When refrigerators are kept in confined spaces, the doors can pose a real problem. They tend to swing open and crash into surrounding structures easily. This can easily result in damaged walls, furniture, or nearby appliances. So, what can you do to keep your fridge doors in check?
To stop the refrigerator door from opening too far and hitting the wall, you can reverse the refrigerator door. You can do this by unbolting the door hinge, switching the bottom bracket and hinge, realigning the handle, replacing the door, and re-fixing the top bracket and hinge.
You don’t have to do all of this if you have a refrigerator with a built-in doorstop, so be sure to check whether your fridge has that feature. If it doesn’t, don’t worry. Let’s look at how you can reverse your fridge door so that it doesn’t damage anything in your kitchen.
How Do You Adjust a Swinging Fridge Door?
Refrigerators with doors that freely swing too far from their resting position can be quite frustrating. The door can easily crash into the wall and other appliances in the kitchen, causing damage.
However, the following method will allow you to adjust the swinging door, thereby restricting its movement.
Look Out for Built-In Doorstops
Many modern-day refrigerators have a built-in door stop that determines how far open the door can swing. This component can allow for a 125-degree opening of the door.
In cases where this upper opening limit leads to the door hitting walls and other appliances, the doorstop can be adjusted to a smaller opening width, say 90 degrees.
These stops are usually built into either the upper or lower hinge. Consult the fridge’s manual for the full instructions on how to adjust the door, but here’s a general idea:
- Remove all food stored inside the door
- Raise the door by lifting the door from the bottom unit and setting it to the side
- Remove the hinge and bushing at the bottom of the door
- Rework the hinge and bushing on the new slide
- Rotate the hinge until its base stables at 90° to the bottom edge of the swing door
If your refrigerator doesn’t have this option, you can try to reverse the door.
How to Reverse a Refrigerator Door From Left to Right
Having a refrigerator with a reversible door is very useful, especially when you plan to fit the fridge into a particularly narrow or oddly shaped space. It’s also very useful for that pesky swinging door problem. To reverse your fridge door, follow these steps:
- Prepare the Refrigerator: Changing the door direction is easier than emptying the contents of the door. Move the fridge out of the tight position to allow some working space.
- Unbolt the Bracket: This involves using a wrench to unscrew the door hinge. Then, unscrew the top bracket from the refrigerator and drag the door upwards until it’s fully detached.
- Switching Bottom Bracket and Hinge: After removing the bottom bracket and hinge, reattach them to the opposite side using the hole outside. In fridges that have additional brackets, relocate those brackets and hinges.
- Realign Handle and Replace Door: This is where you unscrew the doors after removing the trims covering the screw. Reposition the handle on the other side and screw them in tightly. Reattach the door back into the lower hinge.
- Re-fix Top Bracket and Hinge: Finally, the top bracket, hinge, and plastic trim can be replaced in the opposite direction. It’s important to check the manufacturer’s instructions on the transfer of the bracket and hinge to the other side.
Are All Fridge Doors Reversible?
A standard fridge is usually depicted as having a right-handed door mount in modern-day households. In reality, this is suitable because most people are right-handed. Nonetheless, most fridges have the reversible door option to suit all situations.
In cases where the position of the door doesn’t support ease of movement due to its place in the kitchen, you can check the manufacturer’s instruction to see how the door can be properly reversed.
Use a Doorstop
There’s another way to stop your refrigerator from opening too far and hitting the wall. This is done by using regular doorstops, and fixed or heavy objects that can be used to keep the appliance’s door from banging.
Doorstops are affordable and will get the job done in a simple manner so that you don’t have to stress over your fridge door hitting the wall. If you’re searching for a good doorstop, consider the JQK Classic Rubber Door Stopper Wedge (on Amazon) or the Amazon Basics Spring Door Stop (also on Amazon).