A refrigerator is the one appliance where waiting costs money on its own. A compartment drifting from 37°F to 45°F does not look like an emergency, but it quietly ruins a week of groceries — so refrigeration calls get priority on our Los Angeles routes and we hold same-day slots for them every morning.
A freezer gives you even less warning and a larger bill: a full chest freezer can hold several hundred dollars of food. Both cabinets run on the same sealed circuit, the same airflow and the same defrost logic, so one technician and one visit covers the pair — tell dispatch which side is drifting and the call gets prioritized.
We work both ends of the market: mass-market Whirlpool, LG, Samsung, GE and Frigidaire units, and the built-in and integrated columns that fill Palisades and Encino kitchens — Sub-Zero, Thermador, Liebherr, Miele, Monogram and Viking. Sealed-system work is done by certified technicians, not by whoever is free.
Common refrigerator problems we fix
- Fridge warm, freezer cold. The classic. Usually a failed evaporator fan or a defrost fault choking airflow between the compartments, not a dead compressor.
- Ice on the back wall of the freezer. The defrost system: heater, thermostat, timer or control board. Left alone it blocks airflow until the fresh-food side warms up too.
- Running constantly and still not cold. Dirty or blocked condenser coils first — LA dust and pet hair are brutal on them — then the condenser fan, then the sealed system.
- Water pooling under the crisper drawers. A frozen defrost drain. Clearing and re-routing it is a straightforward job, and it stops the drip through to the floor.
- Leaking onto the kitchen floor. Water line, inlet valve or the drain pan. On built-ins, also the humidifier line feeding the ice maker.
- Noisy operation. A failing evaporator or condenser fan motor. Distinctive enough that a technician can usually name it from the sound.
- Door seals that no longer seal. Warm air leaking in makes everything else work harder. Gaskets are inexpensive and worth replacing early.
Common freezer problems we fix
- Heavy frost on the walls and shelves. The defrost system, or a door seal letting humid air in. Both are inexpensive; the ice they cause is not, because it eventually blocks airflow entirely.
- Food softening at the edges. Temperature drift. Usually a thermostat, a control board, or a condenser so clogged it cannot shed heat.
- Clicking then silence. A start relay or capacitor rather than the compressor itself — a common and comparatively cheap repair that gets misdiagnosed as terminal.
- The door will not stay shut. Hinges, gasket or an out-of-level cabinet. Worth fixing immediately — everything else follows from it.
The garage freezer problem
The garage freezer is a specific Los Angeles problem worth mentioning on its own. Many units are rated only to about 60°F ambient, and a Valley garage in August is far above that. If yours struggles every summer and recovers every winter, the machine may be perfectly healthy and simply installed somewhere it cannot cope — no repair makes a standard cabinet handle 100°F, and we will say so before selling you one.
Refrigeration we service
- Top-freezer, bottom-freezer and side-by-side refrigerators
- French door units with through-the-door ice and water
- Upright and chest freezers, manual defrost and frost-free
- Built-in and integrated columns: Sub-Zero, Thermador, Liebherr, Miele, Monogram
- Counter-depth cabinets, refrigerator and freezer drawers, under-counter units
- Garage, outdoor and light commercial refrigeration
Refrigerator & Freezer Repair FAQ
My refrigerator is warm but the freezer is fine. What is that?
Almost always airflow rather than cooling. The evaporator fan has failed or the defrost system has iced over the coil, so cold air never reaches the fresh-food compartment. It is a common repair and rarely the compressor.
How cold should a freezer actually be?
0°F (−18°C) for long-term storage. Anything consistently above 10°F means food is degrading even though it still feels frozen, and it is worth a service call.
Is a sealed-system repair worth doing?
On a built-in Sub-Zero, Thermador or Liebherr, yes — those units are worth many thousands and are built to be rebuilt. On a ten-year-old freestanding refrigerator, usually not, and we will tell you that rather than sell you the job.
Why does my garage freezer struggle every summer?
Many freezers are only rated to around 60°F ambient, and a Valley garage runs far hotter. Either move it somewhere cooler or replace it with a garage-ready model — no repair will make a standard unit cope with 100°F.
How long can food stay safe if it fails?
About four hours in a refrigerator with the door kept shut, and roughly 48 hours in a full freezer. Tell dispatch it is not holding temperature and the call gets prioritized.
Do you service built-in and integrated units?
Yes, and they are routed to technicians who work those platforms daily. Built-ins frequently need to be pulled from the cabinetry, so those visits are scheduled with the time and, where needed, the second technician that requires.
Other appliances we repair
- Range & oven repair
- Dishwasher repair
- Washer repair
- Dryer repair
- Ice maker repair
- Wine cooler repair
- Coffee maker repair
Every appliance we cover is listed on the services page.
