Washing machine in the kitchen under the countertop

It is most logical to install washing machines in the bathroom, where there is a basket with dirty laundry, a cabinet with detergents and other necessary accessories. But what to do if there is absolutely no space in the bathroom, and the washing machine just won’t fit, but you need to put it somewhere? You can build a “home assistant” under the countertop in the kitchen, but to do this you will have to remodel or change the furniture, and generally rethink the kitchen design. Let's discuss how best to do this, and what difficulties this will involve.

We take measurements

When thinking about installing a washing machine under the countertop in the kitchen, you need to carefully plan the space in this kitchen, because the washing machine will require space, and if you take into account the size of the kitchens of Khrushchev’s houses, then there will be a lot of space. First, let's dot the i's. If you are planning to arrange a place, make a countertop in a kitchen with old furniture, rest assured, it will not be possible to do it beautifully. It is much better to renovate the kitchen, change the furniture, and at the same time prepare a place for the washing machine.

In this article we will look at a situation where it is planned to replace furniture in the kitchen and the owners want to build an existing automatic washing machine under the future countertop in the kitchen. Where do you even start preparing for this job? And you need to start with a plan.

• Take a piece of paper, a pencil and an eraser. Draw a rectangle and mark the dimensions of your kitchen space. If there are any niches, ledges or other features, mark them.
• Think and show on the plan the location of the largest pieces of equipment: refrigerator, freezer, dishwasher, electric stove. Place them taking into account their dimensions, calculate how much usable space in the room is already occupied.
• At the stage of allocating places for equipment, think about where you would put the washing machine so that it is convenient to use it.
• Having distributed large equipment, try to equip the remaining space with the necessary furniture and display ideas on the plan. It is necessary to calculate the size and location of each cabinet and cabinet, sink, etc.

Important! When calculating the size of cabinets and other furniture, do not forget to take into account the thickness of the material.

• Carefully calculate the dimensions of future corner cabinets, because even an error of 1 cm can be fatal and result in additional costs.

The niche for the washing machine must also be calculated very carefully. Measure the exact dimensions of your washing machine. Do not rely on the dimensions indicated in the passport; one unaccounted protrusion on the body and the machine may not fit into the future niche. What else needs to be taken into account when calculating the niche for a washing machine in the kitchen under the countertop?

1. The depth of the niche under the tabletop must be calculated with a fair margin: at least 10 cm from the back of the machine to the wall will need to be left for hoses and filters, the front panel must be completely recessed into the niche by at least 2-3 cm.
2. The height of the washing machine is adjustable with the legs, but the height of the legs themselves must be taken into account when calculating the height of the niche for the washing machine in the kitchen. It may turn out that you have to completely unscrew the legs in order for the machine to fit into the niche in height - this should not be the case.
3. The width of the niche should be at least 2 cm larger than the width of the washing machine body, so that it is possible to leave centimeter gaps on the sides. The fact is that during spinning at high speeds, the washing machine vibrates and sways strongly. If you want the entire tabletop and the entire kitchen set to sway along with it, you don’t have to leave a gap.
4. The configuration of the niche itself should not block unobstructed access to the front panel of the washing machine. The following must open well: hatch, powder cuvette, garbage filter hatch, emergency water drain hatch. No decorative strips should interfere with the use of the washing machine.

For your information! The tabletop can be not only straight, but also angular. This will not prevent you from installing a washing machine underneath, the main thing is to calculate everything correctly.

Preparing the place and tools

In order to build an automatic washing machine under the countertop in the kitchen in the future, it is not enough to make calculations and draw a plan. You also need to know the technical features of the washing machine and the features of connecting it to communications.

When preparing a place for a washing machine, you need to take care of its access to water, sewerage and electricity. It is necessary to install a separate outlet, correctly calculating the load that the machine will create on the electrical network. Read about how to do this in the article. How to connect a washing machine to electricity. You also need to organize a connection from a pipe with cold water, as well as an outlet in a sewer pipe or siphon to drain waste water.

In order to connect the washing machine to water in the future, you need to install a tee tap on the cold water pipe and make sure that the inlet hose is long enough to reach this tap. Well, to organize the drainage, you need to place a special siphon under the sink, which has an outlet on the side for connecting the drain hose. If your siphon already has a tap, then you don’t need to do anything. Just make sure that the washing machine drain hose is long enough.

Now let's prepare the tool. Let's open the pantry and take it out of the toolbox:

• small adjustable wrench;
• open-end wrench 12 mm;
• building level;
• FUMku;
• automotive sealant;
• roulette;
• pliers.

Depending on the features of the washing machine, some other tool may be required, but in any case, nothing supernatural, everything you need is in a standard tool box.

Progress

We agreed that we were describing the installation under the countertop of an old washing machine, which was already connected, for example, in the bathroom, but it was decided to move it to the kitchen and build it under the countertop. So, how is a washing machine built under the countertop?

1. Even before new furniture is delivered to your kitchen, prepare all communications for its connection, especially electrical ones. Level and strengthen the floor in the area where the washing machine will stand.
2. After installing a new kitchen set, before the craftsmen leave, check that all elements of this set match in size and correspond to the plan and sketch.
3. Make sure that the niche under the countertop is large enough to accommodate the washing machine.
4. Dismiss the furniture installers and start installing the washing machine in the niche under the kitchen countertop.
5. Remove the washing machine from its old location and move it into the kitchen.
6. Make sure that the drain and inlet hose are connected to it, and that the power cord is working properly.
7. Carefully push the washing machine into the niche under the countertop.

Be careful! The washing machine should not pinch the power cord or hose with its body or legs.

8. Connect the drain hose to the siphon outlet.
9. Connect the water inlet hose to the tee, insulate the connection and secure with a clamp.
10. Make sure that the front panel of the machine is hidden in the niche by at least 2-3 cm, and there are 1 cm gaps on the sides.
11. The washing machine must be level. To achieve this, place a building level on the top cover of the machine, and then begin to alternately tighten the legs until the machine is level.
12. We connect the washing machine to the outlet and run a test washing program - its installation under the countertop in the kitchen is completed.

What washing machines are suitable?

There is one more issue that requires discussion. It often happens that people are starting a kitchen renovation and are just planning to buy an automatic washing machine, but already believe that the only option for installing it is to install it in the kitchen under the countertop. In this case, they have much more freedom both in terms of planning the production of kitchen furniture and in terms of purchasing equipment.

If you have the opportunity to buy a new car, it is better to choose the one that is more suitable for your needs. embedding. In general, automatic washing machines are:

• free-standing;
• built-in;
• compact.

A freestanding washing machine for installation under a countertop is the least suitable, so we discard them right away. Compact washing machines are, of course, good and require less space, but they also have a load of only 3-4 kg. It is best to take a washing machine with the ability to be built-in; it will be more suitable for our purposes. Well, of course, when purchasing a specific model of washing machine, measure its actual dimensions, do not look at the technical documentation, as it may indicate the dimensions of the machine inaccurately.

In conclusion, we note that it is not difficult to build a washing machine under the countertop if you have calculated and prepared everything in advance. You need to take care in advance about preparing communications, taking measurements, drawing a plan, preparing tools, if all this is done efficiently, there is nothing to worry about, installing a washing machine under the countertop will be successful. Good luck!

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