John Lewis couldn’t remove old dishwasher. What to do?

[zen1]

Our dishwasher died so we ordered a new one from John Lewis and arranged for them to deliver it and take away the old one. The old one is not integrated and fitted (snuggly!) in a space between two cabinets.

When the guys arrived they said they couldn’t remove the old one as the wood from the side of the cabinets must have expanded, trapping it in place. They tried several methods but couldn’t get it moving. They left taking the new dishwasher back with them.

They had no suggestions beyond getting a whole new side of the kitchen. The dishwasher is between the sink cabinet and the hob cabinet so that would require major upheaval (and expense). Has anyone got any ideas??

Even if you open the door and get your hands on the inside it won't wriggle out? Is there anything inside to fix a rope to and pull it out? We had similar with a cooker but DH managed eventually to hoik it out.
Destroy it with a handheld angle grinder ?

A electric saw to cut out the side panel? You should then be-able to remove the washing machine, reinstate the side panel and then put in a new machine.

Find a couple of kitchen fitters who know what the hell they’re doing.

(Is PigletJohn about?)

Why did they take the new one away again? Why didn't they just leave it for you to install yourself?! IME delivery and installation people don't try too hard and if they can't do it quickly in ten minutes, they just do one.

The 'easiest' way might be to take the worktop off, assuming that it's screwed on and not glued on. Then get something in behind it to push it out.

These two blokes were pushing and pulling it using various tools and things to slide under it etc and it wouldn’t budge. They almost pulled the door off the old one in the process. Neither DH or teenage sons can get it moving either but we thought “experts” in removing and installing appliances would find a way.

They couldn’t leave the new one as we have a galley kitchen and nowhere to put it. They reckoned a previous leak under the sink (now rectified) caused the side of the sink cabinet to expand so no room for manoeuvre.

We had similar with curry's. There was a whole host of things their installers couldnt/wouldnt do but a kitchen fitter was able to sort it easily.

Yes, I’m thinking a kitchen fitter might be the way to go. Is it best to look for an independent one?

Did you try putting spray polish under the feet so it slides out? Works a treat!

But the floor will be super slippy!!

Crowbars or improvise with tyre jacks. Unplug dishwasher. Get crowbar in underneath and try to wiggle and tilt the machine. It may be firmly glued to floor with grunge accumulated from floor-washing.

Strong torch to examine sides to identify any sticking points. Try to tilt the machine to one side so you can see better at the other. You can use a rasp to file down surface of adjacent cabinet.

If you really can't get in at the sides and the dishwasher casing is plastic,I'd use the rasp to start filing down the exterior of the dishwasher itself . Wear gloves,goggles and a mask. This is because I couldn't face dismantling and re-mantling the adjacent side of the sink unit,which really is perfectly doable but miserable on your own if you're not strong.

If the cabinet sides have expanded and the new machine is going in the same place will you be able to get it in even if you manage to get the old one out?

It’s really stuck - not even a millimetre of space at the sides to shine a torch into. It’s definitely not tiltable. The delivery guys tried various things underneath it, but couldn’t get any movement at all. It’s totally wedged.

Yes, this is a concern. But if we could get the old one out, we could replace one side of the cabinet with a narrower piece of wood.

I had a very snug fitting dishwasher so much so that I had to purchase a slim line one to replace the old one when it died. I pulled it out by opening the door and just pulling. I'm wondering if they thought they might damage something when they removed it. I'd try getting it out yourself and then getting the new one delivered

Makes sense.

hope you find a solution. It’s a complete PITA when this sort of thing happens

Thanks OneSugar1.

We’ve just rearranged the delivery in the hope that we can get it out in the next couple of weeks.

fizzyfood I think we will have one last try ourselves before getting a kitchen fitter. The delivery men did try just pulling and almost pulled the door off. They reckoned there was a vacuum created somewhere between the side of the dishwasher and the cabinet. Customer Service suggested a slim line dishwasher, but that won’t be big enough for the size of our family.

Normally the feet can adjust so even if it were a snug fit it can be lowered to give some space.

Get a plumber to remove/lift the sink??
Rather than damaging the units beside the dishwasher.

John Lewis doesn't send "experts" just a bit of brawn with barely a brain-cell between them in my experience. We had similar with a very old top-loading washing machine that the previous occupants of our house left as they CBA to move it. It died, as did my old washer-drier so we ordered a shiny expensive new one to be supplied & fitted by JL. We moved the washer drier but they couldn't get the top loading machine out, so we told them to fit the new one and we'd sort it. We opened the new one and found it had massive dents in it and the plug was hanging off, so we rejected it.

DH and I managed to get the top-loader out with immense difficulty - neither of us is that big and we both have metal in our legs, but 2 middle-aged professionals did better than 2 big burly blokes. As for fitting, I did it under DH's guidance. It took less than 2 minutes once the new machine finally appeared.

@Malbecfan we have previous with JL too. We had a new washing machine last year and they rammed it in pulling of the whole side of the cabinet (other side of the sink) in the process. They also switched off the dishwasher plug which was next to the washing machine plug before installing the machine which we didn’t discover until we came to turn on he dishwasher much later, resulting in me and DH having to uninstall the machine, pull it out and turn on the plug. Prior to that (we’re talking 10 years ago), we’d never had any problems with them.

John Lewis doesn't send "experts" just a bit of brawn with barely a brain-cell between them in my experience

Charming

The JL chaps who switched our washing machines were fab, polite and efficient.

We had to have them back a second time after they fitted a semi integrated dw but did not check that the door opened fully once the plinth was back on.

Is it on feet that raise it off floor level? If so, get a ratchet strap (or similar tough, long strap) and pass it around the rear feet. Use a grabber to position the strap if necessary. Loop a second strap around the front feet. Pull forwards and not upwards.

I don't want to sound too obvious, but there are usually some screws accessed from inside the dishwasher that attach it to the cabinets at the side. Have they definitely removed all of these?

Otherwise I'd suggest if can't get this one out, then you're not going to get another in, so probably going to need cabinet shifted perhaps. One other suggestion would be to see if can screw in the feet underneath which might give you a bit more space to 'wiggle' it?

Yogi, the dishwasher is freestanding so was never fixed to the cabinets. Theoretically, one should be able to pull it out. Will check again to see if the feet underneath are moveable, but the delivery men did manage to get various implements and sliders underneath it to try and pull but with no success.