New vs. Replacement racks for dishwasher

[TechWife]

Let me list a bunch of facts, then ask for input.

1 - We are going to be selling this house within one year. It is 17 years old and we are the original owners.

2 - The dishwasher is a Kenmore and is the original dishwasher. It runs fine, we had the pump replaced a few years ago, but other than that, it has never given us any issues.

3 - I think the Kenmore brand is at risk due to the ongoing financial troubles at Sears. It's possible the chain will shut down and the Kenmore brand will go with it if they don't sell the brand of first. This makes me think I need to make this decision sooner rather than later.

4 - The dish racks are in really bad shape - they have broken prongs. Not only is it getting a little harder to arrange things, but it's pretty ugly, too.

5 - To replace the dish racks (top & bottom) is more than the cost of a new dishwasher. It seems obvious we should buy a new dishwasher. But...

6 - We had hardwood floors put in after market, after we had been in the house for 11 years. This means that our dishwasher sits on the old vinyl floor and there is hardwood in front of it. When we put the floor in, they warned us that it would be difficult to get the old dishwasher out and we may have to pull the countertop off to get it out or the new flooring would possibly sustain some damage, or both. We decided this was no big deal because we were planning to update the kitchen when we hit around 20 years in the house & a new countertop would be part of the update.

So, the decision -

1 - Spend the extra $, buy the new racks and be done with it. Let the outdated kitchen stand as it is. Advantage: It is simple Disadvantage: outdated appliances, expensive fix.

2 - Buy a new dishwasher and hope they are able to get the old one out and the new one in without damaging the countertop or the floor. Advantage: less money spent on the actual dishwasher, updated appliance Disadvantage: Possible damage to the floor and countertop necessitating new countertop and possibly floor repair. Advantage: dishwasher and countertop would both be updated for the sale of the house. Our current countertop is builder quality and most other houses on our street have upgraded countertops.

What says the hive?

Edited September 3, 2018 by TechWife

[itsheresomewhere]

The racks tend to be a bit pricey unless you find a rare, killer deal.  Kenmore tends to be whirlpool so I wouldn’t worry about that. 

Being honest here- the kitchen is “old” compared to what HGTV has convinced people they want.  Perhaps, it would be wise to just list the house with a 250 credit for the dishwasher.  If it were me, I would just offer the credit.  Chances are the new owners are going to update it.

[Pawz4me]

For about $35 Lowe’s will send someone out to measure your opening, look at your flooring situation and then help you choose a dishwasher that will fit (if possible). If you buy the dishwasher from them the $35 is credited toward the purchase price. It’s a relatively inexpensive way to find out if it’s do-able without damage. Home Depot may offer something similar. 

[TechWife]

25 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

For about $35 Lowe’s will send someone out to measure your opening, look at your flooring situation and then help you choose a dishwasher that will fit (if possible). If you buy the dishwasher from them the $35 is credited toward the purchase price. It’s a relatively inexpensive way to find out if it’s do-able without damage. Home Depot may offer something similar. 

This is great info. It isn't just the opening that is the issue, though. It's the fact that the floor is uneven and the old dishwasher is now bigger than the opening. The vinyl floor that the dishwasher sits on is about 1/2 lower than the hardwood floor. It's getting the old dishwasher out that could cause the damage.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

50 minutes ago, TechWife said:

This is great info. It isn't just the opening that is the issue, though. It's the fact that the floor is uneven and the old dishwasher is now bigger than the opening. The vinyl floor that the dishwasher sits on is about 1/2 lower than the hardwood floor. It's getting the old dishwasher out that could cause the damage.

 

This is exactly what Lowe's checks for.  When I bought my dishwasher at Lowe's, they were very careful and insistent about asking this exact question ("Have you installed new flooring in front of the dishwasher?  Is the dishwasher sitting on old flooring that is lower than the flooring in front of it?")  I think some dishwashers have adjustable feet that come up a bit for situations like this.  They could look at your dishwasher to see if this is the case.  

[JIN MOUSA]

What are the other appliances like? I think if a new dishwasher would be the outlier among older appliances, than it wouldn't be worth the risk to replace it. 

However, if the other appliances are updated and the old dishwasher is the outlier, than I'd lean towards trying to replace it. 

