Dishwasher / New Tile Issue

[Kevin Suksi]

We are rehabbing a home whose primary feature is the kitchen, but are running into an issue that we're pretty sure others must have run into before.

Then kitchen has really good cabinets - they are Amish made custom solid oak cabinets. The floor is linoleum and the counters are laminate.

Our plan is to keep the cabinets and to replace the linoleum with ceramic tile, and to replace the laminate with granite.

Photo of the subject kitchen:

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/photo.php?pid=4678784&fbid=413000793030&id=243015333030

We are planning to tile right up to the existing cabinets (we will temporarily remove the island but not the base cabinets against the wall - it is one custom unit rather than multiple units pieced together and will be very difficult to remove).

The problem:

This will create a height issue with regard to the dishwasher - I am concerned that if we do this - especially if we tile the area the dishwasher will actually sit on. Worried that a dishwasher won't fit.

Any suggestions? We'll certainly measure to be sure, but it looks like the solution might be to not tile where the dishwasher will sit, and to push the dishwasher in.

This could mean that the new owner will have a problem removing the dishwasher in the future if they run into a problem with it. They might have to bust tile out to remove the dishwasher if we follow this course of action.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[Ralph S.]

If you place tile under the island, and not the cabinets, keep in mind you could have two counter levels.

I don't think this is anyway unique, and you have several options to regain or adapt to get the vertical clearance.

Check the linoleum, often it is placed on top of a quarter inch subfloor. Removing the linoleum and subflooring and using a thin backer board under the tile will minimize any rise in the final tile floor.

Your replacing the counter tops. Add a quarter inch riser on top of the cabinets. It creates a small gap between cabinet and top, which would be covered from view by the countertop overhang. Adding a little ventilation to the cabinets wouldn't be bad, either, IMO.

Check the dishwasher itself. Different clearances are not uncommon, you might find some adjustment there.

We're about to replace linoleum with tile, without replacing the countertops. We've already worked the details out with our tile guy and will still be able to tile under the dishwasher.

Ralph