Install A Dishwasher, step by step

As we mentioned on Monday, before we hopped on a plane yesterday, we tackled our bisque colored dishwasher. And let us simply say the stainless one is a crowd pleaser (we like it, but Clara loves it). We will get to that in a moment.

We had been telling ourselves that it would be better to do this once the new floors went in (so we did not accidentally trap it behind the new cork boards or something). But then we realized that was a dumb excuse because we could simply slide it on top of a few cork planks so it would be the same height as the rest of the floor once it goes in. Plus if the new dishwasher box stayed in the office any longer we’d risk it becoming a permanent side table substitute in there. It does have a large surface area after all (so things tend to pile up on top of it)…

We have never installed a dishwasher. It freaked me out a little bit because it was plumbing + electrical + tight space. Not to mention that I did not want to ruin a $380 appliance in the process. But after watching a few videos on YouTube, I was feeling a bit more confident about it (this one and this one were particularly reassuring). So when Clara went down for a nap on Sunday we gave ourselves a little pep talk and dove in.

First up, we turned off the hot water supply and electricity to the dishwasher. Embarrassingly sufficient, this step alone took us a good 15 minutes because our breaker boxes (we have two) were not labelled correctly and it took us plenty of trial and error (and trips to the basement while on our cell phones to communicate) to make sure I was not going to electrocute myself.

With the water and power off, I unscrewed the access panel along the base of the old dishwasher. Prepare yourself for some less than clean floor photos. Sorry. (There is been a lot of Hands-on action going on in here, so the old vinyl floors are not exactly pristine).

Here is the view behind the panel. Looks like a party, right?

Using a wrench I unscrewed the water supply, keeping a rag handy to catch some leftover H20. This too took longer than expected because of the cramped space.

With the water supply off, my next step would’ve been detaching the drain hose from the disposal under the sink. I did not do this (yet) because I had already detached it under the dishwasher simply because it was in the way of my wrench. And at this point I was trying to undo as little as possible simply in case I needed to retreat (i.e. give up).

All of the plumbing was disconnected, so next up was electrical. The wiring is all encased in a little metal box that was took out fairly swiftly with a little screwdriver action.

From there I simply unscrewed the wire nuts and, simply like that, I was done with the electrical parts of the old dishwasher.

Now I simply had to focus on getting the dishwasher out of its home. First up, lowering the little adjustable feet so that it was not so tight against the bottom of the countertop. Do not mind the dinged up baseboard – we are waiting to caulk/putty/touch that up until we install the new cork floors and add new quarter-round. Then it’ll all get gussied up.

Next I had to remove where it was screwed in. In most cases I think dishwashers are in fact screwed into the underside of the counter. But ours was screwed into the cabinets on either side (perhaps because we used to have granite counters?). I simply popped off a little plastic plug and unscrewed away.

A shimmy and a shake later, and our bisque buddy was no longer clashing with our cabinets and counters. Oh, and even though these are not the new floors, I still pulled it out on a piece of cardboard for brought in protection and easier sliding around.

So we were left with an empty hole full of new dishwashery potential.

Before the new dishwasher could go in, though, I hoped to make sure to prepare for the new floor. So I roughly cut some pieces of our new cork and slid them in there so that the new dishwasher would sit at the height of the new floor, not the old one. Because if it sat behind the new floor boards it could make getting it out for repair or replacement quite difficult (or impossible) down the line.

With the floor boards ready, out came the new energy efficient dishwasher (which we picked up among a bunch of other on-sale appliances back in October).

It was at this point after reading the (quite confusing) directions for the new dishwasher, that we realized that we needed to swipe a piece from the old one – a 90-degree elbow – to assist route the water supply line into the dishwasher.

I am not sure why these simply do not come in the box (I would’ve been especially annoyed if I had had to go to the store simply to buy one), but whatever. At least it gave me the opportunity to learn it is WAY easier to work on a dishwasher when it is pulled out and accessible on all sides. See – even the lighting for photos is better!

With the elbow attached, I could reattach the water supply line. Lucky for me, it was long sufficient to do this with the dishwasher still pulled out. Sure made maneuvering the wrench easier!

Here is the point where I had to disconnect the old drain hose from the disposal and reattach the new one. Theoretically I could’ve simply attached the old hose to the back of the dishwasher. But if one of my new connections were to leak, I hoped it to be the one under the sink (where I can see it) and not the one hidden in the back of my dishwasher.

Plumbing attached? Check. On to the electrical. I learned through this that I was missing a strain reliever on my wire, so I did have to run out to the store to grab one. It in short holds the wire in place at the dishwasher’s electrical box, removing any strain on the actual wire connections (since we do not want those pulling apart!).

I attached the strain reliever, screwed the wire nuts back on to attach the wall wire to the dishwasher wire, and reattached the box cover. Then I held my breath as I went back down to the basement to turn the power back on and make sure my electrical work in fact, well, worked.

Houston, we have liftoff.

I also turned the water back on and watched all my plumbing connections to make sure I did not have any leaks. Good thing I checked. I did have a small one around that 90-degree elbow. I had to detach the hot water supply, give the elbow another 360-degree spin and reattach everything. Then – after another leak check – I was good to attach this baby to the underside of our counters. Whew.

And simply like that my friends (and by “simply like that” I mean “three hours later”) – we had a new dishwasher! As Sherry mentioned in her post on Monday, it is truly pleasant to have something stainless on that side of the kitchen because it makes for some pleasant balance (the old fridge was nearly right next to the old dishwasher, but our new arrangement makes for a better work triangle and looks better too).

And speaking of washing things, Clara got a hold of a paper towel while we were snapping these pics and went on a “wiping” spree. I do not think she managed to wash any dishes but, well, you will see how much ground she covered…

Balance has at last been brought to our appliance triangle, and our dishwasher no longer looks dingy next to our white cabinets. Good stuff.

And the installation process was not nearly as bad as I had prepped myself for. Sure, it did take a bit longer than I had hoped (though it did include one unplanned trip to get that strain reliever), but what project does not?

Here is the view from the office. You cannot truly tell in this picture, but it is also pleasant in person how the stainless finish plays off of the sink, faucet, and our new mercury glass pendant light.

And it is worth mentioning that this has the same protective finish that keeps fingerprints off of it (more on that here). It is quite helpful in our household, since a certain someone’s cleaning techniques still leave a bit to be desired.

Functionally the dishwasher is fairly much the same as our old one. But I do enjoy the brought in timer countdown on the front of the machine and the note that in fact says “clean” when they are clean (no more calling to each other across the house to ask if they are dirty or not).

Oh, and you may have also noticed in these pictures that we are sporting a new dish towel. It is from Target, and we thought it was a lively addition. Clara agrees.

Who does not enjoy a little black and white chevron? Especially with soft penny tiles in the background to set it off.

Again, Clara’s on board with the decision. Can you tell someone lately learned to smile for the camera on command? “Can you show me your teeth?” has become a quite handy phrase around here lately.

Has anyone else ever tackled a dishwasher installation? Did you have smooth sailing? Was there that obligatory unplanned trip to the hardware store? Did it take longer than you thought? Was there a compact but correctable leak? Did you simply learn how to smile on command?

Psst- To see what we did with the box that the dishwasher came in, check out the house Life today.