Where is the sink in relation to the dishwasher?

Hi Jake, the sink is about eight feet away on the adjacent wall.

Stax, does that mean that we can't change the placement or orientation of the drain hose?

A DW requires an indirect drain connection. Health and safety code to prevent back flow. That’s either a separate stand pipe, or, more usually, it drains into the knockout plug in the disposal, or a Y above the P trap.

Why isn’t this next to your sink? It should be.

Hanna,

I asked about the sink because plumbing the dishwasher into the garbage disposal or airgap is a more typical way to connect the dishwasher.

What was done there is questionable - I'm pretty sure that ProSource is correct that code calls for an indirect connection. That said, the short answer is what Joseph Corlett, LLC said. The solution is to rotate the fitting 90 degrees.

Post bigger pictures. It should drain under the sink, before the trap. That drain hack thing is not allowable. Your plumber needs to rework some Harry Homeowner stuff here.

Thanks everyone for your responses.

The counter space is in an L, with the sink on one wall and the dishwasher a few cabinets down on the other wall. We live on the third floor of an old house, so there's another apartment below us.

We will post a larger photo later today. What aspects would be helpful to include in the photos?

The installation was done by a small general contractor last year and we're not fully aware of all the details, but my husband thinks that the dishwasher drains into its own stand pipe, possibly with an air admittance valve on top. He's pretty sure that it may also have its own p trap. We don't have a garbage disposal, and all of the plumbing is hidden in the wall.

We have two questions about rotating the fitting 90 degrees. First, would those cuts and new seals introduce a higher likelihood of leaks or is this an acceptable risk? Second, which direction would we want to rotate it? Is the idea to hide more of the plastic drain hose in the wall? If so, does rotating the fitting mean that we would still want to carve a channel in the wall so that the the hose itself (not just the y-fitting) doesn't get in the way of the dishwasher?

We know that the drain water is very hot. Is there any danger of it "scalding" wall material and causing damage if we do cut a channel to recess it into the wall?

Hi again,

We just found this photo of what’s in the wall (from during the renovations). It’s a bit messy, but the abs pipe with p-trap on the right is where the y for the dishwasher is currently connected (it's not yet finished in the photo). It then slopes down in the wall behind some kitchen cabinets to drain on the very left side of the picture, which is where the sink (later installed underneath the window) also drains. So they share a single air admittance valve.

Given this setup, is there any other solution that would be easy and elegant or should we still be thinking about rotation the y, and, depending on your comments, cutting a channel for the drain pipe in the drywall?

Many thanks!

I'm not sure, but I think a stand pipe has to be a certain height from the trap. Like 3 feet. Someone here may know the code. I also think that arm may be too long for the vent, but I'm not sure. If the orientation of the picture is correct, you will have problems rotating to the right with that stud in the way.

Not sure with a stand pipe why there is a Y there in the first place. The hose could have been put into the pipe and clamped in place, like a cloths washer and a stand pipe.

What I'm seeing is: Pipe diameter of 2". Height above the trap min 18", max 30", arm length min of 4" max of 5 feet. That pipe doesn't look to be 18" tall, and looks to be more than 5' from the Studor vent.

Your AAV is behind drywall? Not acceptable. Those things fail and require periodic replacement. You shouldn’t have to tear out drywall to do that. The DW drain hose is supposed to be just like a washing machine and stand pipe. Just stuffed down in there, with maybe a zip tie to secure it. It needs to be accessible with some type of panel as well, just like one behind a washing machine would be.

Just had an idea. Open the wall in that cavity, run the hose from the floor up along side the stand pipe, then into the pipe. Attach with Zip ties or 3" hose clamps (not too tight as to block it).

Hey Live_Wire_Oak,

You're totally right of course. This is not how it's supposed to be done according to regulation, but we belatedly discovered that our contractor was a bit of a wildcatter. (My husband asked many times about this approach and the contractor told him, at the time, that the only other option was to either gouge out the back of our new kitchen cabinets--to allow for the access panel you suggest--or to punch a hole in the roof for a vent. Neither sounded good to us and so this is what we're left with.)

Weedmeister,

That's a really interesting and smart suggestion. If I understand correctly, it would allow the full length of the hose to "sit" inside the already opened cavity.

Questions for you:

1: Would we probably need to cut and reposition the Y-connector (turning it further into the cavity) to make this work? We're assuming so.

2 If we set it up without any kinks, would everything *probably* still drain as intended? We'd be sure that pieces are not cinched too tight, but would this already un-Kosher drainage set up still probably work?

Many thanks,

Hannah

Fix it right. Or you’ll really regret the illegal shortcuts when it fails. It’ll be a whole lot more damage to your home then.

Cut the roof hole. Eliminate the standpipe. Don’t aid and abet the poor work.

Thanks for your comments.

Live WIre, when you say "Fix it right," do you also mean that we should cut the roof hole to get rid of the stand pipe? Just want to be sure that I understand your recommendation as well.

Just to be clear, though: even if we do the roof hole, we're still stuck trying to make sure the dishwasher fits in the space. The roof hole won't actually free up space, right? We'll still have the problem of a Y-connector in a drain, except now the drain will be vented properly for code?

Thank you,

Hannah

Hannah,

We were doing fine until you got a lot of extra "help." lol

Hanna:

I made my suggestion to rotate the "Y" assuming your installation was up to your local code. Obviously it isn't. You have two choices. Vent everything properly which would involve an extensive amount of work, or continue to hillbilly to get the dishwasher to fit. I always advocate for doing things properly, but it's your budget and your level of risk tolerance, so I'll answer your questions:

"First, would those cuts and new seals introduce a higher likelihood of leaks or is this an acceptable risk?"

No higher level of leaks if done properly.

"Second, which direction would we want to rotate it?"

It probably doesn't matter.

"Is the idea to hide more of the plastic drain hose in the wall? If so, does rotating the fitting mean that we would still want to carve a channel in the wall so that the the hose itself (not just the y-fitting) doesn't get in the way of the dishwasher?"

Yes.

Don''t stuff a bunch of extra hose down that pipe. Probably no more than 6"-8". It is possible that the DW drain pump can push more water than the pipe can drain by gravity, hence why it is 2" round and 18" minimum tall.

It would have been easier with the wall open to run the vent through the roof. Now, it will be easier to put an access panel in the back of the cabinet. One day you will need it.