If your kitchen floor is awash with a sea of soapy water, there’s a good chance that your dishwasher is having issues. Though this may sound complicated, it’s relatively easy to determine where the leak is coming from and fix the problem. But before you start taking things apart, check if anyone used dish soap for handwashing in your dishwasher – too much can cause bubbles to leak out everywhere, but doesn’t mean that your dishwasher needs repair. If that’s not the case, read on to discover your options.
1. Where’s It Coming From?
Start by looking at where the leak is coming from. Is it around the door or underneath the dishwasher? This will help you determine what kind of leak you’re dealing with. Water supply and drainage pipe issues usually produce water underneath the dishwasher, gasket and drainage issues from the tub will usually leak around the door.
2. Check The Usual Suspects
Because dishwashers are used to contain water while your dishes are being washed, they’re designed to do just that and do it well. That means there are a few places where they tend to leak. Pop off the service panel at the bottom of the dishwasher (check your owner’s manual for instructions on how to do this) and check out the pump and motor housing to see if there are any cracks in it (pro tip: use a mirror and flashlight to check the backside of the pump and motor housing), the drainage pipe leading from them, the gasket sealing it to the tub, the gasket around the door, any objects blocking the sprayer arm from turning inside the tub and whether there’s anything blocking the drain inside the dishwasher tub.
3. Make A Connection
If the leaks are coming from underneath the dishwasher, you may want to check whether your connection hoses and drain hose are still tightly attached. A decomposing hose gasket may begin to leak, causing the problem, or vibrations may have caused the drain hose to work loose on one end or the other. If it’s just a simple matter of a loose hose, just tightening the connection may make the leak go away entirely. However, if a hose gasket has failed, simply replacing it with a garden hose gasket will help solve the problem.
4. Are The Gaskets Sealing?
If the gasket around the door is damaged or there’s leakage around the gasket that seals the pump to the dishwasher tub, there’s no easy solution – you’ll need to replace that gasket. Fortunately, it’s a pretty easy process to replace a leaking or damaged gasket, but you’ll probably need to order the part in to get the job done. In the meantime, turn off the breaker to the dishwasher or tape a piece of cardboard over the controls using blue painter’s tape to keep the dishwasher from being used in the meantime.
If the issue is with the supply hoses, simply turning the dishwasher off may not fix the problem – you’ll need to turn the water off before the hoses at that point, whether through shutoff valves or at your home’s main water shutoff valve, typically located near where the water enters the home, just inside from where the water meter is located on the outside of your home.
If you’re still stumped or feel that these steps are beyond your knowledge and experience, that’s okay – we can help you get your dishwasher operational in no time! At Ford’s Plumbing & Heating, we’re able to help with all of your plumbing needs. Simply contact us today to schedule a service call and your home will be back to normal quickly.
