I am confused you decided to go overlay so do the same thing on the frdge not inset.

Cabinet people are saying they can't do overlay panels with the integrated fridge we selected. They can do panels with a built-in fridge (which is apparently different than integrated), I think they essentially put a cabinet like door as a face on the fridge door. We're now being told that with the built-in overlay panel look, you still see some gapping so it doesn't sit flush, which is what we were going for. We're pretty far down the road with our cabinets, so this is coming as a bit of a surprise to us. Trying to decide how to move forward. Change to different cabinet company who can give us the look we're going for, or roll the dice with the built-in panel look (which I'm now getting the sense won't look the way they told me it would when we first started working with them). I showed them pics and everything to verify exactly what we want. In talking with a few other folks and appliance people, this has been an ongoing issue with the newer integrated fridges vs. built-in.

@filipe custom woodwork: They say they will do panels for a built-in but not an integrated fridge, I'm thinking that while they do some semi-custom cabinets, the integrated panels are too customized for their shop? The odd part is the Fridge is at the end of the kitchen, so it will be enclosed in a frame essentially, with uppers above it, and to the right there are uppers and lowers, so perhaps it's a depth issue? Although the integrated are supposedly counter depth. I would think being on the end of the layout, it wouldn't be that difficult to make the fridge itself seamless with the framing around it? Not sure that makes sense, but it's not as if it is surrounded by cabinets on both sides and needs to look perfectly hidden....being on the end gives some room to customize? I'm obviously not an expert and it must not be as easy as I assume. We're looking into other cabinet makers.

I think its the fridge door hinges. They are designed to be fully-flush so overlay won't work on the sides. Even the SS will be inset.

I've seen very few "built in" fridges that look halfway decent paneled. If it's not integrated it's not worth it.

Don't know how to make your cabinet company do what you want though. Are you sure it is an integrated fridge and not merely a builtin? I'm not up on my current Thermadors.

We did full overlay with our Thermador columns. It was confusing at the time, because I always assumed integrated refrigerator meant inset but all my cabinets are full overlay so there was a bit of a disconnect between me and my KD. It was a learning curve for sure. It worked out well and because of these hinges, full overlay is certainly possible. Look at the design specs in the manual.

@Fori-defintley integrated fridge, and I agree on the built-in not being worth it. I guess my next questions would be....will the integrated fridge still work in just SS? Will it sit nice and flush, or still stick out?

@johnsoro25 Great timing....I literally found your thread 10 minutes ago and sent the picture to our KD to ensure I understood the issue-because our set up will be identical to your far right side. I think some cabinet places just don't want to mess around with it because it's more challenging. To which hinges are you referring? I haven't taken a detailed look at the design specs, haven't purchased the fridge yet, just came across the problem last night. That was a fun call to get on a Friday night!

If you’re set on an integrated look, I would go with a different cabinet company. I don’t care for the builtin look either, as it just seems clunky to my eyes. With an integrated fridge, it simply disappears, which is very clean looking. If you can get all the paperwork/specs/layout from your current cabinet company, it shouldn’t be too much of a hassle as you wouldn’t be starting from scratch and trying to reinvent the wheel.

@nidnay That's what we're thinking...just a hassle to find new cabinet place, been working on this for a while. But given the $ we're spending, it's got to be done right! We're sending specs and layout to other cabinet places for quotes. We're supposed to be ordering them be next week to stay on track with build timeline.

They are going to want a design fee for that. You don’t own the design. They do. Pay it and move on.

We have the columns too. They are different from your pick.

I was referring to the hinges on the fridge door. They are built to have the panel either be inset or overlay. We had the panel built 2” larger than the door on each side and it works perfectly.

I feel your pain- this was such a hassle. But so worth it to get it right.

Does the difference in column vs. fridge/freezer combo make it more difficult for us?

That I do not know. I would try to get your hands on the design specs. They should be online. Information is power ;)

@johnsoro25. Would you recommend we find a cabinet maker who has worked with thermador and the paneling, or just someone knowledgeable enough to handle the specialized sizing? Thanks so much for the help, your picture was like an ah-ha moment for us, we knew it was possible but needed a pic to show it!

Doing a fridge/freezer combo shouldn’t be any more complicated than doing all fridge/all freezer columns.

In any case, it’s a bit of a hassle to deal with at this point, but it will be worth it in the end. If you don’t care for the builtin look, I guarantee it will bug you after it’s installed. It’s a completely different look. You will be kicking yourself and wishing you had taken the little bit of extra time and effort to find and work with another cabinet company.

I would talk to them after they have my picture and see how confident they are in doing something like that, then go from there. At the time, I wished I had gone with someone more knowledgeable with Thermador, but my cabinets were already installed when the issue came up. It all worked out, just a little more work and stress on my part. I’m so happy my photo helped!! Good luck.

I think it would look fine to have just the fridge inset at the end of the run if it is counter-deep or close to it.

And your photo is making me remember why I didn’t want my fridge inset. Having different size gaps between the frame and door would drive me crazy!

I think its the angle and perhaps distortion of the photo as I just checked my cabinets and the gaps in all the cabinets are the same. Thank you for pointing out the distortion in the photo. The columns on either side of the refrigerator open as pantry pull outs which I love, especially the one by the stove.

Going through local cabinet company, def not big box store, just think the cabinet place only does verrrry basic semi custom, looking at other places. Thanks everyone, it's good to know that I'm not the only one who has asked these questions/faced this issue.

The Thermador hinges move outward before they pivot so overlay cabinets are not an issue at all. I would recommend going to the Thermador website and downloading their design guide.http://www.thermador.com/customer-care/kitchen-design-and-planning-guide