[cjzimmer1]

Unless you want to update the dishwasher for your own personal use, I'd be tempted to just let it be.  New dishwashers don't work near as well as older ones so I'd hate to let go of a a working older unit.  When it comes time sell, I'd offer the credit for a new dishwasher and let them deal with the issues involved with getting this one out.  

[Suzanne in ABQ]

Perhaps you could find out where they take dead dishwashers, and see if you can salvage some used racks that are better than the ones you have.

ETA: I just looked, and there are several pre-owned Kenmore racks on Ebay.  They range in price from $25 - $80.  Perhaps you can find the ones you need.

 

Edited September 3, 2018 by Suzanne in ABQ

[Carol in Cal.]

There is no such thing as a Speed Queen dishwasher, so I'd keep the old one.  Whatever it takes.

[Pawz4me]

8 hours ago, Suzanne in ABQ said:

 

This is exactly what Lowe's checks for.  When I bought my dishwasher at Lowe's, they were very careful and insistent about asking this exact question ("Have you installed new flooring in front of the dishwasher?  Is the dishwasher sitting on old flooring that is lower than the flooring in front of it?")  I think some dishwashers have adjustable feet that come up a bit for situations like this.  They could look at your dishwasher to see if this is the case.  

Yes, this is exactly the sort of stuff they asked us. We'd just bought the house the year before and we had no idea whether the current floor or the current dishwasher had been installed first. The dishwasher was obviously relatively new (but it died a sad death nonetheless), so our guess was it was installed after the flooring. But it was a sheer guess. All we knew for certain was that the floor was engineered hardwood and the dishwasher sat on the concrete slab, so there was a lip of flooring that was somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 inch to navigate. How adjustable the feet on the dishwasher are can be the key point (both on the old and the new one). Lowe's was really excellent with this service.

[RootAnn]

The dishwasher in our current house seems to be the original one. We've been here ~ 15 years and the house was about 10 years old when we moved in. So, theoretically, the dishwasher is 25 years old. DH has done some fixing and it has a little bit of an issue with just stopping mid-cycle (must lean against the door to get it started again) because the door seal is a bit too fat for it. We faced this issue with the racks getting really bad in terms of broken/rusted prongs and not being able to use all the space well when loading it.

We opted to replace the racks - but were able to find one pretty close to new one on Ebay for a good deal & a new one at a large price (but very happy to have it). So, yes, we could have purchased a new dishwasher a couple years ago for about twice what we paid for both racks, but I'd rather have a proven old tech one that works. Every time we've bought a new appliance (mostly microwaves), it just doesn't last like the old one. The newish smoothtop stove works pretty well *knock on wood*, but I don't want to replace my washer/dryer, fridge, or chest freezer. So, I vote new racks. But yes, look on ebay for good quality / cheaper ones.

[regentrude]

Thinking about it from the perspective of the buyer: it would be a serious con to find a 17 y/o dishwasher with flooring installed in front of it so that a replacement would necessitate counter top removal and possibly floor repair. I  would not consider such a house, unless the dishwasher were brand new and it were likely that I  can push this off a decade into the future. Possibly not even then..

 

[Sneezyone]

Please don’t update the appliance. If the kitchen is old, the buyers will want to upgrade it themselves and choose their own appliances. Just throw in a credit. We are in the market for our next home, wading through a sea of dated kitchens. I refuse to pay for someone else’s half-assed update/upgrade when our intention is to gut the whole thing and start fresh. 

Edited September 3, 2018 by Sneezyone

[TechWife]

7 hours ago, regentrude said:

Thinking about it from the perspective of the buyer: it would be a serious con to find a 17 y/o dishwasher with flooring installed in front of it so that a replacement would necessitate counter top removal and possibly floor repair. I  would not consider such a house, unless the dishwasher were brand new and it were likely that I  can push this off a decade into the future. Possibly not even then..

 

Too late now! When we did it, we thought this was our "forever" home - at least until we move to a senior adult community & we had plans to redo the kitchen ourselves. I doubt anyone would pick up on it before they bought the house, though. You have to get down on the floor and feel under the dishwasher to tell. I certainly never would have thought to check. Is this something people typically check for? I mean, it's not like we would hide it - I don't think there's a way to hide it, really. If we're directly asked, we will answer truthfully that the floor is an home improvement upgrade. Honestly, I think anyone who buys the house is going to want to redo the kitchen - it's a builder grade kitchen from nearly 20 years ago and most of the other houses in the neighborhood were either built with upgrades or have upgraded since. We are one of the few original owners left as well, not that it matters.

