Just moved into a newly built home. We have never ran the dishwasher. Today we found water pooled on bottom of the dishwasher. What causes this and should I be concerned the contractors did not run some pipes or drains correctly. Mind you we have not once run this dishwasher. Please help me understand. Thank you!

Hi Kieuty

That must be some yicky water if it has been sitting there for awhile! If you have never run the dishwasher, I guess I would suggest that you do and see what happens. I would recommend that you run the dishwasher (DW) and stand there throughout the complete "NORMAL" cycle and see what happens...

Water will enter the DW and then you should hear water agitating for a period of time and then the DW will drain for the first time and you should be able to hear it discharge into the drain pipe of the sink. If you have a garbage disposal you can actually see the water discharge into the disposal drain if you look. If you don't have a disposal you would usually have a branch drain fitting and should again be able to see water discharging into the drain if you look into the sink strainer.

Now, if you have a garbage disposal AND the water pumps from the DW but doesn't drain then the KNOCKOUT PLUG of the DW/disposal connection at the garbage disposal was not "knocked out" and you need to call the plumbers back in to make a real quick repair (will take 5 minutes). If you are handy enough and you simply don't want to deal with the contractor let me know and I can probably walk you through removing the disposal plug.

If you do not have a garbage disposal and your DW does not drain AND you have power to the DW then you have another issue altogether...;)

Back to you

Mark

Thank you Mark for the information. I ran the DW but there's an even bigger pool of water on the bottom of it. I definitely think it was not installed correctly or the knockout plug your referring to is the issue. I sent a very annoyed message to my home contractors to get in tomorrow to take a look at it! It seems so hard to find trustworthy contractors. This only adds to the many issues I have had with my new home. Thanks again!

We have only been in the house for less than 2 months and I have had so many issues with the contractors and the subcontractors. I appreciate your help because now I can throw out these things to them and seem like I know what I am talking about. The other day our toilet got clogged badly. My dad spent all day unclogging it, do you think that has something to do with the dishwasher as well?

So my contractors came in and claim that there is an issue with the pump that removes the water from the bottom of the dishwasher tub and I suppose blaming it on a manufacturer's problem. I can understand if the pump is not functioning properly, but am I wrong to question why the water is pooling up into the dishwasher to start with? Before even running the dishwasher, there was something or somewhere that water was coming in through. It still does not all add up to me. To your expert knowledge, what causes water to enter into the dishwasher without operation? Thank You! =)

Only thing that comes to my mind is that the plumber "TESTED" the dishwasher after installing it and checked for leaks at all connections and since the DW wasn't working all tested OK. The plumber probably didn't give it another thought and the water was left sitting in the DW.

That's about all I can come up with...