Browse Forums Kitchen Appliances 1 Dec 17, 2011 2:38 pm We’ve just built a house with a volume builder. I’m having trouble fitting the integrated dishwasher into the dishwasher space and it’s doing my head in!!! We had asked the builder to install it but they refused and now I can see why! It’s seemingly very hard to get an integrated dishwasher to sit flush with the adjacent cabinetry. It’s a very tight squeeze and the dishwasher has no adjustable feet, which is no help! It’s sitting forward of the surrounding cupboards on the left side. Basically, the height of the space at the rear is 856mm on the left and 860mm on the right. The height of the dishwasher is 860mm. I can push the dishwasher in on the right side but not the left because it’s out by 4mm. It’s looking to me that the slab is slightly sloping upwards towards the rear of the dishwasher space on the left side although; there are tiles under the dishwasher. I just had the tiler return to remove the porcelain tiles he’d laid and replace them with a thinner tile as I thought he must’ve laid them on the slope but it’s still sloping! So now I suspect that the slab is not exactly level. So I’m wondering what you would do or if anyone has had some experience with an integrated dishwasher??? Should I remove the tiles and have it sit directly on the slab? That could possibly get the dishwasher in the space so it wouldn’t stick out and I could push it right back. But I imagine that the door will sit on an angle and not sit flush with the surrounding cabinets though if the slab is not entirely level. So then how would I get the floor level? I’m not handy, DH isn’t handy so I just don’t know what to do. Moral of the story, don’t buy an integrated dishwasher if the builder won’t install it and don’t buy a dishwasher with no adjustable feet. Here is a pic of the dishwasher in the space before the tiler replaced the tiles with thinner tiles under it so it goes back a little further now but you can see how it doesn't sit completely straight... http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x71/g48097/House/Dishwasher1.jpg Re: Help!!! Integrated dishwasher nightmare… 2Dec 20, 2011 5:53 pm Any chance you could remove some material off the back left foot of the dishwasher? does it sit proud of the base of the washer if it does you may be able to file or grind some off depending on the material the foot is made of, then just trial and error taking a bit off and sliding it in until it fits, otherwise you may have to remove the tile that is high and chip away at the concrete to lower the tile. Just some ideas anyway. Cheers Re: Help!!! Integrated dishwasher nightmare… 3Dec 20, 2011 11:16 pm What sort of dishwasher is it? You obviously know, but I'm amazed that a diswasher doesn't have adjustable feet. Mind you the bench height may be below the minimum height in which case adjustable feet wouldn't help. Can you return the dishwasher and get one that will fit your opening? Accessible Carpentry & Cabinets accessiblecarpentry@gmail.com accessiblecarpentry.com.au https://www.facebook.com/pages/Accessible-Carpentry-Cabinets/583314911709039 Re: Help!!! Integrated dishwasher nightmare… 4Dec 20, 2011 11:30 pm did you give the builder the DW specs before the cabinets were made? even if you didn't they should have allowed/asked what your plans were there. Cabinetry is a made to fit item.... anything can be done to fit what you require. Don't settle for make do and don't stress about it, its only mdf and it can be molded to do whats needed lol Re: Help!!! Integrated dishwasher nightmare… 5Dec 21, 2011 11:35 am Chippy, I’m so dumb. I just looked at the installation instructions and it does have adjustable feet but they seem to be right down I think. The installation instructions say that the dishwasher should measure a minimum 86mm high and it does. I doubt I can return the dishwasher as we have been using it, although I would love to…we’d buy one that fits and doesn’t require us to fit a door to it. Stumper, can’t remove anything off the foot of the dishwasher. It’s the whole dishwasher itself that is too high. DH is thinking we’ll have to try grinding the tile but I don’t know. We need to gain 4mm and I imagine a tile is about that anyway so we’re probably better off just removing the tile and doing your suggestion of grinding the concrete. Sceen7, yes, I did give the builder the dishwasher specs and that’s what’s been so frustrating about my kitchen. It’s like they didn’t take any notice of them and just went along and did their standard height for the bench and standard depth for the dishwasher space. Even my fridge is sticking out of its space. The depth of the cupboard is just their standard depth. I gave them the fridge specs as well. Re: Help!!! Integrated dishwasher nightmare… 6Dec 21, 2011 1:30 pm When you say the builder refused to fit it, when exactly did they refuse? If the contract includes appliances and the ones you chose were the ones included on the original contract they have to fit them of at least pay for them to be fitted. If this is