“I am willing to be that French door will be okay with pretty much everyone, whereas many really don’t like side-by-sides.”
HA!
I;ll take that bet!
I had a side by side for years and opening 2 doors was NOT something I ever wanted to do again! I choose a 36" left hand single door fridge for my new kitchen 3 years ago.[ It has 2 pull out freezer drawers]- love love love BOTH features.
In other words, cb should just buy a high-end fridge that looks great and not worry about french door vs side by side etc., since she won’t please all of the people!
That’s what I have – 36", left hinge single door, freezer drawer below. I like it a lot. I don’t like French door fridges, but maybe for a wider fridge they are functional.
It’s funny about the left hinge though – I’ve been assuming that the left hinge is a mistake in my kitchen because the fridge is on the right side of the kitchen at the end of a long run of cabinets. The way it opens now, it opens away from the main part of the kitchen and there are no counters next to opening (the pantry door is next to the fridge on the right side). You guys are making me feel better that a left hinge is desirable.
(The design of my kitchen is screwy because it doesn’t follow the work triangle principle at all; the sink, stove and fridge are all far away from each other).
Left hinge makes sense if you are right-handed. 
@nottelling - many fridges are set up so that you can change the hinges to the other side if you want. Maybe yours can be switched?
I have a single door fridge with a pull-out bottom freezer, and while it was a huge improvement over the awful side-by-side it replaced, I’d love a French door. But the two essential things for me are A) bottom freezer, and B) NOT side by side. Maybe there is such a thing as a side-by-side that is wide enough to fit wide items on both sides, but if so I’ve never seen it. Third thing for me is that I DON’T want a built-in type fridge that is limited to a certain size.
Of course, this is all a result of dealing with the ultimate demise and replacement of the hated too-skinny (Sub-Zero!) side by side, which involved having to dismantle the cabinetry to squeeze in anything else.
Thermador, Miele, and Subzero make “columns” that can be arranged to form a “side-by-side” that is wide enough for a Costsco-sized pizza box. In my dreams…
Whatever you do, CB, do not get a Samsung or LG. I have heard nightmare stories from folks who tried to get those appliances serviced.
Why don’t people like side-by-sides? I’ve always had them and that’s what I go for. What’s wrong with them?
You can’t fit a large pizza box in them. 
I have a side-by-side subzero, there have maybe been a small number of times that someone had a giant platter or something that wouldn’t fit in the fridge (we don’t use things that large because we know they won’t fit!).
The freezer side can be a little more cumbersome, but it hasn’t been a problem.
We got the one that takes the wood inserts to match the cabinets, and the cabinet people charged us $1100 for the two panels. That p***ed me off royally. Such a rip-off, but we had no choice at that point.
It’s interesting that LG and Samsung have issues. Those are the two highest rated refrigerators and I can usually find good deals on them. I was about to buy an LG because they have an advanced cooling system.
My agent says not to worry about water/ice in the door or not. I think french door style is buyer preference right now. But you all have valid points about a single large door. Personally I’m only opening both doors wide for large platters about once a month.
“Maybe there is such a thing as a side-by-side that is wide enough to fit wide items on both sides, but if so I’ve never seen it” - I have one. Although I’d never get a narrow side-by-side, mine works great. The freezer side is narrower, but it fits a 20lb turkey (our max size) as well as frozen pizza in a top right slot. It also has many door bins that are really handy…
Having said that, I’d avoid side-by-side in a spec house because too many people have bad memories of the awkward narrow side-by-sides.
@colorado_mom, how wide is it?
I’m one of those people who uses big platters.
I currently have a smaller, cheap auxiliary fridge I used for the chocolate business in the former chocolate room next to the kitchen, and a chest freezer in the cellar. Between all three, things are okay. The big problem with the chest freezer is that we have to have it up on blocks because the basement leaks sometimes (old house), and I can’t reach stuff on the bottom without finding something to stand on and virtually diving in. But it was new and free, so oh well.
