Advice sought: Replace dishwasher with rolling cart (Ikea hack)

[AMandM]

Our dishwasher has been broken for a few weeks now, and we've been kind of enjoying the social time connected with doing dishes by hand. That, plus the fact that we could definitely use more storage space in the kitchen, has us thinking about not replacing the dishwasher but instead putting some kind of shelving/cabinetry in its space.

We also could use more counter space. So my idea is to take an Ikea base cabinet (Sektion), install either shelves or pull-out racks (Utrusta), mount it on casters (Rill), and attach something like a cutting board on top. This would give us a rolling cart that would fit neatly under the counter in the existing space but could be pulled out to provide extra counter space.

Is a base cabinet sturdy enough to withstand being pulled out and pushed in? I know they're designed to be wall-mounted, not free-standing. Would I need to brace it somehow?

Advice, experience, opinions, all welcome!

[StashingAway]

Are you sure the handwashing isn't a honeymoon period?

I wouldn't use the Ikea cabinet stuff mobile, but it's probably sturdy enough to do so. The back and side edges are not meant to be exposed; when you build with them in a kitchen you cover them with a finished piece of material. Depending on if your dishwasher has any room on either size, you might not find a cabinet that fits acceptably either. The dishwasher is 24" wide and the cabinet are meant to fit snug at 24". If you go one size down so it can be rolled out you're looking at and 15" cabinet in a 24" hole, so lots of wasted space.

Even bigger is whether or not you can figure out a way to put a top on it but have it still be low enough to fit under the edge. You would need some tiny casters to do that!

You may be able to find a rolling island that fits in there if you lower it. Something like this: https://www.ebay.com/p/9006222692?iid=182687582861

[Rural]

Try it out for a while to be sure you don't want a working dishwasher by movin some dish storage or pan storage into the broken dishwasher.

[StashingAway]

One more note: depending on how old/used your dishwasher was, the modern ones clean really well and you may be surprised that you like using the dishwasher once you have a good one. That happened to me; I thought dishwahsers were OK but not really worth the effort. Turns out if you replace a 18 year old machine with a modern $500 Bosch you find that you really like using it, plus it uses an absurdly small amount of water. Something like 3-5 gallons.

[Daley]

...and if the honeymoon period does wear off on handwashing dishes, and you still want to reclaim some cabinet space? You're not just limited to the standard ginormous 24" wide by 34" tall dishwasher replacement. Remember that there are 18" wide, under-sink, drawer, and countertop models of dishwashers, as well.

[Steeze]

First thing we did when we moved into this condo was sell the dishwasher, it was freestanding on wheels and had to be connected to the sink to operate though.

We replaced it with a tall set of wire shelving which is wide in the bottom and narrow at The Top. The wide portion has a thick cutting board top which we had cut to fit. It holds all of our pots, pans, lids, small appliances, and a large house plant too. It is my favorite part of my kitchen.

We are also only 2 people so dishes aren’t a big deal. We only keep one set of dishes out (2 of everything) to avoid a big dish washing task. Hand washing is good, and you are helping lessen your carbon footprint by doing so.

+1 for hand washing

[sonofsven]

How about fixing the dishwasher, it's usually not that hard and most parts are available online.

[Metalcat]

So your existing dishwasher fits underneath your existing countertop?

Is your existing countertop standard height? If so, how on earth will you fit a standard height Ikea unit (plus wheels) underneath it??

I would probably do something simpler like mount a second countertop surface underneath that slides out when you need it, and just put regular storage racks in the empty space.

[StashingAway]

Hand washing is good, and you are helping lessen your carbon footprint by doing so.

+1 for hand washing

Depending on how much you are washing dishes, how long the dishwasher lasts, and where your electricity comes from, the difference may be minimal if existent at all.

I am a dishwasher convert; I was adamant about handwashing for most of my life. "We used to wash by hands growing up so it's darn good enough for my kids" and that kind of thing. But a dishwasher really does use less water, even if you are washing your dishes really efficiently by hand. Partially filled basin with hot soapy water, rinse off suds by turning on the faucet. I can't realistically get under the 5ish gallons for a full load that my dishwasher does. At first I only put place settings, but now I throw all of the pots and pans and casserole dishes and such in there. It cleans them all, first shot, with no prep other than scraping out the big bits.

I'm on electric grid heat so heating the water for hand washing uses more carbon than the dishwasher heat (because I'm using more water). And water pumps for the cycle are all pretty efficient. So the real question is how long does the DW last, and is the embodied carbon in it more than what it saves over its lifespan? I don't know the answer; it might be quite large. But even if dish washing by hand uses a smaller carbon footprint overall, in the big picture it is quite small. I save much more carbon by doing other various things. Eating slightly less meat, for instance, will have a greater impact. Or wasting less food. Using cold cycle on your laundry. Using a broom instead of a vacuum. Taking the time that I now have from auto dish washing to hang dry clothes (I am trying to optimize my time, can you tell?). I could go on...

If you only have two place settings and gobs of time on your hands to wash dishes, then you are doing better than I am. I'm just trying to put things in perspective. DW is hardly the hill to die on (in my opinion) if you are trying to reduce carbon footprint.

* I would also like to point out that things will change once the isolation pattern lifts more. Depending on situation, OP might feel they like hand washing dishes right now because there's nothing else to do. But once you can go out more, the time spent washing dishes might be less appealing. I'm holding off on a lot of perceived lifestyle changes at the moment for that reason- I may not feel they are as needed once I'm out and about more.

