maintenance
Thermador Freezer Temperature Settings
The right freezer and fridge column settings, how to confirm them with an appliance thermometer, why readings drift and what the two alarms are telling you.
Oct 11, 2026
Notes
Field notes
Written after the call, not before it. Symptoms, measurements and what the fix actually was.
Field notes
Notes written after the call rather than before it: the symptom, the readings, and what the fix turned out to be.
diagnosis
Thermador Oven Smells Like Gas: Leak or Not?
What to do in the first minute when the oven smells of gas, how to tell burn-off and food residue from a real leak, and what a technician checks afterward.
Oct 10, 2026
diagnosis
Warm Fridge, Cold Freezer
One compartment warm and the other cold is a distribution fault, not a cooling fault. The distinction decides whether the repair costs tens or thousands.
Aug 5, 2026
installation
Built-Ins in a 1920s Kitchen
In the historic core, half of what reads as an appliance fault is the opening it was fitted into or the circuit it shares. Both are measurable in minutes.
Jul 24, 2026
power
Storm Season and Control Boards
Control boards in this county usually die of cumulative surge damage, not of one strike. That changes both the diagnosis and what is worth doing about it.
Jul 8, 2026
salt-air
What Salt Air Does to a Condenser
On the coast the fins do not clog with dust, they corrode. The compressor answers by running longer, and the fresh food side drifts warm in August.
Jun 20, 2026
parts
Why We Ask for the Serial Number
On built-in appliances the serial number, not the model, decides which board, valve or hinge fits. Here is why, and what that means for lead times and cost.
Jun 2, 2026
Price bands
What do the repairs in these notes cost?
Completed work, parts and labor together. Most of what we do on this page lands between $430 and $2,520; the $80 visit comes off that once you approve the repair.
| What gets replaced | Parts and labor |
|---|---|
| Refrigeration column sealed system | $850–$2,520 |
| Control board or touch panel | $430–$1,090 |
Before any of that
$80
Flat $80 diagnostic covering the visit and the full diagnostic sequence, credited toward the repair once you approve the work.
You get a written estimate before any part is ordered or any labor is billed.
About the notes
What are these notes, and what are they not?
- What are these notes for?
- They are the long answers to questions that come up on the phone too often to keep repeating. Each one is written after the calls it describes rather than before, and it sticks to what was measured, what was replaced and how the visit ended.
- Can a note replace a diagnosis?
- No, but it can save you the price of one. Each note says which faults are worth ruling out yourself, usually the free ones: a blocked filter, a duct with nowhere to go, a circuit shared with something else in the room. Anything needing a meter inside the appliance is what a visit is for.
- How often is a note updated?
- When something changes that would otherwise leave it wrong — a part is superseded, a pattern shifts across a season, or a reader asks something the note does not cover. The date it was published, and the date it was last changed, are printed at the top of each one.
Owner feedback
What owners said after the calls behind these notes
4.5
out of 5, across 60 customer reviews. Each one is a single visit, in the words of the person whose kitchen it was.
The door latch had stopped catching first time and we had taken to slamming it. He renewed the latch and the seal and adjusted the strike. Fine ever since, though the seal took a fortnight to arrive.
Juno K.
The upper rack rails had come apart and the rack tipped whenever it was loaded. He fitted new rails and adjusters on both sides and levelled the machine while he was under there. It rolls straight again.
Delia U.
It got fixed, but I was told on the phone it sounded like a drain pump and it turned out to be a blocked air gap. Less work than I had feared and I appreciated being told so, but the first guess was not close.
Marigold Q.