Worked for many years in the appliance repair industry and one of the things we knew would shorten the life of a refer was lack of air flow around and above the refer. Most refer manufacturers spec the open space required.
What specs are there for air space around the Samsung? It looks to me like you don't have enough air space at the bottom front, the sides, and the top. But then I don't have Samsung's installation manual in front of me.
Then, I wonder about that top rail of the louvered grill that's placed in front of the drip pan access? Seems to me that it might block a lot of air movement over the pan under the refer. That pan holds the drip water from the defrost cycle. The grill the refer comes with allows air to evaporate the water quickly because of the heat from the compressor, which convection vents up the sides and the back, and in most homes, over the top of the refer into the kitchen (which is why the top of a refer should be open - usually with a 2" air space). In your remodel, does that air escape out the original refer roof vent?
Just curious about air flow around the refer...but other then that, it's a beautiful job!
