# Remove Dishwasher, Replace with Cabinet?



## TwoRails (Jan 23, 2016)

We haven’t used the dishwasher in 20 years… We also don’t have enough kitchen cabinet space… So it hit me: why not just yank out the dishwasher and make a cabinet to go into the hole? 
So I Googled it and didn’t find anything related. I found how to replace a dishwasher with a new one. Nope. I found how to make a cabinet to put a dishwasher into. Nope.

I didn’t find any ideas on filling the hole. 

I was hoping to find some examples so I can get an idea on what I want. Like make a door and have pull out wire basket shelving? Make pull out drawers? I’d need at least one big drawer for pots and pans.

Anybody do something like this? Any ideas?? 

This would be a spare time project, which I don't have much of, so I’d consider a pre-made unit if affordable. 
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## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

As I recall, dishwashers occupy a space that would normally be occupied by a cabinet that would have come in a standard size. If it’s beem a while, finding an ideal match might be tricky.


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## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

And, oh by the way, there are usually filler strips available just in case.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

You could build a cabinet but matching the doors on the rest of the cabinets and getting the stain color right will be the hard part. I would make it in such a way where you can just slide it in and screw it to the existing cabinets. Someday when you sell the house it will be important to put a dish washer back in there. It will reduce the value of the house if there is no dishwasher in the kitchen.


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

Steve Neul said:


> You could build a cabinet but matching the doors on the rest of the cabinets and getting the stain color right will be the hard part. I would make it in such a way where you can just slide it in and screw it to the existing cabinets. Someday when you sell the house it will be important to put a dish washer back in there. It will reduce the value of the house if there is no dishwasher in the kitchen.



Completely agree. Just make a free standing cabinet that is the size of the hole and then slide it into place.


George


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## andr0id (Jan 11, 2018)

Dishwashers are almost always specified as 24". That mean you need a hole 24" wide and the actual dishwasher will be about 23-7/8" or so. 

Buy or make a 24" base cabinet. 

You should be able to slip that into the dishwasher's hole with only a bit of trimming needed. 



I'd try to make it a hair short and then push it onto shims so it jammed tight against the countertop.


The hardest part will be getting doors and drawers to match. If they're painted, just repaint. If it's stained, matching is harder to do.


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## Toolman50 (Mar 22, 2015)

If you were to sell your home, it would sell better with the dishwasher. Just saying....


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## FrankC (Aug 24, 2012)

If all else fails remove the front cover from the dishwasher and make it into a false door.


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## TwoRails (Jan 23, 2016)

Hi All,

On the above (instead of Quoting everything):

Yes, staining I want to avoid if possible, especially after my first and recent staining fiasco. Long story short, I now have stain that matches the rest of the kitchen, but it was color matched to work on white pine. 

Since the dishwasher is at least over 20 years old, and we never have used it, I couldn’t attest to it working if we ever sold the place (unlikely). The house is about 30 years old, so I’ll assume that’s the real age of the unit. If we ever did sell the place, I imagine I would knock off the price of a new one or just put one in.

Getting a base cabinet is a good idea. I had Googled that and the cheapy units are around $200 and better ones can go for over $700! Ouch! See below on this…

Using the dishwasher itself, after removing the door, is another option; pretty neat idea.

But, today I came across a base cabinet I couldn’t refuse. I figured it was a win-win. I was in another town about 25-30 miles away and saw a new hardware store. So I checked it out. Small with typical slightly high prices of small stores. On the way out there was a custom cabinet showcase room that was kind of out of place for the rest of the store.

No cabinets, just show pieces to order from. But off to the side there was this unit that looked about the right size. Just to get an idea on custom cabinet prices, I asked how much, knowing I couldn’t afford one. The lady said $60!? Huh? What? 

It was made wrong she said; the drawers were suppose to be on the right side, not the left (see attachment) so the sink plumbing wouldn’t work.

I asked about returning it if ‘the Boss’ didn’t like it, and no, I couldn’t, so I was ready to pass on it. Then she seemed anxious to get rid of it and asked what I’d pay for it. I asked her bottom line. She said $30, and I said sold!

The unit is built very nice, dovetailed drawers, front and back, the carcass is Birch plywood not particle board, the rest is solid wood, the drawer slides are very nice full extension soft close slides, and Euro hinges on the door. 

So even if I ‘parted it out’ it’s more than $30 just for the Birch plywood, and the slides, I’d guess, are $30+ a pair slides at a hardware store. Even if the Boss didn’t like it, I feel like I got a good deal. (It’ still in the back of the truck and she hasn’t seen it yet…)

No, it’s not perfect, but the wood and stain is virtually identical to what’s in the kitchen now. A big plus. Since it’s for a sink, the top is a false front drawer. But it’s just clipped in, not glued on, so I can make a drawer and put the false front on it and it matches. Another plus. I haven’t measured the height of the hole yet, but I can tell the cabinet is several inches too short. Hmmm… maybe make a pull out to keep the cutting boards on!? 

It’s not built like I would design it as there’s a lot of wasted space. The drawers are tiny inside and being 3/4” thick wood a lot of space is used up there, too. There’s also a large gap above, below, and in between the drawers, too. Hmmm…maybe build longer, taller drawer boxes??

Inside the door is for a typical trash can; not needed. So maybe some multilevel pull out wire rack drawers? Hmmm…

Oh, the drawers look all lopsided in the attachment, but the unit is still on its side in the photo as it’s still in the back of the truck; I just rotated the image to upright.
.


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## nywoodwizard (Oct 31, 2006)

Most dishwashers are made for a 24" opening, a fairly standard cabinet size. Want something affordable, lowes sells unfinished cabinets (not top shelf) but frames/doors are oak.. About $100 bucks.


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

"Since the dishwasher is at least over 20 years old, and we never have used it, I couldn’t attest to it working if we ever sold the place (unlikely). The house is about 30 years old, so I’ll assume that’s the real age of the unit. If we ever did sell the place, I imagine I would knock off the price of a new one or just put one in."


Either install the new dishwasher BEFORE putting the house on the market, or make it VERY PLAIN to any potential customers that there has been a dishwasher there in the past. Most real estate agents would probably estimate the installation cost between $1,000 and $1,500 assuming there had never been a dishwasher there.


George


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

When it comes to real estate the kitchen is the most important aspect of a house. People used to buy a house and fix it up and repaint to fit their needs and tastes but today people have gotten lazy, they buy a house that needs nothing so they can just move in. Part of my business is helping people fix a house up to put it on the market to sell. Often they change the appliances just because of the color. I have a perfectly good white dishwasher in my house because a customer wanted to change the appliances to stainless because stainless is popular today and it added value to the house.

In this case if there is plumbing or electrical in there for the dishwasher I would leave it there and make the cabinet a couple inches less in depth and when the time comes to sell the house put a dishwasher back in there even if you got one from a second hand shop.


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