More Skills For My DIY Resume

I can now add Dishwasher Installation to my list of DIY skills. When we hooked up the old dishwasher that had been languishing in the backyard for more than 2 weeks, it made a rather loud, funny sound and seemed to be operating much louder than normal. We then noticed water leaking on the side, so I made the assumption that the dishwasher had gone the way of the master closet. Since everything in my house appears to be going to shit right now. I scoured Craigslist on Monday and found a 5 year old very gently used KitchenAid for $200. Probably more than I wanted to pay but then again, brand new, this model costs more than $700. So I ponied up the money as the lady was not willing to budge on the price (well, I had gotten her down to $190 but didn't have the right change and neither did they, so I ended up getting $4 back, so $196. Every penny counts.). Brought it inside and the first thing we noticed was the loud squeaking coming from the door whenever it was opened.

Husband was not a happy camper about this since this dishwasher purchase was all my doing. He tried some WD-40 (in what turned out to be the wrong places) and still, it screeched at us. Feeling like an idiot for not noticing this before I bought it, I proceeded to google away and found that the problem was actually the system of rope and plastic pulleys that control the door. Apparently, all it needs is periodic lubrication and the screeching goes away. Slapped some Vaseline on the ropes and bye bye horrific noise! Phew! Marital crisis averted.

This morning at the bright and early hour of 6:20am I broke out my tools, lots of different sized wrenches and screwdrivers and unhooked the old dishwasher. Shut off the electricity and water to DW, and hooked up the new one (drain, water, and hard-wired the electrical). And, Holy Smokes! It worked! Turned it on and it started churning, making normal sounds. I was a happy camper. Until I noticed water underneath the washer towards the back.

For the love of all things holy and righteous! What now!? I shut it all off, decided to take a shower, came back down stairs and pulled the washer out as far as it let me to get a better view and ran it again. It didn't leak. Hmmm.

I remain stumped as I had to get to work. Even though the boss is not here, 9:30am is my limit on how late I can conscionably arrive at the office. I have a few guesses to the problem. One is that when I unhooked the old washer, I spilled a good amount of water from the drain and water lines in the back corner that didn't dry up and I didn't see it there when I was installing the new-to-me washer. I really hope this is the case. Guess two is that we have a more serious leak coming from behind the wall. I really hope it isn't guess two. The third guess is that my as-mentioned-previously-weirdo contractor made the dang electrical conduit line so freaking long that when I first had the washer in all the way, the metal conduit was hitting the lower innards (I noticed it was hitting the motor) of the dishwasher and causing it to leak. Three is ok, too. Anything but #2.

Can you tell I am so over plumbing? I'd rather get a root canal and a pap smear at the same time than deal with any more of this plumbing crap. That's kind of a crazy image. I'll leave you with that. Ha!

Comments

  1. AHHHHHHHHH! f-ing plumbing! Kudos to you for hooking it up correctly! A similar marital crisis would have ensued at my house with the dishwasher squeaking :)

    I hope you can figure out the cause of the leak and that it is easily fixed.

    Thanks for the yoga/pilates tip. I have been doing yoga for a few months now and have noticed a difference but am going to try a pilates class as well.

    Happy Thanksgiving!

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  2. Reading your post makes me tired.

    But I am glad you got up at the crack to hammer it into place. I hope the water leak is not #2. Could it be the sink to washer air line thingy?

    Thanks for the visual at the end of your post. Maybe Walmart will get into the rootcanal/pap all-in-one visit. It seems like their kind of thing.

    Have a great Thanksgiving!

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