Wednesday 16 May 2012

Dishwasher gone wrong!!

About 2 years ago we had a new kitchen fitted. I say new kitchen as if it were replacing an existing one, but the truth is we didn't previously have one at all. We had bought a house that hadn't been lived in for at least 11 years that we were sure about, with no nod to modernisation having ever been contemplated prior to that. So we made it liveable; installed a bathroom, put some carpets down applied a lick of paint and moved in. We then set about building a large extension...which is an epic story in itself. It is not something to be recommended if you are living in the property whilst all around you is being knocked out, knocked down, builders everywhere, it never seems to stop raining and mud covers all surfaces. I'll reserve the rest for therapy, or possibly a series of blogs, which pretty much amounts to the same thing! Anyway, we had a make-do kitchen in the rear part of the living room. At first it seemed quite romantic. I used our kitchen table as my work surface, and we bought a two ring hob and oven to cook on. This along with a microwave were put onto the kitchen table, and my utensils in boxes all around. A friend commented it was all rather Jamie Oliver but I think she was humouring me. Our son was then just 20 months old, he is now almost seven, you do the maths....suffice to say the romanticsm had well and truly worn off by the time I got my shiny new kitchen. We opted to have everything built in apart from fridge and freezer as I had had those before and they are far too small, so we went for the big American thing which I love. The ovens (I had to have two for reasons too boring to explain - but having been without anything proper for so long I think I went a bit loop the loop), the microwave, the coffee-machine (told you I'd gone loop the loop - I don't even like coffee), and the dishwasher were built in. Big mistake. HUGE! You don't expect them to go wrong do you? We hadn't had the flooring fitted when the kitchen was put in and this was installed later - wooden flooring, this is an important point (it's actually laminate but it's very convincing). A while ago the dishwasher door became a bit difficult to open and close but we ignored it as I think is traditional. Then last night we could ignore it no longer. Hubby had set himself up as domestic goddess yesterday as I was working all day and hadn't had time (actually couldn't be bothered) to pre-prepare a meal (which, heroically, I usually do - martyrdom awaits). So he had made the meal and was continuing his domestic chores in filling up the dishwasher. But then it all went wrong. 'This is not working AT ALL!' he yelled, which demanded my presence urgently. The door wouldn't close AT ALL. He took off the plinth at the bottom, and got down on his belly with a torch. He was down there for hours, most of the time just staring underneath the huge great thing, where he could see that the rear leg (adjustable to account for uneven floors), had come out too far and slipped off the piece of wood that it was on. Because of our wooden flooring we were unable to pull the machine out to refix it. We scratched out heads, I came up with suggestions which were greeted with derision - they were stupid but I felt obliged to contribute. So, I left him to it as I was a bit bored by now and I honestly couldn't see anything else for it but to take out the entire kitchen which my head couldn't contemplate at 11pm. Just when I was thinking of sneeking off to bed, I heard pots and pans being rattled, then I heard the sound of a dishwasher door being closed, and in came hubby very triumphantly to announce that it was sorted. Somehow he had managed to stablise and level the dishwasher without having to remove it. Dishwasher works fine and the door is no longer difficult to close. What a genius hubby is. Just hoping it won't go wrong again as it really can't be taken out without removing the whole kitchen as far as I can see. Mental note to self - fitted applicances are the devils work....do not go there.

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