Testing Dishwashers Cont…

Plus you save on your utility bill.

Win Win WIn…

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Sure, I agree. I have seen some sinks so crammed plumbing including an insinkerator water heater, under a farm sink that was so low that adding in a tail pipe with a DW connection on it on it wouldn’t work. No dishwasher though, so not an issue in that one and maybe that’s why. I’m not entirely sure how one like that would get handled, there just wasn’t enough room and the collapsed P-trap would be below the outlet. I guess punch out the drain, but in a block home that’s something of an issue.

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I had a mouse chew through my plastic refrigerator water line about 10 years ago. At that time I had vinyl floating floors installed over the old linoleum. My wife calls me at work and tells me that the kitchen floor feels like a water bed, as the water was running under the floating floor and was trapped by the linoleum. I rushed home and shut the water off. to drain the water I had to drill holes though the floors into the crawlspace. But water did get into one cabinet and ruined it. Well anyways had me insurance come by, They actually paid for all new cabinets in the entire kitchen, uppers and lowers, countertops and all new floors, baseboard etc.
They had to replace all the cabinets as They could not get a matching cabinet to replace the one damaged one.

It was actually nice as I now have a brand new kitchen. And I installed tile instead of floating floors. As if it was not for the floating floors I think We may have seen the leak before it got out of hand.
As I did the work myself as a contractor I was able to upgrade everything with the money I was given for the repairs.

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I had a refrigerator in the garage and the squirrels got in. They chewed a pin hole in the waterline and kept coming back to drink. Nasty little rodents.

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Especially the little red squirrels.

I had one that got into the attic of the very 1st house I bought at age 19. I mention the age because I was less thinking and more action back then.

Anyway, it chewed a hole into the 3/4" soffit board and got in. I put up aluminum flashing and painted it to match the soffit color…and thought I was done…BUT NO!

It chewed another hole and was back in. Sooo, I loaded my shot gun with bird shot and waited until it popped its head out and blew his head off…and his body fell out to the ground.

I had to replace the section of soffit board and repaint but it was over. :crazy_face:

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Good point…I run the dishwasher after I check to see if the discharge hose is connected & no drain leaks… I would have been mopping up that floor if the hose was damaged out of sight…it’s still better to test & find out it needs repaired during the inspection….I carry a few big towels just in case there’s a mishap.

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I had a flip a few years ago, and everything looked perfect. They did a great job inside and out. After I finished the exterior, I went inside and started the dishwasher. I then went on to the electrical panel. After completing the water heater and air handler, I walked past the kitchen. Water was pouring from under the sink base cabinet. I turned off the dishwasher and grabbed several towels. Being Florida, I carry white hand towels to mop up the sweat.
The flipper had installed new cabinetry, a new dishwasher, and a new sink with a disposal. The water was spraying out of the connection to the food disposal. Whoever installed the dishwasher drain hose did not punch out the knockout in the food disposal. There must have been several gallons of water in the new cabinetry. Luckily the base cabinets were all made of plywood and cleaned up without too much trouble.
I usually try to be back in the kitchen before the dishwasher drains. I will even cancel the cycle and manually drain it so I am close by.

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I think that I inspected that house a couple times.

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Yep.
I’ll do a visual first, start it and immediately cancel.
Or dump some water in and never start it, just cancel.

I do t run a whole cycle. I turn it on when I get in the kitchen and at some point after I hear it running the cycle I’ll cancel and verify it drains. That’s it. I don’t want to let it flood the house if I can help it by assuming it’s good and leave it to its own failure!

Just had a washer drain the other day overflow! Imagine that mess and damage!! I started it and after it filled a bit (I guess 25 gallons) I cancelled and within a few seconds I heard the drain filling up. I was able to stop it after it started overflowing and prevent severe damage. I’d rather follow the SOP and just confirm operation. Cheaper for my wallet in my opinion and less to fight about.

Really?

https://www.finishdishwashing.com/dishwasher-benefits/water/#:~:text=In%20fact%2C%20dishwashers%20manufactured%20before,gallons%20of%20water%20per%20load.&text=However%2C%20new%20standard-sized%20Energy,4%20gallons%20for%20every%20load.

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Never seen a dishwasher that used 25 gallons.

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Same here, at least no residential dishwashers.

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I worked in Food Service in college. The big, conveyor dishwashers had two heated water chambers, each held 25 gallons. They could wash 300 racks an hour. The equivalent of a residential dishwasher in about 30 seconds. It also did a better job of it by the way since the water was super hot and it shot steam at the dishes as a final sanitize.

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Being a new inspector this interesting story got me thinking. I now plan on inspecting the drains and connections under every sink prior to running any water. Likewise, I believe I will enter the crawlspace first prior to going into the home to make sure all drain pipes are connected. My Daughters home had a tub with the drain not connected to the waste pipe. Good thing the inspector checked under the crawlspace first.

Be sure to return after you run the plumbing for leaks will then be evident.

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agreed. Return after to see if any leaking.

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After doing that a few times I’m sure you’ll figure a way out to only go into the crawl space once, preferably at the end. Just say’in

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Yep. Going back into a basement at the end is one thing, but going back into the crawl is something totally different, lol.

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I understand. My reasoning was based on my daughters home inspection. The inspector went in the crawlspace first and saw that the tub was not connected. Running the water may have made the crawlspace inspection not as safe and certainly more messy.