LESLIE: Chris in Pennsylvania is having a problem with a dishwasher. What’s going on?
CHRIS: I’m a first-time homeowner. My house was built in 1957. And so, I was wondering if I would have to hire separate people to work on the carpentry, the electric and the plumbing? Or is there somebody, like a regular contractor, that would put a dishwasher in?
TOM: Do you have a space for a dishwasher right now, Chris? Or has one never been installed?
CHRIS: One’s never been installed.
TOM: OK. So you’ve got to figure out where you’re going to put this and it’s going to take away from some cabinet space.
Now, typically, the dishwasher is next to the kitchen sink. And if you happen to have, say, a 24-inch cabinet next to your kitchen sink, that will be the perfect place to do that. But this is going to take a bit of work. You’re going to have to do carpentry and I think you’ll need a carpenter and probably a plumber to do this. And you may need an electrician, depending on whether or not the plumber could do the wiring for you or if there’s wiring right there you can pull from.
Because what has to happen is you’d remove the cabinet to create that 24-inch space, then the dishwasher would slip in there. And it needs to be plumbed, so you need to have the supply line and the drain go basically through the side of a cabinet wall where the sink is and tap into the plumbing there. Then, of course, it needs to have electricity, so you’ll need to have an outlet installed. So it is a bit of a project, I’ll tell you that.
LESLIE: Yeah. But if she were to hire somebody like a general contractor – who may have those subs in his arsenal, if you will, or at least access to those people – they would better supervise the entire project and sort of take all of that worry out of your hands.
TOM: Or just a really good handyman. The trouble is that, theoretically or at least technically speaking, you need a licensed plumber to do the plumbing work and you need a licensed electrician to do the electrical work.
CHRIS: OK.
TOM: Alright, Chris?
CHRIS: Alright. I appreciate your advice.
TOM: Good luck with that project. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
Leave a Reply