About the workshop
One brand, one island, done slowly enough to be right
We are an independent service company. No franchise, no call center, no list of fourteen manufacturers on the van door. Sub-Zero built-in refrigeration on Mercer Island is the whole business.
Why the brand list is one line long
Built-in refrigeration is its own trade. A dual-evaporator cabinet with two sealed circuits, a magnetic door catch reading into a control board, and a defrost cycle that behaves differently on every model family has almost nothing in common with a freestanding fridge from a big-box store.
Working one product line means the diagnostic patterns are familiar rather than researched, the failure histories are known, and the van carries the right parts instead of a broad guess at them. It also means we can say no to work we would be learning on.
What that looks like in practice is written up in the field notes, four series of them. The wine side begins with Holding the Zones, which is where most island calls start.
How the pricing works
Every job starts with the $89 visit, which pays for the crossing and a full diagnosis and is taken off the bill when you go ahead. The repair price comes once the fault is found and before a part is fitted or ordered; if we then find something different, you hear about it before anything else is touched.
Repairs fall into configured bands, from defrost heater, thermostat or sensor at $270–$610 up to compressor or sealed-system repair at $1,330–$3,010. Each service page lists the bands that belong to it, starting with wine storage repair.
Island visits are booked 8:00 am – 8:00 pm, seven days, and the line rings through 24/7. A fault that shows up late at night still reaches a person who can tell you whether it can wait for the morning.
Parts and labor carry a twelve month warranty, sealed system work included. If a repair we made fails inside that window, we come back and it costs you nothing.
What we do not do
We do not quote repairs over the phone, because a number given before seeing a cabinet is a number designed to be revised on the doorstep. We do not replace control boards to find out whether that was the fault. And we do not move a built-in out of cabinetry before the panels are off and the floor is covered — the cabinetry is usually worth more than the appliance.
What a visit actually looks like
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On the phone
Model, serial number, what the display reads and how long it has read it. On an island those answers decide what crosses I-90 with us, so we ask them properly rather than quickly.
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At the door
Floor protected before anything moves. A panel-ready unit is only drawn out of its cabinetry once the surround has been looked at and covered.
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The diagnosis
Each zone probed against its display, the condenser and fans checked, the sealed system read on gauges when the symptom points there. The $89 visit pays for all of it.
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A price, then the repair
You hear the repair price once the fault is found and before a part is fitted or ordered. If the unit is not worth repairing, that is said plainly at the same point.
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Before we leave
The unit is left running down toward its set point and the readings are shown to you. Panels and reveals go back where they were.
Mercer Island, WA
Independent, and happy to prove it
Ask us what we think a repair is worth before you commit to it. If a unit is genuinely finished we will tell you that too, and you will not be charged for the opinion.
Island visits 8:00 am – 8:00 pm, seven days · the line rings through 24/7