Moving your refrigerator, and what happens to the food
Moving a fridge on a Bay Area move: we disconnect and carry it, you handle the water line and the food. No appliance surcharge. Call 1-877-417-6060.
Cost and crew
A refrigerator does not change the crew size for most homes. A 3-mover team at $175 per hour handles a typical home with a fridge; a 3-bedroom over 1,800 square feet or a 4-bedroom home gets 4 movers at $235 per hour. The 3-hour minimum and 15-minute billing apply to the whole move. Stairs to a second-floor kitchen add time, never a fee. If it is a very large built-in or commercial unit over about 300 pounds, send a photo first and David will confirm whether we can move it and whether an extra mover is needed.
The refrigerator is easy. The food is the problem.
A full-size refrigerator is heavy and tall, but for a moving crew it is routine: it gets wrapped in blankets and carried by the crew like any other big piece. There is no extra charge for it beyond the time it takes. What catches people out is everything inside it. We do not carry fridge or freezer food on the truck, and the water line behind many refrigerators needs someone from your side when it is disconnected.
Why the food does not travel with us
Our trucks do not have coolers or containers for perishables, and a load of furniture, mattresses and boxes is the worst place for anything that might thaw, drip or spill. So we do not move fridge or freezer food, or other perishables, at all. The practical answer is to eat down the fridge in the week before the move and carry what is left in a sturdy cooler or insulated bag in your own car, ideally the day before or first thing in the morning. Condiments and drinks in sealed bottles can go in a sealed, packed box like any other liquid.
The ice maker and water line
A refrigerator with an ice maker or water dispenser is connected to a water supply line. Our movers can disconnect a refrigerator, but we are not certified appliance technicians, so when a water line is involved we ask that someone from your side is there for the disconnection and the reconnection. If a fitting drips under the new kitchen floor, it should be your plumber, not our crew, who made that connection. Turning off the supply valve the night before and draining the dispenser line helps a lot.
Two days before
- Stop buying groceries; plan meals around what is in the freezer.
- Turn the ice maker off and empty the bin.
- Unplug the fridge the night before and prop the doors so it can defrost; put towels down for the melt water.
- Take out the glass shelves and drawers, wrap them, and pack them in a box.
- Wipe it dry so nothing sloshes inside the cabinet.
- Measure doorways and the new alcove, especially for a French-door or counter-depth model.
Moving just the fridge
Customers sometimes ask us to bring a refrigerator back from one house to another, or to move only an appliance. Single-item jobs are not something we typically offer, because the 3-hour minimum makes them poor value, but call and ask, especially if you are a returning customer or the fridge can be added to another move. For more on appliances, see washer and dryer moving.
Questions and answers
- Will you move the food in my refrigerator?
No. We do not have containers for fridge or freezer food and do not move perishables. Bring it in a cooler in your own car.
- Is there an extra charge for moving a refrigerator?
No. It only adds time to the move, billed at the normal hourly rate.
- Can your movers disconnect the water line?
Someone from your side needs to be present when a water line is disconnected or reconnected, because we are not certified appliance technicians.
- Do I need to defrost the freezer?
It helps. Unplug it the night before so it can drain, and dry it out so nothing leaks onto other items.