My wife and I are about 40+ in age and we are discussing a way to install a dishwasher higher off the floor-because it’s too darn far down to bend over to load and unload the thing (we’re too old or lazy-take your pick).
Has anyone seen this done? Perhaps it could be installed on a base cabinet about a foot high.
Yes, it would take some planning and remodel with the counter room and etc, but it would sure be nice!
Brant
A high-performance single-family home builder shares tips from his early experience with two apartment buildings.
"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
A couple of the displays at one of our Lowes stores has the dishwasher raised. I didn't look too closely at it though. Maybe next time I'm in there. Might have been a drawer underneath it. And obviously that section of counter was higher.
jt8
"You live and learn. At any rate, you live." -- Douglas Adams
Yep, you can put the dishwasher on a platform. However, unless you have an unusually tall counter, you probably can't raise it by the foot you're suggesting.
You might check out the dishwasher drawers from Fisher Paykel, Kitchenaid, and others. Two seperate drawers fit in the usual dishwasher cavity. You only have to lean down to use the bottom drawer. That is, if you can primarily use the top drawer, you don't have to lean down.
I would think that an elevated Dishwasher with a Microwave installed above would make a good pairing.
Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
Parenting has always been a mix of sage life advice and inexcusable laziness.
Build it in like you would a wall oven but watch out for damp-ness from any vents effecting the doors above.
Get Fisher Pykal Dish Drawers. One on either side of your kitchen sink. Have em and love em. No bending and you can put storage drawers underneath.
Another option is the dish drawer concept. Fisher-Paykel is one
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
We did it about 10 years ago. Our dishwasher is raised and my wife and I love it. I don't remember where she got the idea but when we (mostly me) remodled our kitchen the cabinet company had never done one like it.
Here in Texas, all the tract builders seem to have at least one "upper end" model house with the d/w 4-6" higher. Sometimes, the kitchens are actually "designed" around the resulting "camel hump" in the counter (others, just bump up where ever the "stock" location is <blecch>).
None of these really have room for a proper drawer underneath; and you almost have to have some sort of removable cover to get to the "toe kick" connections under the d/w.
Now, the suggestion to build the d/w into a taller cabient, like a wall oven or m/w cabinet is pretty slick; neither of those appliacnces is much bothered by the warmth of a running d/w). Building in also means not having a hump-backed counter top, too.
That's the good. The bad is, instead of clouting your shin on the door; it's right in the knee. It can be hard to plumb these where an air gap is required, since the d/w is higher than the sink. The upper rack is also a lot closer than a person might be used to, too.
So, the better answer is a dishdrawer. F&P were first, others have followed (some are rebranded F&P, too). Originally, you had to be tough, it was $1100-1200 for either a d/w-sized two drawer unit, or for a pair of single drawers. Prices are a bit better now (that an mid-to-better d/w has gone up).
we have ours up 1 foot with a drawer underneath,then the cabinet jumps back 6" with the micro wave in that space,with cabinets to the ceiling from there. it is great with the only drawback being is you lose 2' of counter space,that was no problem for us because of where it's located. if you want a pic let me know and i'll try and get one loaded. larry
hand me the chainsaw, i need to trim the casing just a hair.
How do you plumb it so there's no backwash into the DW?
I love the idea, just have to figure how to fit it in so it looks nice.
Since the dirty wather is actually pumped out (not drained like a sink) I wonder if you could pipe it directly to the drain stack using a sanitary Y? No air gap needed since there would be no back flow of dirty water.Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
Parenting has always been a mix of sage life advice and inexcusable laziness.
I hope we get a plumber's take on this one. I, too, was thinking about the gap.
You would need some sort of trap between the DW and the stack, though.
I had the same question--I thought code required an air gap to prevent "back draft" of dirty water. There was a thread about that not too long ago--most posters felt an air gaop was not necessary.
I did exactly this with ours. I put the everyday dishes cab over and a HVAC vent under. It is always hard to find space for HVAC in kitchen and this worked out well. Fancy dishes go other places closer to dining room. No problem with backflush from drain. The steam from DW goes up and the setback to the top cab is about a foot so no problem there.
That foot also gives a bit of a countertop to set things on to get into and out of DW, cab above, and fridge beside. BTW, the DW is a stack of drawers away from the sink for unloading the silverware and utensils.
I love not bending down and stacked the front loading energy eff washer and dryer.
have fun...dan
Hey Everyone-Thanks for all the input. This idea may catch on!
So, I'm considering a remodel (doing myself) of a whole wall in my kitchen ( tearing out, remodel, new this and that, etc, etc, $$$, $$$, work, work) so I don't have to bend over too far to use the dishwasher.
Makes sense to me. Only in America!Well, Guess I have to learn how to do THAT, now!
So does a dishwasher drawer "offically" require an airgap?
Seems sorta like the same problem experinced with a elevated DW, where to put the silly thing.
What are people doing?
Look at dish drawers, like Fisher-Paykel