UB3 · Hayes
Fridge freezer repair in Hayes UB3
Repair or replace is a real question with a fridge freezer, and in Hayes the answer usually turns on where the machine happens to be standing. In the interwar semis and post-war estates it is a big freestanding unit in the corner of the kitchen or out in a utility space, easy to pull forward and easy enough to swap if it comes to that. In the flats near the station it is a slim integrated column behind a decor door, screwed to the carcass, with a plinth and a door aligned to the rest of the run. Replacing that is not simply buying an appliance; it is a fitting job and a matching problem, and it usually costs a day of somebody's time on top. More on fridge freezer repair across West London and Harrow.
Which is why we look hard at the fault before anyone starts talking about a new machine. Fridge warm while the freezer stays cold is the classic, and it is nearly always airflow between the two compartments rather than anything terminal: an iced-up evaporator behind the rear panel, an evaporator fan seized or clicking, or a defrost heater or sensor failed so the frost never clears. All three are parts, all three are fitted in your kitchen, and all three come to far less than a replacement column and a joiner to hang the door.
A blocked drain hole puddling in the salad drawer is the smallest job on the list and the one most often misread as a dying appliance. Tired door seals are the second: a seal that no longer grips lets warm kitchen air in all day, the machine runs constantly, and the frost is back within a week of every defrost. Both are worth doing on a machine of any age. The judgement changes if the cooling circuit itself has gone, which is specialist work we do not take on, or if the cabinet is damaged — at that point a replacement is the sensible call and we will tell you so plainly rather than taking the visit any further.
One practical request: if you can, defrost the machine fully before we arrive. Switch off at the wall, prop the doors open, move the contents into a cool box and leave it overnight if possible. It will not hide anything from us, but it lets the rear panel come off and the evaporator be seen properly instead of buried under ice. The call-out is £80 a visit, labour is included on most repairs, more involved work is quoted and agreed with you before it starts, parts are quoted before fitting, and the specific part replaced is guaranteed for three months.
£80
call-out charge per visit
Labour is included for most repairs. More extensive or complex jobs may require additional labour, which we always quote and agree with you before starting. Parts are charged separately and always quoted before we fit them.
We are not registered for VAT. The price we quote is the price you pay.
What Hayes kitchens throw at us
A freestanding fridge freezer in one of the older Hayes houses off Station Road can be wheeled out, worked on, and if it truly is beyond saving replaced without touching the kitchen around it. The integrated columns in the flats near Hayes and Harlington station are a different calculation entirely, because the decor door, the plinth and the housing all have to line up again afterwards, which is why a fan, a defrost heater or a set of seals is nearly always the better answer there. You get that judgement straight, with the part price, before anything is ordered.
What you can rely on
Frequently asked questions
Is it worth repairing an integrated fridge freezer in one of the new Hayes flats rather than replacing it?
Usually it is. Swapping an integrated column means matching the housing, refitting the plinth and re-hanging the decor door so it lines up with the rest of the kitchen, which is a joinery job on top of the appliance. Against that, a fan, a defrost heater, a sensor or a set of door seals is a modest part fitted in an hour or so. We give you the comparison honestly before you commit either way.
The fridge is warm but the freezer is still frozen in my UB3 kitchen — what causes that?
On almost every combination model the cold air is made in the freezer and blown up into the fridge, so a warm fridge with a cold freezer means that air is not arriving. The usual causes are an iced-up evaporator behind the rear panel, a seized evaporator fan, or a defrost heater or sensor that has failed and left the frost in place. Defrosting fully before the visit makes the diagnosis much quicker.
3-month guarantee on the part we replace. Any part we replace is guaranteed for 3 months from the date it is fitted. This covers the replaced part only — it is not a warranty on the whole appliance.