CB, I think you should buy what your gut tells you to buy. We all have preferences. I love my large side-by-side Subzero. I like a clean front to a refrigerator/freezer and don’t like visible water/ice dispensers. But you can’t please all of us, as opinions are quite scattered. Plus, we’re just a handful of people (who are justifiably obsessed with your project, as any sane person would be), so our views are hardly representative of shoppers in the San Diego real estate market.
I have Dacor, Bosch and Sub-Zero kitchen appliances, but I would not reject a house because of kitchen appliance brands or configuration as long as they’re generally considered to be good/better quality; and as long as the appliances are a good aesthetic fit for the kitchen.
You have excellent taste and great judgment about what the market expects. I’d suggest you look at all the brands that fall into the category befitting your project, and shop for good and smart deals.
If we were advising one another on appliance purchases, that would be a different story. We wouldn’t want our dear fellow cc’ers to buy a refrigerator that might have problems a few years from now.
But you’re balancing your expense with return on your dollars. If LG and Samsung are highly reviewed and you find good deals, it makes sense to consider them. (I am just using this example for illustrative purposes, and mean no disrespect to BB, who is a savvy shopper!) To maximize your profit, you need to shop differently than the rest of us. You need to shop like the smart flipper that you are. If the oven light starts flickering in four years or the ice maker line starts leaking…it really isn’t your problem, unless you installed a fake knock-off of a respected brand.
Zipyourlips… bingo! I have to shop for something that is sexy, fits the style of the rest of the kitchen and has a ‘decent’ brand. For example, in smaller less expensive homes I don’t have a problem putting in a nice stainless Frigidaire appliance package.
There’s two or three things I’m looking for in the refrigerator and dishwasher (the only two items left to select). First, the handle style has to be similar to the Jenn Air double wall oven that I bought. It’s not that important that everything be the same brand, it’s more important that they look somewhat cohesive. Second, they have to be nicely styled and have above grade functionality. For example, I want to find a dishwasher that is quiet because it is in an open concept living/dining/kitchen area. And Third… it has to be a good value for the cost (meaning… I found it on sale!!)
I do think a little brand snobbery plays into it also. People will recognize a Bosch dishwasher as ‘good’, even if it costs less and has less functionality than a top end Kenmore dishwasher. I am constantly on the search for the scratch and dent Bosch dishwasher just to get the name.
I agree… cannot really worry about the ice maker breaking 4-5 years down the road. I have to keep reminding myself… It’s not MY dream kitchen, it’s not my dream kitchen, it’s not my dream kitchen. Get it done and get going
Believe me, the majority of my competitors do not seem to worry about all these kitchen details, as we can see from the ridiculous stoves crammed up against a refrigerator But I will admit they seem to focus more on landscape and exterior deck/patio sexiness than I do. I always run out of time and money to work on the yard at the end.
Just catching up in this thread. I’m so very sorry for your break in. Really awful.
Sdgal2… thank you so much for the recommendation of the Pirch store. I had never heard of them and would not think to find an appliance store inside a Shopping Mall. It’s probably right next to the Tesla showroom which is another odd storefront to find in a mall
They do carry Bertazzoni but they only have their big ranges in the store. I was in luck because they are open until 9pm so I was able to call and talk to them after work (I never seem to get anything done during the day because there are always a bizillion little decisions going on at the project). Yes, they can get the Bertazzoni range top at the same price that I am seeing on the Internet. The only difference is that I am going to have to pay Sales Tax on it, but that’s OK because I want to have a local store on the hook for service.
Pirch has an interesting sales pitch. If you pay for them to install it ($150) they automatically add a 3 year extended warranty on the product. Unfortunately, their installers are weeks out, but it might work for me. Plus, the extended warranty transfers to a new owner which is very rare. Usually the extended warranty is only for the person who purchases it. But they recognize that a lot of designers and contractors are installing for future owners.
So I will be ordering the Bertazzoni range top today and then I just have to look for a great deal on a refrigerator and dishwasher. I’m going to wait a couple of weeks for those because I learned my lesson about keeping large appliances around the project during construction. Remember the dishwasher front panel debacle on the last project??? We were still trying to fix that on the day of photos, it was very stressful.
