Flood the Kitchen
Live Better
Published: 9/16/20
By: Brennen Waldron
I fall within the unfortunate category of someone who hates doing dishes and has no room for a dishwasher. Or so I thought.
A standard dishwasher is designed to fit underneath the countertop, 35 inches tall and 24 inches wide. There is just simply not enough space to accommodate a dishwasher like that in my house. With a small kitchen, every single drawer and cabinet under the countertop is occupied. So when dishes become dirty at the same rate they become clean, it forced me to think, “There has to be another way!”
Enter the countertop dishwasher. The countertop dishwasher is designed to, well, fit on your countertop. Dimensions coming in at around 21 inches wide by 19 inches tall by 20 inches deep, the countertop dishwasher is just the top rack of your standard dishwasher. Because these units are typically purchased for an apartment, the countertop dishwasher does not have to be installed directly into your plumbing. The dishwasher comes with a set of hoses that connect to your kitchen sink so that when you’re ready to use it, simply turn on the sink hose, which will feed the dishwasher, and all the draining liquid will expel into your sink.
Well, again, I feel in the situation of somebody who hates doing dishes, doesn’t have room for a standard dishwasher, and doesn’t even have enough countertop space for a countertop dishwasher. But again, “there has to be a better way!”
Searching through the depth of Reddit and Home Depot Q&A sections, I found that installing under your counter could be done… but nowhere could I found out how to do it. As a disclaimer, I have no idea what I’m doing when it comes to plumbing, but I am willing to try it. I went ahead and ordered the countertop dishwasher online, and in the meantime, I went ahead and just bought a bunch of standard plumbing connections that might work on this small dishwasher.
We were able to sacrifice enough space to cut a hole into our cabinetry for our countertop dishwasher after reviewing our cabinets’ contents.
The weekend came, fully expecting a quick DIY project turned into a 10-hour excursion under the sink watching YouTube and praying to the plumbing gods. In the end, it all worked out, but I will say at one point I plugged the wrong hose into the wrong connection and inevitably filled the kitchen with about a half-inch of hot water. Nonetheless, it’s done and installed…and works.
Since installing this countertop dishwasher, our lives have seriously changed. Changed in a way that our outlook is more positive, our marriage is stronger, and we don’t mind breaking out our actual plates and silverware anymore. The dishwasher is the perfect size for a house of two, soon to be three. It holds all the cups, plates, and pans used in a day. I guess what I drew from this experience is that there is always a better way, just as long as you’re okay with flooding your kitchen in the process.
Context
Countertop dishwasher installed ‘counter under’ at Waldron HQ
Thoughts
– What is something that prompts you to think, “There must be a better way?”
– Have you ever “flooded the kitchen”?
– How often do you do the dishes?
