ALWAYS screw through the side of the unit into both adjoining cabinets. The top brackets are optional. This positively affects stability, but also reduces noise. You have to take at least the drawer out anyway because the only way to level the unit is to move it into place, take the drawer out and put the level inside. So, you might as well screw through the sides while its out.

Only for double drawer units -

(1) Their leg brackets are extremely fragile. So, no sliding - always pick it up.

(2) Because we raised the level of our counter, we built a little removable platform for the unit to sit on and took off the original legs. We ran our toe kick material across the front of the platform by using the original plastic part as a template. We did this because the original part was too short for the raised level. The plastic part then went on in front of our kick.

As a surprise benefit, this positively affected the noise created by the bottom drawer. As in the top drawer noise is dampened by the bottom drawer, but the bottom drawer noise can echo off the floor - the little platform and wood toe kick absorbed the noise instead.

We installed our dd's many years ago and my experience may no longer be relevant. One major difference between our dd and our previous dw is that it plugs into an outlet under our sink (rather than being hard wired.) The instructions indicated that we should have a dedicated switch for the outlet. I regret that I didn't insist on having the switch. You should give a copy of the instructions for the installation (keep the original for yourself) to the contractor well ahead of time, before the electrician comes in. Look through the instructions yourself and ask some questions so that you make sure the contractor looked through them. I handed over the instructions but nobody ever bothered to read them.

We've had the leak indicator alarm go off every once in a while--not often (once every couple of years.) It was a pain in the neck getting to the back of the sink cabinet to unplug the dd's.

Dh installed a switch last year. Our leak indicator went off last month and it was a breeze to open the cabinet door and flip the switch. We waited a day or so and tried turning it on again, but the alarm went off mid cycle and we were easily able to turn the machine off again. At that point we realized we had to take a drawer out and dry out the pan underneath and the electronic board in the back.

We've had our dd's for 7 years and have been really happy with them. I'm not sure why we've had the leak sensor go off periodically, but we have found water in the pan (attached to the dd) when it has gone off. Most likely, we interfered with the seal of the drawer by making the load too high. Another thing that can happen with our machine (not sure about the newer ones) is that the little shelves on the sides can get skewed so that they are too high when in the flipped up position (not snapped in quite right) which is another thing that can affect the seal. We're also trying to remember to clean out the little strainers on the bottom more often. I used to only check them several times a year but it really should be done more often (twice a month? once a month?) So far, it's always been an easy fix for us. Once everything is dried out we go for another couple of years before having a problem since I become more diligent about things that can interfere with the seal.

The switch is just visible on the left side, toward the front of the cabinet. The cabinet is small because our dd's are next to our small sink.

Otherwise, we had no problems with the installation by using the directions. I believe dh installed it along with the plumber--neither had put in a dd before.

Thanks for the info! This will be a single dish drawer, and there will be a small kitchen drawer underneath it. I do have another question...I am not sure what is meant by a dedicated switch? I have an accessible outlet under the sink that I plan on plugging it into, but the outlet isn't a switched outlet so I won't be turning the dish drawer off and on with a switch? Is it supposed to be operated that way? I just assumed there would be an on/off button. Thanks again!

Abbey

You are correct, it operates like a regular dw with an on/off button.

The switch is for when you want to cut power to the dd. In our case, the alarm would not turn off until the machine was unplugged. It is much more convenient to flip the switch than to have to muddle through the cabinet to pull the plug.

I don't know if there is a safety reason for the dedicated outlet/switch. If you are doing any electrical in your kitchen, I strongly suggest going ahead and put in the machine as instructed. I was sorry we skipped that step.

We don't have to cut the power to the machine often, but I'm really glad we now have a switch.