Dishwasher does not drain.... help!

April 7, 2014 10:42 AM

I've just bought my first home and moved into my new place (hooray!). I've never had a dishwasher before and as such, I haven't used it once during my first week of living in the new place. This weekend though, I ran the dishwasher for the first time and urgh, once the cycle was finished, I opened the door and the dishwasher was still full of water :( What is the likely cause and can I fix it myself? Also, all appliances in the house were supposed to be in working order.... do I have any leg to stand on in asking the seller about this?
posted by JenThePro to Home & Garden (10 answers total)

Water under the bridge, but the home inspection should have caught this. Three possible problems.
1. The motor is kaput, but I'd only go that way if the water is dirty and soapy. If the water is clean then the DW is draining, but not completely so go with 2 or 3
2. Clogged screen at the bottom of the dishwasher
3. clogged or improperly configured drain hose. ( kinked, routed too low, or not draining into the proper pipe)
posted by Gungho at 10:48 AM on April 7, 2014 [1 favorite]

Yes you do. Contact your real-estate agent STAT.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 10:50 AM on April 7, 2014 [1 favorite]

We had an issue with the drainage in our kitchen sink/dishwasher. Had to snake the drain. (no more potato peels down the drain!)

Here's a guide to troubleshooting.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 10:59 AM on April 7, 2014 [1 favorite]

See if you can find the make/model online and check out the official operating manual.
Call the manufacturer hotline and get a quick diagnosis from them; it's just barely possible that you enthusiastically opened the dishwasher before it was done doing its thing, and its not actually broken. Also possible that you poke around in there and remove a drain clog, and everything's fine.
But if neither of those is the case, then yes, this would be something to bring up with the seller. You could, perhaps, phrase it as, "Is there a special trick to using the dishwasher? I can't seem to make it drain. Have you ever had that problem?" Also ask when the last time they used it was.
posted by aimedwander at 11:03 AM on April 7, 2014 [1 favorite]

I used to rarely use my dishwasher. When I used it after a month or so of non-use, it would often not drain just like you're describing. I was renting, so I called the maintenance guy, and it was always super easy for him to fix. Like, he just needed to pop the cover off of the inner workings, reach his hand in, and... do something(?). He said that when it wasn't used, some part or gasket or something dries up and something gets stuck, and he just needed to un-stick it. Hopefully someone who knows more about dishwashers can chime in here because I realize I don't have any specific advice, and YMMV and all that, but it might not be BROKEN broken.
posted by Weeping_angel at 11:07 AM on April 7, 2014 [2 favorites]

Contact your real-estate agent STAT.

Yes, and the attorney who handled the transaction for you.

This happened to me and the seller was just a jerk about it -- I was not, to my regret. Unless it goes straight to "very sorry, here's a repairman coming out with the bill going to us," take it as being the victim of a scam, and proceed with all the wrath that entails.
posted by kmennie at 11:24 AM on April 7, 2014

Take the basket out of the bottom. In a cup mix 1/2 cup of baking soda with just enough water to make a pourable paste. Pour in to bottom of dishwasher. Repeat with sink drain. Then take a cup of vinegar and pour down each drain. Allow to sit for 10 minutes. Rinse with a pot of boiling (must be boiling) water. Set your dishwasher to drain. That should do it.
If not, call your real estate agent. Did you get a home inspection or home warranty? Inspector should have caught it if it was a problem. Probably just been sitting too long. If you have a home warranty, you could call it in, but talk to your agent first. There may be some weird thing about that dishwasher the the previous owner didn't think to mention.
posted by MayNicholas at 11:52 AM on April 7, 2014 [1 favorite]

Did the sellers include a one-year warranty when you settled? This would cover failure of all major appliances and all repairs or replacement. This has become an extremely common practice when selling homes that are not brand new, and your realtor should be able to tell you in short order. When I sold my home a few years ago, the hot water heater went kaput the week the new owners moved in. We HAD included the one-year policy as an enticement, reminded the buyers of this, and they were able to have a new hot water heater installed without charge within a day or two. They were required to contact the insurer and use certain plumbers for the policy to cover everything.
posted by citygirl at 12:10 PM on April 7, 2014

If you have a garbage disposal and it hasn't been run recently, a clogged drain can prevent the dishwasher from draining.
posted by Cygnet at 4:27 PM on April 7, 2014

That happened with our dishwasher (also immediately after we moved into the house we bought!). We had dishwasher repair people out to fix it, and they said it had been improperly installed (the hole the hose went through was too small or something.) Their best guess is that the dishwasher originally in the house was a nicer one and the owner DIY installed this cheaper one when she moved out. We hadn't noted the brand during the inspection, only that there was a dishwasher, and this one definitely looked new, so I think that's probably what happened.
posted by lollusc at 6:03 PM on April 7, 2014 [1 favorite]