How to choose a cabinet and install a dishwasher in it

Very often, buying a dishwasher does not coincide with the moment of remaking the kitchen and ordering new furniture. The fact is that the kitchen can already be redone, but they didn’t even dream about a dishwasher at that time, or vice versa, to make kitchen furniture for a dishwasher, you need a lot of money, but they simply don’t, but this is not a reason to refuse to help the kitchen.

This is where the question arises, how to integrate a dishwasher into an existing kitchen, whether it is old or new, which cabinet to choose for this?

What should be the closet

So, the situation is quite clear, there is a kitchen with cabinets and a 60 or 45 cm dishwasher. As a rule, there is no extra space to put a dishwasher separately. In this case, no matter how much you would like, you will have to sacrifice one of the cabinets in the kitchen. There may be several options:

1. Embed the dishwasher in a cabinet under the sink, in other words, in the sink.
2. Install the dishwasher in one of the cabinets that you used for cooking pots or storing cereals and other necessities.
3. Integrate the machine into a wall cabinet above the sink.

The first option is pretty good, because the size of the sink can just fit the size of a compact dishwasher with a height of 50 to 60 cm and a width of 45 cm. The downside is that the dishwasher will be small, accommodating from 4 to 6 sets of dishes. And you also have to redo the siphon so that the water inlet and outlet are behind the dishwasher, and not above it.

We consider the second option more optimal. It will be possible to fit both a compact and a floor-mounted dishwasher into a usual cabinet of a kitchen set with a width of 45 or 60 cm and a depth of not more than 60 cm. Everything will depend on what size the chosen cabinet has. And, of course, in any case, such a cabinet will have to be slightly modernized, which will be discussed later. In addition, you have to try and optimize the storage of food and utensils in the kitchen. Very often we store in cabinets what we do not need, so we will have to finally part with these things in favor of the dishwasher.

Note! Make stocks of cereals, sugar, flour and other products with a long shelf life minimal, you do not need to make stocks of tens of kilograms if there is no place for them, especially since you can always buy them.

The option of installing the machine in a wall cabinet has more disadvantages than advantages. Firstly, the wall cabinet must be very well fixed to the load-bearing wall in order to withstand the load. Secondly, communications to the machine will be visible on the wall, which is clearly not aesthetically pleasing. Thirdly, it is inconvenient to load the dishwasher hanging above the sink, and the size and loading of such a dishwasher will be small. However, there are cases of such installation, because we mention them in our article.

What should be the closet?

• The cabinet must be positioned so that the drain and water inlet hose can be easily connected without additional extension. This is not more than 1.5 meters from the water supply.
• If possible, the cabinet should be close to the outlet to connect to the mains. Otherwise, you will have to conduct wiring and organize a separate connection of the dishwasher to electricity.
• The size of the cabinet should be appropriate in width, depth and height to the dishwasher. For example, if the cabinet has a size (WxDxH) of 60 x 60 x 85 cm, then a dishwasher whose size (WxDxH) of which 60 x 58x 82 cm is unlikely to fit into such a cabinet, the width of the dishwasher should be no more than 58-59 cm.

Cabinet preparation

Before "sticking" the dishwasher into the cabinet, it will need to be dismantled and modernized. In each specific case, the work will have its own nuances, we will describe everything using the example of embedding a 60 or 45 cm floor-standing dishwasher. We do the following:

• with a screwdriver or a screwdriver, unscrew the screws that secure the cabinet to the countertop;
• we wrap fastenings between the dismantled and adjacent cases;
• make sure that all the retaining fasteners are removed, and pull the cabinet towards you to pull it out of place;
• remove the shelves, the back and top covers of the cabinet, leaving only the sidewalls with doors or one door.
• remove the front and rear base, leave only the side parts of the base;
• we drill with a special nozzle in the back of the side wall, at the bottom, a recess for hoses and an electric wire;
• then install the side walls and the base, fixing them with ties to the side walls of adjacent cabinets.

This will complete the preparation. You can also glue a metallized film on the countertop from the inside, so that during operation the countertop does not deteriorate from steam entering it from the dishwasher when the door is opened.

Dishwasher installation

Now it remains only to install the dishwasher in the prepared cabinet. The process is simple:

• lower the legs of the dishwasher;
• push the equipment into the cabinet while threading the hoses and electric wire into the holes made;
• now tighten the legs of the dishwasher so that it rests on the countertop, if necessary, you can fix the unit with metal corners to the countertop so that it does not vibrate, but this is for built-in models;
• Further connect the machine to the water supply and drain;
• return to place the front base.

Thus, the installation process of the built-in or free-standing dishwasher in the cabinet will be completed. It remains only to check it for operability. To do this, you can run a test wash. We hope that in general terms it has become clear to you which cabinet to choose for a dishwasher 60 or 45 cm, so that it can easily be built into it.