install dishwasher
how to install dishwasher
installing a dishwasher
installing dishwasher

Portable dishwasher              Built in dishwasher                Under sink dishwasher

Hello again DIY enthusiasts! Today’s project, requiring only “easy to moderate” skill levels, is to install a dishwasher.

There really isn’t many more projects you can tackle that will make you more popular on the home front than this one, so lets get our tools together, and think this out before starting.

First of all, I am proceeding with this step by step guide on the presumption that there are pre-existing water and electrical lines in place, and that you have purchased and onsite is the machine you want.

One of my favorite big retailers, Home Depot, carries several TYPES of dishwashers;  Built in, portable, convertible,  under the sink dishwasher, and  whichever unit you have selected several of the componants you need to install it are similar. Not so for the Portable dishwasher, however. Their claim to fame is that they utilize temporary connections to the water source and drain. This means you will screw a coupling onto the faucet of your sink to use it, and disengage when you are finished.

Now THAT is an easy install!

Beginning with my usual caution to always buy Energy-Starrated appliances, (in this case, the well rated models will save you a minimum of $30 a year in power, and 500 gallons of water) I am going to presume that you have already obtained the correct dishwasher for your use, and barring that, the following materials will be needed. Whichever brand and model you purchase, also get the “installation kit” that goes with it Usually around $20 or so, it will contain the couplings, hoses and drain fittings specifically made for your unit.

Here are the tools you will need -

Flat head screwdriver	Drill	1” Spade bit
Torpedo level	Wire strippers	Tube bending springs
Tubing cutter	Adjustable wrench	Pliers

Okay, now here we go:

Double check your water supply and electrical are in place properly

Position the unit in front of the gap between cabinets where it will be installed.

Hook up your water supply by:

First, lay down a tarp to protect the floor and tip the dishwasher on its back. Remove the cover panel at the bottom of the unit. Wrap Teflon around the water inlet’s threads. Screw a brass elbow onto the inlet. Tighten with an adjustable wrench. Tilt the dishwasher up and push it up to the gap. Make sure that the water and electrical lines are properly seated. Feed the end of the drain line from the dishwasher through the side of the cabinet and up via the unused floor hole. Then have your assistant guide the drain line as you slide the machine in place

Tighten the nut onto the inlet

Using the inside bending spring, turn the copper supply to the elbow. Cut off any excess pipe but leave 2 inches of straight copper for the compression fitting. Slide a compression nut and ferrule over the end of the pipe and hand-tighten the nut onto the inlet. Using an adjustable wrench, tighten it another quarter turn.

Make your electrical connection:  Slide a cable clamp over the end of the exposed wires until it’s around the plastic or metal sheathing bundling the wires together. Using a screwdriver, tighten down the clamping bracket over the sheathing to hold the wires in place.

Unscrew the star-shaped nut on the clamp, then push the wires and threaded end of the clamp through the hole in the side of the unit’s junction box. Hand-tighten the nut back on the clamp from the inside of the box. Tighten the nut with pliers or a screwdriver.

Line up like colors of wire together—white to white and black to black—and tighten them together with wire nuts. If you have Romex (plastic-sheathed) cable, connect the green ground wire to the dishwasher’s green or bare-copper wire with a wire nut.

If you’re using BX cable, the armored jacket works as a ground when it’s clamped to the junction box. Wrap the exposed tip of the dishwasher’s ground wire around a mounting screw on the junction box and clamp it down with the screw

Attach the drain line

Slipping a clamp over the tip of the dishwasher’s drain line, gently guide the hose over your sinks drain inlet—either branching off the drain tailpiece or the side of the garbage disposer. Take care not to kink the line or wrap it around the spray hose line. Slide the hose clamp over the connection and turn the screw to tighten it down.