You may have overlooked adding a dishwasher in your kitchen design. Since it’s an afterthought, you may be concerned about what plumbing is needed for a dishwasher. The good thing is that you can still add a dishwasher to your kitchen and integrate it into the plumbing system. This may sound complex and difficult to do, but there are products available that will make this project more bearable.
When deciding where to place the additional dishwasher, the most recommended location would be near the sink. It has easy access to the existing water supply and pipe drain.
Here are the steps to adding a water supply valve for your dishwasher.
- Turn off the main water supply switch that’s usually right next to the water meter. Open a faucet that’s close to the main water valve to drain any remaining water that’s still inside the pipes.
- Clear obstructions below the sink so you can access the hot water supply valve. With the use of pliers or wrench, unscrew the compression nut that holds the valve that connects water supply to the faucet.
- Once the compression nut has loosened, slowly try to dismantle the supply valve from the pipe with the adjustable wrench.
- If the supply valve still doesn’t come off, reattach the compression nut to the supply valve. You need to use a pipe cutter and position it behind the compression nut. Tighten the handle on the cutter until it holds the metal or copper pipe firmly.
- Twist the pipe cutter and continue to tighten the handle with each rotation. Continue rotating and tightening until you are able to cut through the pipe and the supply valve is released. Smoothen the edges of the cut pipe with the blade included in the pipe cutter. Clean the edge of the pipe with emery cloth to remove any deposits. Using another cloth, wide the pipe again to clean emery residues.
- Slide the compression nut for a dual or twin shut-off valve over the copper pipe. The threads should face forward. Slip the brass fitting or ferrule that came with the new twin valve onto the pipe and then attach the twin valve over the pipe. Slide the ferrule against the new valve and then slide the compression nut over the ferrule. Tighten the compression nut by hand.
- To tighten the compression nut, use an adjustable wrench while using another wrench to hold the new supply valve.
- Connect the sink hot water faucet supply line to one of the valves. The remaining valve will be for the dishwasher supply line. Both valve handles should be turned off. This is done by rotating both clockwise until they’re tight.
Next, you will need to provide access holes for water supply, power supply and water drain line. This can be done with a hole saw that’s connected to a power drill. Connect the dishwasher lines to the existing water supply and drain line, as well as plugging it to an electrical outlet. Once done, you can get your dishwasher up and running.