Right now the large wall oven and microwave are stashed in my personal garage, away from the gorillas!
Here is what we are getting done this week:
Insulation on top floor is complete
Leak test on all drain lines is complete
Leak test on shower hot mop is underway… the building inspector has to come and check that 2 inches of water stays in the shower without leaking
Our stucco wrap is done and will be inspected today. Stucco brown coat starts on Friday
Kitchen cabinets will be installed by tomorrow night
Flooring guy is laying down the new oak floors on the main floor and garage staircase. This is a mess right now because I cannot convince all the workers to stop walking around in there or going up and down the staircase.
Shiplap boards are getting cut and painted and will be installed on the deck ceilings by end of the week
We did a monumental task of clearing out the hall bedroom to get ready for floors to get sanded. Remember the huge pieces of tempered glass that I made the guys remove and meticulously save for new deck??? Well, of course they are not going to fit between the new deck posts because the structural engineer required a certain spacing of structural posts. Yesterday two guys had to put on suction cups and remove eight 6ft x 3ft pieces of tempered glass out through the house, through the front door, around the yard and up a ramp into the dumpster. I just could not watch… it was so dangerous. Now I have to get a glass company to come measure and install new tempered glass on 3 decks. I called them up and they will not come out until the stucco is complete… then 2-3 weeks out for install.
I have a mason starting to finish up that weird red brick curved wall in front yard. We have to source the same size original brick (have no idea where we are going to find that), repair the wall back up to it’s original height, and then it is going to get covered with white stucco
And, we are making custom vent hole covers that go over the round attic vents that are inbetween the roof trusses on top floor. These have to be cut, slanted and 3 holes drilled out at the same size as the vents. Prime, two coats of black paint, install from outside on the scaffolding and then caulk and final coat of paint. We’ve only made it to the priming stage on these vent blocks and they all have to get installed before the stucco guy starts his brown coat. I’ll take a picture to try to explain this.
Getting the kitchen cabinets installed is turning into a mathematical nightmare. The issue is installing the uppers at the exact height to accomodate the thick crown molding that I ordered. The northern wall of the kitchen is a dropped soffit. We had to drop the ceiling to accomodate a large versalam beam running east/west that is structure for the kitchen vaulting. This left us with a height from floor of 87". When I went to order the cabinets I was very meticulous about the height available and we designed so that the cabinets only went up 84", leaving 3" to install the crown molding.
After eveyrthing is said and done, we only have 86 3/4" of height because of the drywall installation (I should have installed 1/4" drywall on top, but I forgot!!! ) And, after we open up the crown molding, it really needs 3 1/4" of height. So now I don’t have 1/2" needed to get the crown molding on the top of the cabinets. I cannot just drop the uppers down 1/2" because I have some full height pantry cabinets and the big wall oven cabinet there. Oh boy… hours of trouble shooting this issue. We tried to lower the top doors down with hinge adjustment. That only got us a little bit of room.
In addition to that problem… the crown molding sticks out about 2 1/2" and we didn’t build the soffit ceiling out enough to accomodate… it would have wrecked the overall plan for the kitchen build. So the crown molding sticks out past the wall above the cabinets.
In the end, the only solution was to meticulously cut the crown molding down in a certain way so that it fits perfectly into the space allowed. Now I have one raw edge at the bottom of the crown molding that is not factory painted. I get to start trying to take a piece to a paint store, get a perfect match to the color and sheen of the factory paint and then try to meticulously paint the small strip of raw wood at the bottom of each piece of crown molding. My usual nightmare Luckily this small strip is not visible when the doors are closed, but definitely noticeable when the upper cabinet doors are opened.
That is the kind of thing we have to deal with when replacing anything but the DW in my kitchen. Trying to find a way to eke out another half or quarter inch. Just a nightmare.
If it’s all going to be covered with stucco, why does it need to be the same size brick? Won’t it be hidden under the stucco?