Hi Kelly,
Just came across your wonderful blog. I know you get lots of email, so straight to the point:
Just had a new dishwasher installed in my 1990-vintage kitchen (stock, "contractor's special" cabinets and laminate countertop). It's a KitchenAid with flat front, controls on top edge of door, and large rounded handle. Issue: the front door protrudes about 1-1/2" from the front of my cabinet boxes, and about 3/8" from the front edge of the countertop. The installers said they couldn't fit the DW in any farther into the opening.
My question - is this common? If so, then how are similar DW's flush with cabinet boxes in my friends' recently remodeled kitchens? Are better/semi-custom cabinets typically deeper than the 24" standard of budget base cabinets?
I did some looking and it appears a 3/4" thick wall support for the countertop might be preventing the DW from sitting all the way back at the wall - but even that wouldn't fully explain it.This probably seems like a dumb question, but I just can't figure it out - standard cabinet depth is 24", the dishwasher is about 24-5/8" (not including the big handle of course) - so how do people do those nice, flush installations?
Thanks for your time and any insight you can provide! Matt
(Note: I had originally sent an email to Matt asking him to confirm one detail, but he didn’t, so after some time passed, I thought I’d post this anyway. It’s a fairly common question.)
Blogger Andie Reid of Cafe 305 blogs about her love/hate kitchen relationship.
Hi Matt,
I see it all the time with older cabinet styles. Right up until the 1990s, there were cabinets that were made so that the cabinet front was only 23-1/4" - 24" with the countertop only at 24" deep. It’s a pain because back in the earlier days, no one realized that the crumbs fell both onto the top of the drawers and doors as well as the dishwasher.
Here's a way to check: Measure the countertop from front to back. If the counter itself is 24" (or even 24-1/2”) and not today’s standard of 25”-26” (standard: 25-1/2”), then you have an older style cabinet.
Also, when the counter is 24", then the cabinets are also 24", which is why your 24-5/8" dishwasher door doesn't quite fit. Today's cabinets typically have a case depth of 24" plus the door (usually 5/8"- 3/4" with a 1/8" gap) which would have solved your 24-5/8" dishwasher door depth and given you that integral look you wanted.
Until you replace the countertops and cabinets, this is what most people are faced with. (Edited to add: My designer friend, Sarah over at Kitchen Clarity, helpfully suggested in the comments for one to purchase a European dishwasher, since they are 22-3/4" deep and might provide that flush fit some of you are looking for.)
Now you all know.
