a height difference between those two distances. Fridges only roll forwards and backwards in a straight line ( sometimes only the back of the fridge rolls and the front of the fridge has to be lifted to move it at all), they do not roll side to side, you will need to think through how it can roll into its new location. If it has to be picked up, you will need to think about who will be able to do that. Maybe you can rent some kind of jack to lift it up and then slide it into the space.

We would like to get a 42"x84" fridge however those models are 6-8 months on backorder. Plus for whatever reason built-in 42" fridges have only 23-24 cu. ft. of space while 36" by 70" fridges have 27-28 cu. ft. of space. How does that happen? So we are wondering if a 70" fridge can be elevated to look like an 84" fridge so it can fit the scale of our larger kitchen. We would need about 14 inches of elevation. A ramp could work however we have an island in front of the fridge so that may prevent using a ramp. I was recently at a funeral where they used 2" wide nylon straps on a pulley system to gently lower a casket into the ground. Why wouldn't this work for a refrigerator? Just a thought.

scene: graveside, mourners watch as the casket is lowered

Religious Leader: ”As we commit the dearly departed to the earth, ashes to ashes and dust to dust…”

Renee:”hmm, maybe a similar pulley system to raise the fridge in the new kitchen.”

Yes I know it sounds crazy, but the two thoughts were not simultaneous lol. It just occurred to me that I had seen a large heavy object being lifted easily by this system. Do you have any helpful comments?

No, nothing helpful. It just struck me as funny.

It might look better to get a faux panel on top of your "short" fridge so it looks like a builtin.

But the strap thing works. It's used for appliances, pianos, bathtubs...it's amazing what two guys can pick up.

I love in a front plan area and I'm trying to figure out a way to elevate my fridge. Actually I had a new refrigerator only for about 3 or 4 months before the house flooded. Luckily it was okay no major damage. I had the service technician come out and he said if the water came up a little higher and I could have had some problem with the compressor. Anyway this place seems to flood about once a year so I'm trying to think of a way to elevate the fridge. I have some sort of construction bricks but I don't know if I necessarily want those in the living room. I'm thinking of having the carpenter guys build some sort of thing out of wood for me but I'm not sure if it can support the weight over the length of time. For example it's a pretty decent size fridge with the bottom freezer model. The Carpenters are pretty good handy guys but I don't think this is something that there used to building for anybody but I'm considering asking them about it. I'm also considering just using these bricks but the wood would look a lot nicer