Do You Need Flooring Under Dishwasher

Dishwashers are usually installed in an opening between the kitchen cabinets.

Do you need flooring under dishwasher.

While refrigerators and stoves can be removed easily to install the flooring the same cannot be said for kitchens with a dishwasher. Typically vinyl floors are installed in a dishwasher recess while built up flooring such as tile and hardwood terminate along the front edge of the recess. Unless you think that your ever gonna change the design of your kitchen you don t need to put flooring under the dishwasher. Yes do tile all the way under the dishwasher.

Installing a dishwasher takes a bit. You definitely want the same height flooring under the dishwasher so you can slide it out it necessary. My husband insist that this is not possible to install the laminate under the dishwasher because it would raise the floor and then the dishwasher wouldn t fit back in place. Double sided tape can be used under the floor to help seams stay put but no adhesive is spread over every square inch of the subfloor.

What are your thoughts. In most cases it s best to raise the front legs to allow the flooring to run under about two to three inches or where the stop area won t be visible. This is fine until the dishwasher needs repair or replacing. You can either use your regular flooring or as others have said plywood but you definitely do not want a lip in front of the dishwasher.

I want to replace the vinyl floor in the kitchen with a laminate wood looking floor. Unfortunately that means either damage to the floor or moving forward with that new counter replacement. Sadly many people install first only to discover the flooring can t be installed under the dishwasher so they install it in front of the dishwasher. When installing the laminate under the dishwasher you have to pay attention to the height of the opening.

Dishwashers on the other hand require a plumber and electrician to disconnect and reset. And by the same token please make sure to have a high enough counter that when the tile goes down there is still enough room for the dishwasher. Installing laminate under dishwashers is something you may across when installing your laminate flooring in a kitchen. Otherwise when you need to pull out the dishwasher it may get caught on the edge of the tiles and require chipping out the first few courses of tiles.

This makes a floating floor much easier to install and remove than a nonfloating floor but it also allows the floor to expand move shift and bubble in certain circumstances.