But if you like washing dishes by hand, by no means take this as gospel, I'm just throwing opinions out there. I've done it most of my life and perhaps just trying to overcompensate for my conversion to dishwashers!

[Tig_]

When I bought my current house there was a space opening for a dishwasher but no dishwasher, no hook up, nothing.  Just cabinets on either side and a counter top over empty air.  I have a three-drawer flimsy storage thing from Target (over 10 years old) that fit nicely - there was empty space on the sides, but I saved folded up paper grocery bags, a folding step stool, and small fire extinguishers in those spaces.

I will say that because it needs to fit under the counter I never even thought about using it as extra counter top space - it was just too low (and I'm 5-1).  Now, if you needed the countertop space for like, a slow cooker, then it probably would have worked great, but I never encountered a time where I needed the counter and had the slow cooker going - usually one or the other.

I am adding a dishwasher to the space - I also like washing dishes by hand and haven't had a dishwasher since college (over 10 years), but the water savings and the fact that most buyers tend to look for that.... not to mention staring down the possibility of kids soon - prompted me to head in this direction.

[NaN]

Our house had really nice custom cabinets for the time, 1960s. It did not include space for a dishwasher so someone put one in after the fact doing the reverse of what you are doing. The unfortunate thing is the dishwasher is not right next to the sink, but one cabinet 'bay' over. Worst design ever. I think preferences will always trend towards having a dishwasher.

I personally hate dishwashers because they never do a good enough job. I usually just wash by hand.

[Greystache]

We did just the opposite. We tore out some drawers to make room for a dishwasher.  Anyway, if you are planning to use the top of the pull-out cart as a work surface, be aware that the work surface will be a couple inches lower than standard counter top height. I may not sound like much, but a couple inches can make a big difference in comfort especially if you are tall.

[AMandM]

Thanks for all the replies! I'll try to address all the issues raised.

Handwashing vs. dishwashing It's been almost two months, including some festive Christmas meals that generated relatively large amounts of dishes, so I think it's safe to say we're past the honeymoon stage. Looking to the future, we're soon to be empty-nesters, at which point we won't generate enough dirty dishes to fill the dishwasher even once a day.
I go back and forth on which is a better method. Handwashing definitely uses more water, but it does a better job than the dishwasher, which was only about six years old.

Resale We plan to stay in this house for longer than the expected life of a dishwasher, so there's no need to put one on now for resale value. When we come to that bridge, we can then decide to cross it by reinstalling a dishwasher.

Repair I've priced this. It needs a new pump, which is ~$500.

Sizing The idea for this hack was born after I searched for ready-made rolling islands without finding any that would use the 24x24 footprint efficiently. Making one from scratch is more work that we have time/priority for.
The height should be fine. The Ikea cabinet box is designed to fir under a standard countertop on legs that are 7" tall, but the casters are only 2 1/2" tall, so there's a few inches of headspace for a cutting board. Having it a little lower than the regular countertop would actually be a plus, as a lower surface is better for some tasks. 
I had not thought about the snugness of the width, though. That could definitely be a problem.

In the meantime I've discovered that there are pull-out work surfaces for regular cabinets, that fit in place of a top drawer. This decouples the extra work surface from the storage area, so it moves and the storage stays put. I'm now more inclined to that solution, since it gets us the extra storage and extra counterspace without having to worry about sturdiness or fit of a rolling cabinet.

Thanks, everyone!

[sonofsven]

Well it sounds like you figured out what you want.
Have you removed the dishwasher yet?
Generally, the flooring should continue uninterrupted under the dishwasher, but sometimes it doesn't, in which case you'll need to add the equivalent flooring, plywood, etc.
Also, I've picked up two rolling carts over the years, wire shelving, casters, that I believe originally came from commercial kitchen suppliers.
If there was a shelf size that fit the 24"x24" space you could cut the legs as needed for the top shelf to sit under the existing counter by a few inches then make up this difference with an equivalent wood top, like a maple butcher block.
The ones I have use a two part plastic piece on each leg that can be set in one to two inch increments, vertically.
You would want a shelf at the bottom, too, obviously.

[AMandM]

We haven't removed the dishwasher yet, but I know from doing repair work on it in the past that the floor tile does continue under it to the rear wall.

Which, now that I think about it, is not true of the existing cabinets on either side of the dishwasher. That means any new cabinet will have to be a bit shorter than the existing ones if it's going to slide into the hole left by the dishwasher.

[StashingAway]

Sizing The idea for this hack was born after I searched for ready-made rolling islands without finding any that would use the 24x24 footprint efficiently. Making one from scratch is more work that we have time/priority for.
The height should be fine. The Ikea cabinet box is designed to fir under a standard countertop on legs that are 7" tall, but the casters are only 2 1/2" tall, so there's a few inches of headspace for a cutting board. Having it a little lower than the regular countertop would actually be a plus, as a lower surface is better for some tasks. 
I had not thought about the snugness of the width, though. That could definitely be a problem.

I would double check this; the Ikea cabinets can be adjusted up to 7 inches, but I don't think that means that they are 7" lower than a standard cabinet. The ones I've installed had legs in the 3-4" range to get to a standard countertop if I recall correctly. But I could be wrong on this. Either way, you would also want to check the width.

I would much prefer your idea of a slide out cutting board and standard cabinets. That would make everything more intentional (meaning you don't have to brace a rolling cabinet to pull open a drawer or lock the cabinet wheels when you want to us it, etc. (essentially turn it from a two handed to a one handed operation). If I were in your position that's the most appealing option for me. And I agree that you're in a primo setup for hand washing.