Dishwasher - integrated/freestanding?

[LucieO]

Hi,

Please can anyone out there advise?

When buying our new build house we were offered the option to have an integrated dishwasher installed but we weren't happy with the brand and so only asked for the dishwasher plumbing and plugs to be put in the kitchen. A kitchen unit currently sits in the space for the dishwasher.
We are now looking to buy a dishwasher and since I have no experience with DIY I would like to know:

- what type of dishwasher should we be looking at - an integrated or freestanding (I understand the difference but I'm unsure whether the door which is currently on the kitchen unit could be used to cover the front of an integrated dishwasher and if so how would that be done - there's also a handle on the door just FYI which would presumably need to be removed and the holes filled in?)

- there's a plinth running at the bottom of the kitchen unit, would this need to be cut to accommodate the dishwasher? (The dishwasher would stand between two kitchen units.) Ideally, I'd like the plinth to remain intact.

- are there any issues we should be aware of in terms of removing the kitchen unit to make the space for the dishwasher?

From the aesthetic point of view we already have a freestanding washing machine in the kitchen, the kitchen units are white and so I'm not overly bothered about having another freestanding appliance but considering the unit door is available I'd like to know whether it could be used.

Many thanks,

DIY newbie

 

[chris1982]

An integrated dishwasher is shaped to accomodate a plinth, but to get in you need to remove the plinth first (which you need to do to remove the cabinet anyway). The existing cabinet door might fit.
A freestanding dishwasher sits on the floor with its full body, so is incompatible with a plinth. The plinth would need to be terminated on both sides of the appliance.