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Jacksonville, FL on Jul 26, 2011

what is the best way to attach a dishwasher to a granite counter top?

The installation guy attached it to the side of my cabinet and it is splitting the wood. I used epoxy to attach it to the granite and it won't allow for the door to shut enough to kick on....any other ideas?

8 Comments

Steve G Fort Collins, CO

Glad you didn't try screwing into your granite. That's bad news. Sounds like your best bet might be to attach a board to the underside of the countertop with an adhesive that gets your granite company's blessing. Then attach the dishwasher to this board.

on Jul 26, 2011 · Like 0
Hewitt Remodeling Service... Virginia Beach, VA

Kristen,
The use of side brackets is the normal way to secure a dishwasher inplace with a granite top. Call the installer back in to make it right. What exactly did you attach to the granite with epoxy...? Tim

on Jul 26, 2011 · Like 0
Kristen B Jacksonville, FL

Brackets were attached to the granite and then used to screw the dw in. The installer was with ge and did not know the right way. Thanks!

on Jul 27, 2011 · Like 0
Hewitt Remodeling Service... Virginia Beach, VA

Kristen,
I have seen DWs attached directly to the granite...similiar to what they do to fasten an undermount sink to the stone, but it needs to be done by the granite folks and not an appliance installer should something go wrong with the stone, if you know what I mean. Tim

on Jul 27, 2011 · Like 0
KMS Woodworks Nederland, CO

Ive installed some to a wood filler strip that is mounted to the underside of the granite, This only needs to be about 1/2 thick. it is set to the granite with a PL type adhesive.

on Jul 27, 2011 · Like 0
Paul R Mandeville, LA

How thick is the epoxy that you used? If it is preventing your door from closing all the way it may be a matter of just lowering the dishwasher by a small amount. The brackets on the top of the dishwasher are usually flexible and the bottom of the dishwasher has adjustable feet. You may try lowering the unit 1st. It may not break the epoxy but if it does, you clean the epoxy off , bend the flexible bracket on the dishwasher so they will lay flat against the granite top and add re-apply ...»
your epoxy. Does your dishwasher have a gap between it and the cabinet?. You should only have no more than 1/8 inch on each side for clearance. If your gap is too wide, the screws were too thick or not centered in the side of the cabinet style. That can cause the style to split ,due to stress when the appliance door is opened and the dish rack is pulled forward. Dishwashers are very light, so opening the door and sliding dishes forward will cause the front to want to tilt forward. You can also use a PL or liquid nail adhesive like KMS said and glue a shim to the underside of the granite about 12 inches from the front. This will keep the back from wanting to tilt forward.

on Jul 27, 2011 · Like 0
Culpepper Carpets and Int... Atlanta, GA

KMS you are awesome, that is a great idea, you always have good ideas.

on Jul 27, 2011 · Like 0
KMS Woodworks Nederland, CO

I installed a Fisher paykel (sp?) last fall ...it was a double drawer unit. It also had side mounts...to keep the cabinet rails from splitting pilot holes should be drilled and the screws sized appropriately. the above splitting was most likely caused by NOT drilling or using screws that were too big. I use #6 trim heads for this type of work

on Jul 28, 2011 · Like 1