Sheet 04.3 · Terms
Repair or replace
The question behind most of the calls we take. It has an arithmetic answer, and this sheet carries both halves of the sum rather than gesturing at one.
Where the line is drawn, and by whom
The rule of thumb is the trade's, not ours: once a repair passes half of what a comparable machine costs to buy, the replacement starts to win. It is a heuristic and it deserves to be treated as one — it knows nothing about your kitchen, your cabinetry or the state of the rest of the appliance. What it is good for is drawing a line, and a line is only useful once you know where it falls.
So this sheet puts the two halves side by side. On the left, what a repair of each class costs on this shop's book. On the right, what a comparable Viking machine costs to buy, appliance only. The halfway figure between them is arithmetic, not opinion.
The comparison, class by class
Replacement figures are national appliance pricing and cover the machine alone. National appliance pricing, not Florida labour.
| Appliance | Replacement | Half of it | Deepest repair band | Where that leaves you |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Professional range, the usual repair-or-replace comparison | $6,500–$14,500 | $3,250–$7,250 | $410–$1,030 | Repair, on the arithmetic |
| Built-in refrigerator or column | $9,500–$17,500 | $4,750–$8,750 | $940–$2,440 | Repair, on the arithmetic |
| Built-in dishwasher | $1,600–$3,200 | $800–$1,600 | $410–$1,030 | A judgement call |
- Professional range, the usual repair-or-replace comparison
- Every band this appliance can land in tops out below $3,250, so even the deepest repair stays on the repair side of the line.
- Built-in refrigerator or column
- Every band this appliance can land in tops out below $4,750, so even the deepest repair stays on the repair side of the line.
- Built-in dishwasher
- The deepest band, control board or touch panel, crosses the line on an entry-level replacement at $1,600 and stays under it on a $3,200 one. Age and the state of the rest of the machine decide this one, not the figure alone.
What the arithmetic does not know
A replacement figure is the machine on a pallet. In a built-in kitchen it is rarely the whole bill: an opening cut for one cabinet depth does not always take the next model, a panel-ready door needs its panel re-hung or remade, and a column that came in before the floor went down comes out over that floor. None of that appears in the right-hand column above, and all of it lands on the replacement side of the ledger.
Running the other way: a machine that has already had two unrelated repairs inside a year is telling you something the first quote cannot. So is a part that has been superseded twice, and so is a board that is no longer supplied at all — when the part does not exist, the decision has been made for you and the honest thing is to say so on the phone rather than after a van has been out.
Age is the weakest signal of the three. Almost everything in Nocatee was installed by the builder from 2007 onward and the suites here are aging as a cohort, so "twenty years old" describes half the street. What separates them is how many distinct systems have failed, not the date on the plate.
What does a Viking repair weighed against a replacement cost before anyone has seen it?
Two figures decide this, and the schedule below carries both. The first is $80: a technician and a meter in front of the appliance, taken off the bill the moment you approve the repair. The second depends on which band the fault turns out to sit in — parts and labour counted together, this shop's book for St. Johns County, read off jobs of that class rather than off a manufacturer list.
| Band | Parts + labour | What lands in it |
|---|---|---|
| Diagnostic visit | $80 | Flat, credited to the repair when you approve it |
| Igniter or burner assembly | $190–$560 | igniter · ignitor · burner · flame |
| Oven thermostat or heating element | $190–$590 | oven · bake · broil · temperature |
| Control board or touch panel | $410–$1,030 | board · control · panel · touch |
| Refrigeration fan or defrost system | $240–$610 | refrigeration · fan · defrost · cooling |
| Dishwasher pump or control | $240–$690 | dishwash · pump · drain |
| Compressor or sealed-system repair | $940–$2,440 | compressor · sealed · refrigerant · freezer |
A comparable Viking range, built-in refrigerator or dishwasher, appliance only — before delivery, installation or cabinetry. National appliance pricing, not Florida labour.
| Replacement | Appliance only |
|---|---|
| Professional range, the usual repair-or-replace comparison | $6,500–$14,500 |
| Built-in refrigerator or column | $9,500–$17,500 |
| Built-in dishwasher | $1,600–$3,200 |
A written estimate comes before any part is ordered or any labor is billed. A band says where this class of work usually lands. It is not a quote, and three things move a job inside it: how the appliance has to be reached, whether the part is stocked or ordered, and whether the number on the plate has been superseded since.
