Pocket Doors in Cabinets

Standard opening for a built-in DW is 24", you'll need a larger cabinet than 24", especially if you have to account for the thickness of pocket doors on each side.

Dave Bair wrote:

Standard opening for a built-in DW is 24", you'll need a larger cabinet than 24", especially if you have to account for the thickness of pocket doors on each side.

Hum glad this plan is as thick as soup.  We can make the cabinet wider without to much of an issue.  

So my question now is what size slides will I need.  If the opening is 28 inches do I need two 14 inch slides or two 16 inch slides because the door will be 1/2 over lay.

Thanks

Mike, most every DW is placed "under counter" to make loading and unloading easier.  Having to open and slide 2 doors every time you want to put a cup in the washer will get to be a pain.  Chances are those doors will see little use.  If she wants the unit to blend in with the cabinets, use a door trim panel that matches the rest of the door/drawer fronts.

Mark Mandell wrote:

Mike, most every DW is placed "under counter" to make loading and unloading easier.  Having to open and slide 2 doors every time you want to put a cup in the washer will get to be a pain.  Chances are those doors will see little use.  If she wants the unit to blend in with the cabinets, use a door trim panel that matches the rest of the door/drawer fronts.

Well when I just told her this, she said we didn't think of that.  

 I will have to figure out how to make, and install a trim panel.

Thanks

1. Veneer contact-glued to a thin plastic sheet and finished to match.  2. Ask your appliance vendor a) about ready-made available panels and b) how to install one.  Not rocket science.

Mark is on the right track here.  Do some research on high end dishwashers and you will find that there are some that can have false fronts on them that you can customize to make them nearly invisible.  The controls are on the top edge of the doors so you don't see them when the door is closed.  Don't reinvent the wheel.

As an aside, my dishwasher is so quiet it has a LED light on it the shines on the floor to let you know its running.

Yes, it's a Bosch.  Says it run a 44db, whatever that is.  Sometimes it makes the noise you might hear if you put about a gallon of water in a five gallon bucket and swirled it around.

Some of the new dishwashers run for a long time, probably to compensate for the ineffectiveness of modern detergents since they took the phosphates out of them.  OTOH, they do a good job.

Two points effect the cleaning job.
1.  Hard/soft water.  Softer needs less detergent.
2.  Before starting, run the sink until the water gets hot.

I am keeping my current dishwasher.  It is only a year or so old.  It is a Fridgadare.   It is pretty quiet, I will insulate around the cabinet to help it.

I figure I will take the door front panel off make a fake door front for it.  Replace the old front panel, then use double sided tape to place the wooden front on it.  Open it up and screw it in using the existing holes.  I searched the Fridgadare site and found out how to adjust the spring tension to compensate for the new weight of the door.  

Thanks

BTW - if you are just tired of bending over to the bottom rack, I believe they make one-level dishwashers that can be stacked.  If you build a bottom drawer cabinet and place the smaller dishwasher on top, you can still keep your counter space.

Joe Fleming wrote:

BTW - if you are just tired of bending over to the bottom rack, I believe they make one-level dishwashers that can be stacked.  If you build a bottom drawer cabinet and place the smaller dishwasher on top, you can still keep your counter space.

Yes we are tired of bending over to place dishes in it.  I am making a tall cabinet at the end of the counter to end the run of cabinets before it gets to a doorway.  The end will have a 4 inch deep cabinet built into it.

I figure if we get it up a foot or so it will help with the bending over.  I am going to place it on blocks to figure out how high she wants it.  That will determine the hight of the drawer below it.

I have tapped the floor where all the cabinets and appliances will be.  I have her and I walking through it and acting like we are working in it to make sure it will work for us.  I am not taken the old kitchen apart until the new one is up and running.  

I have a door opening I have to make in the wall and a bit of electrical work and plumbing work to do as well.  I figure 4 sheets of sheet rock need to come down and be replaced along with another one  to cover a door opening currently in the wrong place, for the new kitchen.

I am glad I retired so I could take it easy and enjoy myself.
Mike

I'm glad to see you back away from pocket doors. They are a serious pain in the but and unless you get real high end slides they end up dragging on the bottom after a while