the case they should have designed the cabinets accordingly. Our builder's electrician would fit our rangehood as he doesn't do through roof fit outs. The builder had the instruction for 4 months and had every opportunity to find out that it was an external rangehood motor. The supervisor just stared at me with a blank face when I explained how it worked. IF its in your contract then I say tell them you'll be sending a bill to them. Re: Help!!! Integrated dishwasher nightmare… 7Dec 21, 2011 2:29 pm The contract didn't include appliances. We purchased our own. We didn't like the builder's selection. At the final builder interview, the builder agreed to install the oven and steam oven but refused to install the dishwasher and canopy rangehood. We didn't think it would be a hassle for us as we just thought we'd get a plumber to install the dishwasher. We'd already had our selection interview for the kitchen by that stage and had given the kitchen company the measurements of the dishwasher. They agreed to supply a melamine door for the dishwasher for a fee. We assumed they would attach the door to the dishwasher but when we asked them just now, they said it's not their responsibility. I'm dreading trying to use a drill to attach it onto the dishwasher myself. I don't know how to do that and if I get it crooked, it messes up the whole kitchen. Re: Help!!! Integrated dishwasher nightmare… 8Jan 05, 2012 9:08 pm I was looking at the pictures of your dishwasher in your main thread and realised that yours is a Bosch that is very similar to mine, though mine is not a semi integrated model. Assuming it works the same you will find that at the back there is only 1 leg which is centred and is adjusted by a screw located front centre. So if one side is higher than the other at the rear it says to me that the thing is not level front to back and also slightly out left to right, with the rear magnifying the front being out. Cutting or removing tiles won't help too much.
What I would suggest is remove the thing and set the rear CENTRE leg is to the correct height. Then adjust the front legs independently to get the same height. Then put the thing in and make minor changes to the front only. With mine it took about 30 minutes of me adjusting 1 side up, 1 down, bit here, bit there to get it all level and square to my satisfaction. Here is a pic of mine installed, as you can see the thing that I needed to do was get the bottom of the dishwasher drawer alligned perfectly with the filler panels on the the adjacent cabinets. What I found to be an imbugerance was the adjuster on the front feet didn't seem symetrical meaning I had to adjust my spanner for every 1/3 turn of the legs, not helped by them being plastic and the dishwasher heavy. It was also a tad tricky to mount the skirting board to the mounting brackets as there is no template owing to the height being variable. PS The Bosch install instructions are pretty crap too, all graphics on one page with no words describing the process or attempting to make sense of what they are on about. Re: Help!!! Integrated dishwasher nightmare… 9Jan 06, 2012 6:06 pm I have very much the same Bosch semi integrated dishwasher supplied by myself, and fitted by the builders. We had our bench tops specified to be 93cm (tile surface to bench surface) as I find it easier to use a taller bench. The island was installed before the tiling, so there are no tiles under the dishwasher. I think they even had to instal a filler above as in the photo. There is also a shadow line under the stone top that is hard to see in the photo. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ free image hosting Integrated fridge and freezer in background. Slab poured 21/04/2011 Frame finished 27/05/2011 Moved in 07/11/2011 Re: Help!!! Integrated dishwasher nightmare… 10Jan 10, 2012 3:49 am when, I was looking at the pictures of your dishwasher in your main thread and realised that yours is a Bosch that is very similar to mine, though mine is not a semi integrated model. Assuming it works the same you will find that at the back there is only 1 leg which is centred and is adjusted by a screw located front centre. So if one side is higher than the other at the rear it says to me that the thing is not level front to back and also slightly out left to right, with the rear magnifying the front being out. Cutting or removing tiles won't help too much. Re: Help!!! Integrated dishwasher nightmare… 11Feb 22, 2012 12:00 pm I had the same problem with mine (and I built the kitchen cabinets ). I just cut about 20mm off each foot and it slid in with no troubles, I then just used some plastic (ice cream lid) to lift up the front as mine didn't have adjustable feet. 2 2523 I am installing a new Bosch SMU4HTS01A built under dushwasher. I have 2 questions. What is the function of the metal strip about 500mm long x 60mm wide the tell you to… 0 2698 Hi there, long-time lurker but first time posting. I've bought a house 2 and a bit years ago and last year we had some major water damage on a converted pergola area… 0 7929 |