What the diagnostic buys before you decide
Flat $80 diagnostic, credited toward the repair when you approve the work. On this question specifically, what it buys is the fault named and written down — which system failed, which band that lands in, and whether anything else on the machine is close behind. That is the difference between a band and a figure, and it is the only honest basis for the decision.
If the answer is that the machine is not worth fixing, the $80 is all you have paid, you keep the written fault statement, and nothing is ordered. We would rather say so than sell a repair we would not buy ourselves. Sealed-circuit work is the one place the figure jumps, at $940–$2,440, and it is also the one that needs epa section 608 certified technicians and recovery equipment — the reason it is priced where it is.
The full schedule and the terms sit on the pricing sheet, the cover after the work is on the warranty sheet, and the questions we field on the phone are on the questions sheet.
The money questions, answered off this book
- What is the 50% rule for appliance repair?
- It says stop repairing once the quote passes half of what a comparable replacement costs. On the equipment we service that halfway line sits at $3,250–$7,250 for a range and $4,750–$8,750 for built-in refrigeration. Every band on our book, sealed-system work included, lands under both of those, which is why the arithmetic usually favours the repair on this equipment.
- Is it worth repairing a 20-year-old appliance?
- Age on its own settles nothing; the number of tired parts does. One failure on a machine whose door, seals and controls are sound tops out at the $410–$1,030 control band on the cooking side, against a $6,500–$14,500 replacement. Three separate failures inside a year is the signal to stop, at any age.
- Is it worth replacing the compressor on a built-in refrigerator?
- Sealed-system work — compressor, evaporator or a leak in the circuit — runs $940–$2,440 with parts and labour, and opening that circuit at all requires EPA Section 608 certification. Against a built-in replacement at $9,500–$17,500 before cabinetry, it still clears the halfway line of $4,750–$8,750.
- What is the most expensive part to replace?
- On refrigeration it is the sealed system, $940–$2,440. On everything else it is the control board or touch panel at $410–$1,030, because the panel and the board often arrive as one assembly and cannot be bought separately. No other band on our book reaches either figure.
- How much do appliance repair technicians charge per hour?
- We do not bill by the hour at all. The visit is a flat $80, and the repair is quoted as a job — parts and labour together, inside one band — so an awkward opening or a slow part does not turn into extra hours on your invoice. The figure is written down before anything is ordered.
- Is a built-in dishwasher ever worth repairing?
- More often than the rule of thumb suggests. A comparable machine is $1,600–$3,200 appliance only, so the line falls at $800–$1,600; a pump or drain fault at $240–$690 sits under it. A control board at $410–$1,030 is where it turns into a judgement call.
Visits where the decision was the whole job
Each slip below is one visit, in the words of the person who paid for it. The awkward ones are printed with the rest. More from the 78 we publish.
Constant clicking with no light, and it had started the day I cleaned the top. He told me on the phone to leave it an hour to dry, it still clicked, and the electrode ceramic turned out to be cracked.
Rufus W.2026-02-18
The column had been running long and loud for weeks and the panel hid how packed the condenser was. He cleaned the coil and the fan, checked the door pull, and the run time dropped back the same afternoon.
Imogen R.2026-09-18
Cycles had stretched out to something ridiculous and nothing came out hot. He measured the tap first, found the supply arriving cold, then descaled the element rather than condemning it. Cycles back to normal.
Horace K.2026-05-12
The sheets these bands come from
Each one narrows the schedule to the repairs that appliance actually leads to.
Viking kitchen appliances — and nothing mechanical in the house
Greenleaf Appliance Service repairs built-in kitchen appliances — the Viking equipment specified into a kitchen and installed in it, plus the outdoor cooking equipment that was specified with it. Home heating, air conditioning, heat pumps, air handlers and the ductwork that serves them are not work this shop takes, in Nocatee or anywhere else inside the radius. A hood duct, a condenser air path and the cooling load on a built-in are appliance work and we measure all three; the house's own mechanical systems belong to a mechanical contractor.
Viking on this site is the kitchen-appliance manufacturer. There is also a place called Viking in Indian River County, well south of St. Johns County; this shop does not work there, and it does not service heating or cooling equipment anywhere.
On the sheet
- Ranges, rangetops and cooktops
- Wall ovens, single and double
- Built-in and freestanding refrigeration
- Undercounter ice machines
- Dishwashers
- Range hoods and their blowers
- Outdoor cooking equipment specified with the kitchen
Off the sheet
- Home heating and furnaces
- Central air conditioning and heat pumps
- Air handlers and house ductwork
- Water heaters and pool equipment
- Laundry equipment