Why is there ice buildup in the bottom drawer of my freezer?

Accumulating ice sheets or puddles of frozen water in the bottom floor or crisper/bottom drawer of a freezer usually points to a clogged or frozen defrost drain tube. During automatic defrost cycles, frost on the evaporator coils melts into water that is supposed to flow down a drain hole into a pan underneath the appliance to evaporate. When that drain hole gets plugged with debris, slime, or ice, the water overflows, runs down the back interior wall, and pools in the bottom of the freezer where it instantly freezes into a solid sheet. To fix this, you need to remove the lower interior panels, melt the ice, and flush the drain tube with warm water using a baster or pipe cleaner. You can verify this step was successful by confirming water drains smoothly through the hole into the bottom pan.

Ice building up inside the bottom drawer or at the very bottom floor of a freezer is almost always caused by a clogged, blocked, or frozen defrost drain line. During the automatic defrost cycle, melted frost from the evaporator coils is supposed to drain down a tube into a pan beneath the appliance. When food debris, mold, or algae clog this tube, the melting water backs up, pools at the bottom of the cabinet, and refreezes into a solid sheet of ice.