I have a granite countertop in my remodeled kitchen, and there’s a dishwasher under it. The dishwasher was never fastened to the countertop. There are a couple of brackets on the dishwasher to screw it underneath the counter, but I’m afraid of drilling into the counter because it might crack. Is there a special drill bit I should use, or should I fasten it another way?
kurich
Join some of the most experienced and recognized building professionals for two days of presentations, panel discussions, networking, and more.
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Dig into cutting-edge approaches and decades of proven solutions with total access to our experts and tradespeople.
Start Free Trial NowGet instant access to the latest developments in green building, research, and reports from the field.
Start Free Trial Now
Replies
Why attach it at all?
Kurich
since this is the photo section myabe you should post a pic of your situation.
I know i may catch some flak over this but we screw DW's through the side when under solid stone.
james
You need to secure the dishwasher or it may fall forward when the loaded dish racks are pulled out or a child stands on the door. I would not recommend trying to drill the stone, you'll break it for sure. Sometimes there is room to attach a piece of wood from cabinet to cabinet. I have also glued the tabs to the stone with an industrial silicone adhesive. Some tabs are large, others are quite small.
The dishwasher has adjustable legs so you can press the top up tight to the counter top. For some extra holding power, you can glue some metal perforated strapping to the underside of the counter top and attach the tabs to that. Someday you may have to take out the DW for repair or replacement. If you think of it before the counter tops are installed you can attach some metal strapping to the top of the cabinets, use galvanized or stainless strapping. I attach a block to the cabinet in about a foot and put one heavy screw in the strap so that it can pivot for alignment. To keep fasteners from interfering with the door, you can use some tap together brass rivets, the shoe repair shop may have a few you can buy. You could also use some wire and snake it into the cabinet to a tie off.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Along a similar line, I'll be installing an undermount sink in a granite countertop. I'll need to drill holes in the granite to support the sink. I've never done this before and I was concerned about cracking the granite.
Now that I've read some of the comments in this thread, I'm even more concerned. Should I be?
-Don
I just had granite counter tops and an under counter sink installed. The installers used silicon glue to attach pieces of granite under the counter to support the sink and then glued the sink to the granite.
I had the same problem with the dishwasher and asked about drilling for the attachment brackets. The answer was something to the effect that drilling is fine, as long as you are planning to replace the top after it breaks.Daniel
"I'll need to drill holes in the granite to support the sink."
Do NOT do that. For kitchens, we just mount wood strips as necessary in the sink vanity approximately 1/8" lower than the top of the cabinets to support the undermount sinks.
"Preach the Gospel at all times; if necessary, use words." - St. Francis of Assisi
Lower the legs enough to sillicone a piece of wood to the underside of the granite, then screw the dw to that.
Darren.
My sister just got granite counter tops and I checked the dishwasher. It is not connected at the top, but is still very secure. After a closer examination I discovered that the contractor screwed through the lip of the basin into the side cabinets. Looks like drywall screws and I hope they don't rust. Good thing the basin was plastic, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to screw through it.
To keep the screw head from penetrating the plastic basin, he put the screw through a crome plated offset washer (grommet?).
<he put the screw through a crome plated offset washer (grommet?). >
We probably all new what you meant, but it's called a "finish washer" or I've also heard them called cup washers (because of the shape I assume).
All those who say to fasten it to the cabinets on either side are correct. The DW's I've put in under granite have been bosch's, and you just make a bend in the bracket and screw into the cabinets. That is what they say to do, its not just something we came up with.
Don, I would be very wary of drilling into granite. I would talk to some stone fabricators around your area and have them drill the holes. A few hundred dollars is much better and cheaper than damaging the countertop.
Thanks for the reply. I'm doing a bathroom remodel and I knew I would be installing the sink, but when I first went over the details with the HO, she said she was ordering solid-surface so I assumed Corian (or similar).
I've drilled, sawn and sanded Corian with no problem. Granite is new to me.
-Don
a few years a ago I had this same issue and brought it to the folks here in the forum. I ended up buying some corian, attaching it to the countertop with epoxy and then screwing the DW brackets into the corian using brass inserts. Never had a problem with it since. It was constantly tipping forward before I got it fixed.
My granite fabricator drills the underside of the granite using the dishwasher tabs as a template. Then he inserts those little plastic sheetrock anchors and then a screw into that. that way the screw wont crack the granite
bend the tabs on the DW so they touch the granite and the Dw is where you want it. then slather some silcone around the edges and over the holes/slots in the tabs.make coffee in the morning and you are done. The only loads are a bit of shear to the front when you open the door with stuff in the thing..Not my idea but my granite guys...works good...
Or a strip of wood/plywood could be epoxied to the bottom of the counter. I think I would trust it more than silicone, but either should work.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
I would'nt trust silicone like that. maybe epoxy
Through the sides into the adjacent cabinets. We do it all the time.
"Preach the Gospel at all times; if necessary, use words." - St. Francis of Assisi
Ditto on the Bosch. I've done them in the last 2 kitchens. Their side mount works great. They have a removeable plastic cover that exposes the connection hole. I'd use stainless screws though.
good ideas posted already...here is my take
I used to be a shop manager for a solid surface shop (Corian, Avonite, Fountainhead etc...) as well as a few granite jobs. When it came to securing a DW, we would try to attach a wood strip to the bottom side of the top with silicone or an industrial strength hot melt glue gun and drill into that. We also secured the washer to the side cabs when possible. When neither was possible, we would drill a hole 1/2 way thru the thickness of the top - usually about 1/2" - 3/4" with a drill bit that DID NOT HAVE A BRAD TIP PILOT! Use a masonary bit, being sure to tape off the bit at the exact length desired. onced drilled out, we used a plastic plug to fill the hole and put a small screw into it....BY HAND! If you have a dark color top, be sure and paint the exposed part of the wood to hide its appearance.
As for the undermount sink - assuming you are using a stainless sink - we would always build up the sink to match the thickness of the edge of the top ( most solid surface is 1/2" thick and 1 1/2 on the edge). we would cut the sink cut-out a 1/4" smaller than the template supplied, glue up 3" strips along the opening, glue it all up, then cut the template opening to size. We usually made a jig of the template and used a collar type system to do all this...
Once the opening was finished, we would use plenty of silicone caulking along the sink flange and clamp the sink in place. (One trick to be sure to use is to mask off the inside of the sink right up to the flange or you will have lots of fun thinkin of all the curse words you come up with while trying to remove silicone from the inside of your shiny new sink...not that I would know of course..:). As for the hold down clamps that come with your sink...we used the same fastening system as the dishwasher...drill, plug, screw. the silicone does most of the holding...just make sure it completely cures for a few days before fully loading it.
another tip...whatever you do...before you use the silicone to adhere your sink to the top, do not use any cleaner other than alcohol or the like to wipe it clean. if you use windex or 409, the silicone will not stick to the surface at all...
good luck!
"knowledge without experience is just information." Mark Twain
Edited 4/13/2005 10:37 pm ET by charlie the singing carpenter