We’ve just leased a new apartment. I was looking forward to finally having a dishwasher, and we have two feet of space left in the area where we would put one, but it’s come to my attention that most dishwashers pretty much have to be installed under a counter, and there are no suitable counters (at least, not at present).
The freestanding dishwashers I’ve found in a perfunctory search have been very expensive compared to a non-freestanding one. Would it be worth it to rejigger the kitchen to make room for a dishwasher, as opposed to buying a freestanding dishwasher? What about “countertop” dishwashers?
If you’re allowed to mess with the cabinetry, I’d go with that. You don’t want the hose situation in your kitchen. I have no idea why the prices are so much more, but Sears is charging like DOUBLE for the portable units. What EVAH.
A built in dishwasher has no cabinet or top on it. A free standing dishwasher has to have a cabinet, a top, and fill/drain hose to get water in and out of it. And wheels, don’t forget the wheels. All of this add expense. Add to that the fact that very few freestanding dishwashers are sold, they are going to cost more.
Tabletop unit are junk from what I have heard.
If you’re handy enough to install a dishwasher, you’re handy enough to put up a countertop over it. Installing a dishwasher is no trivial task, you have to tie into the plumbing supply/drain and get a dedicated electrical line for it. It’s fairly straightforward if you’re replacing an existing DW, but a whole new setup is a big deal.
If you don’t have walls and other cabinets to affix a new countertop to… I think you’ll have to go portable and pony up the bucks. The dishwasher doesn’t hold up the countertop, it screws to the countertop so that it doesn’t tip over when opened.
Our new house came with a dishwasher - most likely the cheapest model on earth and whenever you turned it on, it sounded like a jumbo jet was landing in the kitchen. This was not good, as our kitchen/living room are connected and watching television or listening to music was impossible when that damned machine was on.
We recently had new kitchen floors put in and took the opportunity to buy a new dishwasher with thicker insulation - the difference is day and night. You can barely hear this one and it only cost about $100 more that the El-Crappo, cheapie that was installed in our house to begin with.
So if you build the counter, you can use the extra money saved from the stand-alone and buy a better, quieter machine. Worth every penny.
Keep in mind, also, that if you install a dishwasher, it will need to be adjacent to the sink, so that you can connect the water and drain fittings. You’ll also need to have electrical wiring available at the dishwasher’s location.
We have a portable dishwasher because our landlord wouldn’t let us put in a built in. I have to say it’s better than no dishwasher, but I wish we had the built in kind. One thing I hate is losing my sink whenever the dishwasher’s running - the faucet is unavailable. Plus the dishwasher is in the way when it’s hooked up to the sink. So I can’t easily run a load of dishes while I’m cooking dinner, for example. I have to pretty much vacate the kitchen while the dishes are washing.
You must really adore your landlord or be completely insane to even think about remodeling a rented apartment kitchen to install a dishwasher.
A portable is plug-and-play. Plus, when you move on, you can take the dishwasher with you.
If you install a dishwasher, it’s there permanently and belongs to the landlord. Also, messing with countertops and cabinets gets to be more expensive that you expected. If there’s not a drain connection under the sink, you’ll have to install one of those, plus built-in dishwashers generally need to be on a dedicated circuit under the current electrical codes.
When comparing the price of portable vs built-in dishwashers, be sure to compare the same machine. Usually, they use mid-range machines as portables, rather than the bargain-basement models.
I’ve had 2 different portable dishwashers and loved them both. The first was an “apartment size” (only about 18"wide) which I bought through our local “Pennysaver” for something like $75.00. I used it until I wore the poor thing out, then bought a brand new full-size one and paid about $400 for it. When we bought our house we traded it to a friend who is a professional painter in exchange for him painting 3 rooms in our new house. So check whatever re-sale resources you have in your area for used ones, and if you end up having to buy new and pay full-price, consider the fact that you may very well be able to sell it and recoup some of the cost when you move (possibly even to the new tenant who might want it, or the landlord who might want to keep it there as a rental feature to attract future tenants).