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Appliances Remodeling Kitchens

Need Help Measuring for Panels for Fisher Paykel Dish Drawers?

Gail Gemberling

4 years ago

Does anyone have experience measuring for Panels for FP dish drawers? I have 34.25 inches of space vertically as it says to measure to determine whether you can use one of the "Tall" models. So technically I can use one of the tall ones. So I go to measure with the measuring sheet that they give you. And I find it is very tight (although can be done). I did the measurements for both the shorter one and the taller one. But now I don't know which one to get. The Tall one has a water softener which is why I like it.

The measuring sheet which I am going to try to attach to this question, is quite confusing. In the second blue box where it says Height of Upper Panel, they recommend "No Upper Panel Extension". This is the part of the top panel that would extend above the opening at the top leaving enough clearance so as not hit the counter top. It would seem that you would want the opening completely covered as when you have a drawer front, you don't leave a space at the top of the drawer so you can see the opening. Instead you completely cover the opening with the drawer front. Does anyone know why they would recommend no panel extension to completely cover the drawer opening?

I have several questions about measuring for these panels so if anyone has any experience doing this please let me know. I don't want to order the wrong size dishwasher or have the panels end up looking wonky because my measurements were off.

FYI, I do currently have dish drawers (Model 603DD) that are quite old already installed in the space which I think will make it easier for the installer to put in the new ones. The model I have is more akin to the size of the shorter one that they have now. I don't think there was a Tall model back then. Mine are white and not the panel ready ones. I notice there is a slight space at the top that is filled by a rubber seal/bumper of sorts, but they fit beautifully. The only thing that was not done well was the toe kick which is too tall and rubs my floor a little. I hope to do better with that this time around.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Gail

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Comments (3)

dadoes
4 years ago
Regards to space above the top of the upper drawer panel ... it's to allow for ventilation. Same for the slight gap between the upper and lower drawer panels.

The included standard toe kick is trim-to-fit. It may contact the floor when the lower drawer is opened if the unit isn't quite properly leveled front-to-back ... the drawer may angle slightly downward as it extends.
Gail Gemberling thanked dadoes
Gail Gemberling
Original Author
4 years ago
dadoes,

Thank you for the response. One clarification.

So if your cabinet doors and drawers are the style that overlap the cabinets then I guess the top drawer doesn't match the rest of your drawers if you leave the space. I just have seen a lot of pictures and have not noticed a space at the top. I think there is likely a little room for adjustment when attaching the panels, but I am trying to be as exact as I can be.

With regard to the toe kick, I think it is made of plastic and could be trimmed more on my existing dishwasher in order to avoid the hitting of the floor. You are probably right that it is not quite level as well. I notice on the new models when I was calculating the size of the drawer fronts, there is a measurement for a toe kick that you can order when you order your panels. Or maybe the panel ready models don't come with the plastic toe kick and it is something they assume you will order along with your drawer panels.

Seems that the point of getting a panel-ready model is to match the cabinets and so I am trying to determine with the information available how best to do that. Seems like there are a lot of unknowns and things could be better explained in the manuals.

Again I do appreciate your reply.
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dadoes
4 years ago
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Gail Gemberling thanked dadoes

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