How to Remove an Old Dishwasher

The modern age has provided us with numerous home appliances to make our lives easier. The dishwasher is one of them and it’s probably the most unappreciated one. People who don’t have a dishwasher understands the pain of cleaning all the dirty dishes after every meal.

But people who do have a dishwasher also face problems from time to time. The most common one would be the dishwasher dying on them. It’s a very common problem, especially among the old ones. One day you might find that your dishwasher is not working as well.

What do You do?

You go out and buy a new one. But there is a catch. You need to remove the old dishwasher before you can install the new one. You might want to call your local plumbing company to do the job for you. But wait.

Removing an old dishwasher is not such a job that you need to ask for help. How to remove an old dishwasher? Well, today’s agenda is to answer the question. Read on below to know how to remove a dishwasher.

Getting the Tools

Before we answer your question on how to uninstall dishwasher, we think it’s better to let you know what tools you might need. The difficulty level of this task sits well below the red line. There is no need for any specialized tools as well.

All you need is some plumbing wrenches. It’s best if you can manage channel-type pliers. With the pliers, a Philips head screwdriver should suffice. But you might want to keep different types of screwdrivers close to hand because some dishwashers might use different types of screws.

Get some thread seal tapes for sealing the water if something emergency happens. If you don’t have any of them, it’s best to get them from your local hardware store. All of the above-mentioned tools will cost you less than paying the plumbers.

Getting Things Ready

After getting the tools ready, you need to get ready for the task. Wear some old clothes or clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty.

The next big step would be to shut the water supply of your home. Now, on a lot of how to remove an old dishwasher guide, you might notice that they are telling you to shut the valve for the dishwasher only.

But shutting off the dishwasher water valve doesn’t guarantee your protection. It’s always better to be safe than sorry. Shutting off your main water supply will ensure that no water is coming out of the line when you disconnect it.

Then, it’s crucial that you disconnect the electric lines. You might not find this tip on others ‘how to disconnect a dishwasher’ tutorials. The connection that powers the dishwasher will carry a lot of electricity. If you’re not a trained electrician, it’s best not to mess with the connections.

What other how to remove a dishwasher guide won’t tell you is that you can disconnect the electric power without being a technician. The most important step would be to disconnect the main power of the entire house.

You might think about how are you supposed to work in the dark. Well, you don’t need to disconnect electricity for the entire process of removing the dishwasher. It’s for removing the electric power of the dishwasher only.

Usually, there is a fuse box in every household that houses the circuit breaker for different devices and appliances. You need to find the main fuse. It’s usually larger than the other and sits on one side of the fuse box.

Pull the level on the breaker and see if your house has power. If yes, you’re done. If not, you can try with other breakers till you find the right one. It’s best if you can find the breaker the dishwasher itself. It will eliminate the need to remove electricity from the entire home.

An important tip would be to place a piece of masking tape over the breaker you are working on. So, no one will accidentally complete the circuit.

You’re ready to remove a dishwasher now. Let’s get to the real job.

How to Remove an Old Dishwasher

Now that you’ve disconnected all the necessary lines and valves, its time for you to get to removing the old dishwasher. We’ll go through step by step for your better understanding.

Removing the Water Pipes

The first order of business would be to look behind the dishwasher itself. There should be at least two water pipes going in the dishwasher. One is the main water supply that’s connected to the primary water line, and the secondary pipe should be connected to the sink’s hot water line. There should be some electric wires as well.

As you don’t have electricity right now, go ahead and disconnect the wires. You can reinstate the electricity after you are done.

Take the plumbing wrenches or channel-type pliers you got and start unscrewing. This could easily be one of the most complicated parts of the whole process. But it shouldn’t be for you. Remember we asked you to shut off the main water valve for your house, that’s why.

Remove both the pipes by unscrewing them. One thing people often forget is the drain pipe. It’s a rubber hose that might be angled up to connect to the air gap. The air gap is a safety mechanism used in a lot of dishwashers. In ensures that dirty water is not going back to ruin your hard work of washing the dishes.

Removing the Mounting Brackets

You might or might not need to open the dishwasher door to remove the mounting brackets. They are usually at the top. If you can see the screws from outside, you don’t need to open the doors. Get your screwdriver and start opening.

One important tip here would be not to remove the screws all at once. Get to one screw, unscrew it for a bit and switch. This way the dishwasher won’t fall out accidentally and hurting your feet or ruin the nice floor you have.

Make sure to put a towel or folded cardboard where you want to put the dishwasher. Removing a dishwasher might result in a dirty mess if you’re not careful.

There might be additional mounting screws on the bottom of the dishwasher. Or it might be spring clips. Look for them and remove them. You don’t need any specialized tools to remove spring clips as well. A flathead screwdriver will work just fine.

Now, you’re ready to take the old dishwasher out. Carefully place the towel that you have and put it right in front of the dishwasher. Hold the dishwasher by two hands on each side and gently pull. You might need to give it a few whacks before it comes loose.

Pull the dishwasher out and put it over the towel. Once you put the dishwasher on the towel or cardboard, you are done. You can use threat seal tapes to seal the openings of the water pipe and shut off any additional valves you might see. You can turn the water back on of your home.

Your new dishwasher is ready to install.

Take Away

How to uninstall a dishwasher is a very common question among the beginners. It might seem like a daunting task but if you have proper guidance, there are only a few jobs easier than this. All you need is the willpower to DIY and some common tools.