Appliance Repair in South Philadelphia

South Philadelphia is the city's rowhouse heartland. The 19145 and 19148 ZIP codes stretch from Girard Estate, Packer Park and Newbold west of Broad to East Passyunk, Whitman and Lower Moyamensing to the east, down toward the stadiums. Most homes are two-story brick rowhouses with the kitchen at the back, a basement below, and a front door that opens straight onto the sidewalk.

Many of these houses have been in the same hands for a very long time. That shows in the appliances: a chest freezer in the basement, a second refrigerator for holidays and big gatherings, a gas range that has cooked more Sunday dinners than anyone can count, and a washer and dryer next to the basement laundry tub. These are appliances people want repaired, and many of them are worth repairing.

Basement refrigerators and freezers have a hard life. In summer the basement is humid, so frost builds quickly on freezer coils and door gaskets sweat. In winter an unheated basement can drop low enough that a refrigerator's thermostat barely calls for cooling, and the freezer compartment on a top-freezer model warms up even though the room is cold. Many refrigerators are not designed to run well below about 50 to 55 degrees.

When a basement unit stops keeping food frozen, the technician checks the room temperature first, then the door seal, the defrost heater, timer or control, the evaporator fan and the condenser coil, which in basements tends to collect dust and lint from a nearby dryer. Chest freezers are simpler but not immune; a frosted lid seal or a failed thermostat is a common fix.

Gas is the norm here, supplied by PGW. Range complaints are usually about ignition: a burner that clicks without lighting, a surface flame that is yellow and lazy, or an oven that won't light at all. Spilled sauce in a burner port, a cracked igniter or a weak oven igniter are the usual causes. Gas dryers that tumble without heat typically have a failed igniter, a bad flame sensor or worn gas valve coils, all of which a technician tests in sequence.

If you smell gas at any point, leave the house, don't operate switches or appliances, and call PGW or 911 from outside. Older homes sometimes still have rigid or very old flexible gas connectors behind the range or dryer. If the technician sees one that looks worn, they will tell you so you can have it replaced properly.

Much of older Philadelphia runs on a combined sewer, and during a heavy summer thunderstorm, water can come up through a basement floor drain in low spots. Washers, dryers and freezers sitting on the basement floor take the hit. If water reached the bottom of an appliance, unplug it if you can do so safely, let it dry, and have it inspected before you run it. Motors, pumps and control boards that got wet can short when powered.

Raising the washer and dryer on a sturdy platform and keeping the freezer off the floor are simple steps that save appliances in houses that have flooded before.

Street parking on South Philly blocks is tight, and on game and concert days near the stadiums it can be harder still. Let us know about permit restrictions, construction or event days when you book. Technicians appreciate a cleared path through the house to the kitchen or basement, because most of these homes are long and narrow.

The neighborhood's restaurants, cafes, bakeries and corner stores, along East Passyunk Avenue and elsewhere, rely on commercial coolers, freezers and ranges. Commercial visits follow the same approach as residential: diagnosis, a written estimate and approval before any work.