Walk-in cooler free shipping, and how delivery works

How a walk-in delivery works

Seven steps, and nothing is built until you sign the drawing.

1. Quote and drawing. Send us your dimensions through the quote form, or text pictures to 954-237-6753. You get a real number back, usually the same day, with free shipping already in it. Then you get a dimensioned approval drawing: plan and elevation, with the evaporator and doors called out.
2. You approve the drawing. Nothing is ordered until you sign. Check the outside dimensions, the height, the door location and swing, and where the refrigeration sits. You can see real examples in our approval drawings gallery.
3. It is built to order. Panels are made to the dimensions on your signed drawing. Standard sizes are made the same way as custom ones. Lead time depends on the factory schedule when you order, so ask us for the current lead time before you sign. Delivery dates are estimates.
4. It ships flat. Your walk-in travels as flat insulated panels, not as an assembled box. The panels are stacked flat and shrink-wrapped.
5. Carrier and appointment. The shipment goes to the commercial address on your quote. Once it ships you get the freight company's details; call them to coordinate the delivery. Give us a phone number that someone on site actually answers.
6. Unloading. Unloading is the buyer's responsibility. Panels are long and heavy, so have a forklift or enough people on site. If you have no dock and no forklift, tell us when you ask for the quote.
7. Inspect before you sign. Count what arrived and look over every piece before you sign for the delivery. A crushed corner or a punctured skin is far easier to sort out when it is noted at the truck. Write any damage on the delivery receipt (the bill of lading) before you sign, send us photos and call us right away: claims must be made within 24 hours.

What to have ready on site

• A commercial address the truck can reach. The truck needs room to pull in, stand and unload. Know where it will park and clear the lot, alley or loading zone before it shows up.
• A dock, or people and equipment to unload. A loading dock is the easiest. Without one, plan a forklift or enough hands to move the shipment, and ask for a lift gate up front.
• A clear, dry spot to store panels flat. Keep panels flat, off wet ground and out of the weather until assembly. The routed edges are where the joints seal, so protect them from dents and dragging.
• A measured route. Measure the narrowest doorway, the tightest hallway turn and the lowest ceiling obstruction between the truck and the room. Send those numbers with your quote request.
• Your install crew lined up. Schedule the people assembling the box, the refrigeration contractor and the electrician so panels do not sit in a hallway for weeks.

Shipping to Puerto Rico and the islands

For island buyers, free shipping means we ship your walk-in free to your freight forwarder, and your forwarder brings it to your island. More than 2,300 of our quotes have carried that term.

Import duties and taxes, where your island charges them, are paid on arrival at your island's rates. Your forwarder can tell you what applies where you are.

We have quoted Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Aruba, Curacao and many more. See the full list on our Caribbean page, and read the Puerto Rico and Caribbean walk-in guide before you order.

Prefer Spanish? Le atendemos en español: visit our página del Caribe or the guía del cuarto frío.

Why flat cam-lock panels ship well

An assembled walk-in is mostly air: big, awkward and easy to rack on a truck. Ours travels as flat 4 inch insulated panels and goes together on site, so it ships compact.

Each panel has a male routed edge (the tongue) on one side and a female routed edge (the groove) on the other. Inside the edges are cam locks: an Allen wrench turns a steel hook that catches a steel pin in the next panel and pulls the two together under compression, squeezing the joint gasket so it seals.

Because the box is assembled in the room, it can go where a fully assembled walk-in never would: a basement, an upper floor, a back room reached through a standard door. The limit is the route, since each panel still has to make it from the truck to the room.

For what comes in a flat-packed box, see our walk-in cooler kits and panels. Freezers always ship with insulated floor panels; for coolers, read floor or no floor.

Who installs it

A standard box typically goes together in a day with two people and an Allen wrench. There is no framing and no fasteners driven through the insulation, so any capable crew can assemble it. Our installation guide covers the order of assembly.

Refrigeration and electrical connection are separate licensed trades. A self-contained unit is close to plug-and-play. A remote split system needs a refrigeration contractor to run, evacuate and charge the line set. On freezers, the door frame heater wire and the pressure relief vent both run on 115 V, so your electrician should plan for them.

Installation, start-up and connection are not included unless your quote says so.

You can check the specs of every system we quote in our refrigeration equipment gallery, then send your size and site details through the quote form.