Can I put a dishwasher in here?

Question

I bought this duplex 5/17 and put in new appliances, floor and paint.  I am considering putting in a dishwasher to increase the appeal of the units accompanied with a higher rent price.

My first thought is to just add a unit to the end of the cabinets on the left side of the picture.  Would I just run the hoses through the current cabinetry (behind the stove) and to the sink?  Can a dishwasher handle pumping that much/far?

The second idea is removing the cabinets next to the fridge (right of the sink) and placing one there.  I would prefer not to do this.

The third option would be providing a portable unit, which may be an option.   Thanks for any input.

Kelly R. · Answer

If you are thinking of moving the cabinet over check to see if the flooring has been installed around the cabinets or under them... This could affect the height of the cabinet.

Jim Adrian · Answer

@Alex Gordon

You don't have any good options for a dishwasher unfortunately. Option 1 is a No Go!  Dishwasher wont pump that far.  Lines will clog and create a big mess.  No clearance behind the stove for pipes.

Option 2 is a better option.  I did something like this at my rental.  You don't want dishwasher more than 3' away from drain source. This is why you always see the dishwasher adjacent to the sink cabinet. This option may work due to the corner wall we cant see in this picture.  Know what's in the wall. This could be a chase / chimney that won't allow pipes to pass thru.

Option 3 can work but you need place to park it and then they will be tripping over it when its running.

I would stay away from an 18" wide dishwasher.  They are very uncommon and expensive. One day they will not exist. This will allow the dishwasher door to fully open and not interfere with the stove.

One idea for you is to reconfigure the sink wall cabinets.  Move the sink tot he lift and then put the dishwasher to the right of the sink.  You need 24" wide for dishwasher.

Matt R. · Answer

Disclaimer: I am not a professional plumber or electrician.

The thing about running the dishwasher hoses behind the stove is that there's a chance you could melt them.  Look up the manual for your stove's model number, and it will probably have a "clearance required to noncombustible surface" section - see what that says about clearance behind the stove.  Usually it's a small number, like 1", but not zero.  Plaster and drywall count as noncombustible, but a plastic dishwasher drain pipe doesn't.

If there's a basement, or even a crawl space, under this kitchen, you might consider running a new water supply pipe and drain pipe down there.  My residence has a kitchen layout similar to this, and the dishwasher was added later, on the far side of the stove from the sink.  The dishwasher water supply comes up through the floor from the basement, and the shutoff valve is in the basement.  The dishwasher drain goes through the floor into the basement, into a P-trap, and then runs over to the drain coming down from the kitchen sink.

If all you have is a crawl space, you might want to bring the supply line up into the kitchen, then have the shutoff valve, and then the flex pipe to the dishwasher - it's easier to reach under the dishwasher and turn the shutoff valve than it is to go fool around in the crawl space to find the valve.  Or, running the dishwasher supply line over from the hot water connection under the sink, through the back of the cabinets, may be OK.  You can buy a shutoff valve for under the sink that has two goes-outas for exactly this purpose - one goes-outa to the sink faucet, and one goes-outa to the dishwasher.  Having a copper hot water line behind the stove is not as big of a deal, as long as the stove doesn't squish the water line if somebody tries to push the stove all the way back - either run the water line in the bottom corner of the wall and floor behind the stove, or maybe install some small wood or metal blocks against the back wall to prevent the stove from being shoved back that far to squish the pipe - but make sure the anti-tip bracket for the stove still engages. (If your stove is getting hot enough to melt a copper line behind it, you have problems that plumbing alone cannot solve.)

Note that whatever you do with the dishwasher drain, you at least need to take the dishwasher drain hose *up*, all the way to the bottom side of the countertop, before heading back down again to the house drain.  This creates an air gap, which helps keep stuff from the rest of the drain system from siphoning into the bottom of the dishwasher.  This can be as simple as a bracket or pipe strap to hold the drain hose up against the bottom of the countertop.  Your local building code may require an "official" air gap, which is a little widget that sticks through a hole drilled in the countertop and has a couple of connections under the countertop - one for the drain hose from the dishwasher, and one for the drain hose to the house drain system.  The big-box store will have them for sale either next to the dishwashers or in the plumbing aisle, labeled "dishwasher air gap".

For the electric for the dishwasher, you may have a couple of options.  If that house was built to allow either an electric or a gas range, there will probably be a normal 120 V outlet behind the range, that was designed to run the oven light and timer on a gas range.  You can probably put a cord and plug on the dishwasher and plug it into that socket.  Use 14 gauge wire in the cord (good for 15 A) to remove all doubt.  It may also be helpful to have a right-angle plug on the cord so the stove can be pushed back against the wall.

If all you have is a 240 V outlet for an electric range, you can't tap that outlet for the dishwasher.  The usual solution is to come up through the floor with a nonmetallic cable (Romex™or equal) for the dishwasher.  I think that modern electrical code wants the dishwasher to be on its own circuit... you're not supposed to tap the circuit that serves the countertop outlet to the left of the stove, because that should be one of the two 20 A kitchen circuits.  If you have a basement or crawl space, arranging a new circuit for the dishwasher is not a very big deal.  If you have an attic right above this kitchen, it's a little more work, but doable.

I hope this helps!

Alex Gordon · Answer

Good Call Account Closed  It's hard to know exactly, a same floorplan on the block goes for $200 more but I think it's overpriced.  I was going to add $30 a month most likely for a dishwasher.

Ola Dantis · Answer

@Alex Gordon Make sure this ONE change will have an impact on the rent.

Mike Reynolds · Answer

@Alex Gordon

If you have a P trap instead of an S trap use option 4. Put one like this under the sink. There is not much room under there anyway. Plus its close to all the water and drains.

Max T. · Answer

The 18" dishwashers are super expensive compared to regular size!

I think the discharge hose wouldn't be long enough to reach the sink from the left end in your photo.

Can I put a dishwasher in here?

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