Not every project goes as well as planned. We would be happy to spend a few minutes answering your questions.
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When you run your dishwasher and it rinses and drains, you typically hear a draining noise as it empties into the garbage disposal. There are times though, that instead of draining into the disposal, it backs up and runs out onto your countertop via the air gap device. You probably don’t need to call your handyman, but this indicates a blockage in the line at some point between the air gap and where it is draining in the disposal.
If your garbage disposal is new, it may be that the knock-out plug was not removed which would prevent the water from draining properly. Otherwise, remove the discharge hose where is connects to the disposal and snake a coat hangar or long screwdriver up there to dislodge the compacted food particles. You can then stick the end of the hose into bucket and run the “rinse and drain” cycle on the dishwasher to clean out the hose. Then just re-attach the hose to the disposal.
It may also be that there is a kink in the hose with is restricting the volume of the waste water. You may need to rotate the hose or even cut it slightly shorter to get rid of the kink.
If your dishwasher doesn't look quite right sitting in it's alcove, there may be an easy fix for it. I've seen dishwashers sticking so far out that it looks like the installer didn't push it in all the way. I've also seen them where they are pushed too far into the opening so that you really have to reach back in there to grab the handle.
So the first thing I would do is to adjust it for height. The feet are hexagonal shaped and you can twist them to either raise or lower the height of the dishwasher as it sits in the hole. It's as easy as screwing in a bolt.
The other adjustment will align the dishwasher with the front of the cabinets so that they are all in the same plane. If you open the door of the dishwasher, you will see 2 small metal tabs sticking out of the top of the dishwasher. These metal tabs will have a hole in the middle. Once you have the dishwasher where it is centered and is equidistant from the cabinets on either side of it, install a screw into each tab. This screw will go through each tab and into the wood base of the kitchen countertop (just make sure the screw isn‘t so long that it penetrates the top of the counter). This will hold the dishwasher in place and in line with the cabinets.
Have you ever gone to open your dishwasher and the whole thing about pulls out of the counter? Well if so, you're not alone. Maybe it was the result of a poor dishwasher installation. It is a pretty simple fix that you and your trusty screwdriver can remedy.
Your dishwasher is secured to the underside of the counter by two screws. If you carefully open the door (so that the entire dishwasher doesn't tip out of the opening) you will see 2 brackets jutting out of the top of the unit. These brackets have holes in them for screws.
Once you place the dishwasher in position, simply secure it to the underside of the counter with screws. One caveat here: don't attempt to screw directly into the countertop material. You should be screwing into the sub-top which is typically made of particle board, plywood, or even cement board. If you try to screw directly into the countertop material, you risk damaging it by drilling right through the top, or even cracking some surfaces like granite.
It's probably a good time to adjust the height of your dishwasher too. The feet at the bottom turn to raise and lower the height of the unit. You can play with them for a level fit that is equidistant from all edges.
If you've ever run your dishwasher and had water end up on your countertop, you might look to that little nubby cap sitting on your sink. It's called an airgap, specifically a dishwasher airgap.
When a dishwasher drains, the waste water flows up the drain line to the airgap and then down to the garbage disposal where it joins your kitchen sink's drain piping. Typically, the airgap backs up when there is a blockage leading to the garbage disposal. Either the hose that runs from the airgap to the disposal is plugged or the knockout plug in the garbage disposal was never removed (this is common with a new disposal installation).
The fix is to disconnect the hose where it meets the disposal. If you stick your finger in the nipple of the disposal and it meets with the metal plug, remove it by tapping on it with a screwdriver and a hammer, then pull it out with your fingers. If the plug has already been removed, use a long screwdriver or a metal hangar and snake it up the hose to pull out the debris. You can stick the end of the hose in a 5 gallon bucket and run a "rinse and drain" on your dishwasher to blow out the remaining debris. Then you can reconnect the hose and run a load of dishes.