[TechWife]

6 hours ago, Sneezyone said:

Please don’t update the appliance. If the kitchen is old, the buyers will want to upgrade it themselves and choose their own appliances. Just throw in a credit. We are in the market for our next home, wading through a sea of dated kitchens. I refuse to pay for someone else’s half-assed update/upgrade when our intention is to gut the whole thing and start fresh. 

Would you want me to replace the racks so that it is more usable for you until you got around to the remodel?

ETA: We wouldn't upgrade the quality - we would get a similar model. It would really just be a functional dishwasher, nothing special. We're saving our upgrade money for the new house.

Edited September 3, 2018 by TechWife

[TechWife]

16 hours ago, Suzanne in ABQ said:

Perhaps you could find out where they take dead dishwashers, and see if you can salvage some used racks that are better than the ones you have.

ETA: I just looked, and there are several pre-owned Kenmore racks on Ebay.  They range in price from $25 - $80.  Perhaps you can find the ones you need.

 

I found one that matches by part number, but it is a different color. It is grey and the dishwasher I have now has a white interior with white racks. Do you think the color will make a difference to the buyer? I can get by with just replacing the bottom rack and not the top, I think.

[Lang Syne Boardie]

8 minutes ago, TechWife said:

I found one that matches by part number, but it is a different color. It is grey and the dishwasher I have now has a white interior with white racks. Do you think the color will make a difference to the buyer? I can get by with just replacing the bottom rack and not the top, I think.

 

I don't think it would make a difference. Either they will be the type to want to make do with what's there when they move in, in which case they will be thankful the dishwasher works well (being an older model) and is clean and fully functional, or they will be the type to want to replace appliances anyway. 

 

[regentrude]

50 minutes ago, TechWife said:

. I doubt anyone would pick up on it before they bought the house, though. You have to get down on the floor and feel under the dishwasher to tell. I certainly never would have thought to check. Is this something people typically check for? 

I have no idea what's typical. I just know that when we redid the kitchen floor, we made sure to tile under the dishwasher as well and raise the countertops so that it can slide out for repair or replacement.  So I  would check if it appeared that the flooring didn't go under the cabinets, but terminated in front. But perhaps others wouldn't. 

[Sneezyone]

57 minutes ago, TechWife said:

Would you want me to replace the racks so that it is more usable for you until you got around to the remodel?

ETA: We wouldn't upgrade the quality - we would get a similar model. It would really just be a functional dishwasher, nothing special. We're saving our upgrade money for the new house.

Mmm... depends on the overall condition of the kitchen. If the kitchen is in good enough shape to wait a year or two, sure. If it’s 70s era harvest gold or avocado green and rough around the edges, I’d skip it.

[BlsdMama]

I think you're missing a fourth choice - do nothing.

I'm assuming you'll put the house at the peak time - that's April / May.

In reality that's six months from now.  I am further assuming the price is going to reflect that the kitchen is a 20 year old remodel project.  If this is the case, I do not see a new $600 dishwasher improving the price you eek out.  Further, let's say you have to replace counters and floors.  Ouch.  Either you'll go bottom of the line on it and you will not recoup the cost OR you will put money into it but the cupboards, etc., will still be outdated and then I wonder - will you recoup the cost?

I guess the way I see it - if you put any $$ into any of the projects will they:

A) Increase the saleability and/or sale price of the home?
B) Make it likely to get as much or more that you invested?

I do not see racks as a worthy investment.  If someone sees an old dishwasher, they see an old dishwasher.  They don't open it up and say, "Hey! New racks! Selling point."  KWIM?

I'd leave it, knowing that my sale price is going to reflect the kitchen.  Unless, of course, you want to do a kitchen flip so you can sell the house more readily, which is understandable, but again, it would have to be the majority of stuff updated to make it worthwhile, kwim?

[Pronghorn]

Another choice is coat the bad parts of the rack with Uber Goop. It might not match your rack precisely, but it looks better than rust. You can also buy caps for the broken prongs.