The top-of-the-door vent is a real design problem: if it doesn't ruin your counter-tops, the inside of the machine itself can warp. That's what happened to us after 2+ years, because we had granite counter-tops (which, unlike formica & particle-board, don't warp -- at least not from mere dishwasher steam). We quit using the dishwasher over a month ago, -- it had been getting noisier & noisier; & then we discovered the inside of the dishwasher itself had warped! Metal! Warped! We had chosen to have a new Kitchenaid dishwasher installed back around 2010 as part of a big kitchen renovation, using a local reputable kitchen design-&-install shop. Kitchenaid had always worked fine for us, & had a good reputation. And I very much wanted to avoid the kind of disaster we'd had with a new clothes-washing machine several years ago (the "Calypso")(another case of lousy major appliances being sold under brand names that were once extremely trustworthy.) Now I'll never buy a Kitchenaid again. Our Kitchenaid dishwasher, when it was new, quickly melted off the end points of the internal dishrack within three months, exposing the metal which soon rusted. The dishwasher ran quietly and cleaned the dishes well, though, and there were other post-renovation problems to attend to. The rusted points were annoying, but looked like a cosmetic problem. But after 2+ years, the machine began to get noisier & noisier; when we called our kitchen company back in late this fall, they found the warping. They said they're seeing a lot of deformed formica countertops, caused by the same problem: the dishwasher vents straight up in the underside of the counter. So either the counter warps, if it is formica,...or the steam is forced back down into the machine if the counter is granite (as ours is), and can warp the actual inside of the dishwasher. I am furious. I wish I had complained to Kitchenaid about the melted, rusted points while the machine was still under warranty. I'm definitely going to complain now. But I don't want a Kitchenaid again. And I'm not using the one I own -- it is so warped, and it was getting so noisy when it ran, that I am afraid I will have a dishwasher spill all over the floor, or a fire. And I'll never understand how an entire company could design a machine that does not vent properly -- it's not even physics, it's simple common sense that steam can't be vented into a solid block of matter such as a counter-top! It's a vent! How hard could that be, to design properly!?!

We purchased a Parade Home with all the upgrades in June 2014. By November 2014 we started seeing our stain fading off the front panel of our dishwasher wood front panel. Then our dishwasher front computer panel froze up. I had to google how to reset the computer board. 2 months later the computer panel froze up again. I called the expert to come look at it. He said that #1 the dishwasher was put in at a tilt and the steam was making the stain come up and get into the computer board. He thinks that the weight of the wood panel tilted the dishwasher and caused the problem. The stain has faded on the top of the panel already. I have to pay $275 for a new computer panel on a KitchenAid dishwasher that is only 1 1/2 years old. I don't know if I should take the issue up with the builder? Of course we only have a 1 year contract...But I feel this resulted because he was uneducated about KitchenAid and wood front panels. Like xedos mentioned in the last comment, wood panels are made for Miele, Bosch, or Asko where the steam does not effect the front panel. This is so frustrating to me. (If you don't have experience building "high end" homes than DON'T BUILD THEM!!!)

Vapor barriers should be installed with most modern DWs if a laminate counter (or butcher block) is used. (Look at the Ikea site countertops specs to get an idea of what I'm talking about). Either seal the underside of the laminate with a good primer like KIlZ for at least a foot on either side, and then topcoat that with whatever you've got leftover that isn't flat paint. Preferably semi gloss made for kitchens and baths, as that usually has a mold inhibitor in it, but plain semi gloss is fine. Or, you can staple 6 mil plastic to the underside of the laminate, covering the staples with caulk, and drape it down over the sides of the DW. You also should encourage as much air flow in your kitchen as possible to dry the moisture that escapes and condenses into water against the vapor barrier. That doesn't mean leaving a gap that sound can escape, but it does mean maybe turning on a ceiling fan, or using the AC in the summer to dry things out as well as using an externally venting fan to let the moisture from cooking escape so the interior air is actually dry enough to evaporate the DW moisture.

I don't really have much of an answer, but my mom's dishwasher had to have the control panel replaced twice already. Like yours, it has the concealed panel that is on the top of the door. Water drips off the counter and down onto the control panel where it stays because it's a flat surface and then wreaks its havoc. So I would say your concern is legitimate. In my mom's case she can try to keep water away from that area, but in your case it's kind of unavoidable. I don't know what you could do. - Jim