Drag an orange dot to resize; a dashed line shows when it snaps to a common size. Click a dot, then use the arrow keys to nudge 1/8″ (hold Shift for 1″). Every size can also be typed in the panel.
Checks
- Verify every clearance in your appliance’s installation manual. Models differ, and the manual wins over any number in this plan.
- Panel only. This plan doesn’t move or change the dishwasher’s water line, drain hose or power. If one is in the way, stop and call a plumber or electrician.
- Under a stone countertop the dishwasher fastens to the sides. Use the short side-mount screws from its kit: anything longer than about 5/8″ comes out through a 3/4″ panel.
Shopping list
| Qty | Item | Est. |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1×2 pine board, 6′ (board) | $4.20 |
| 1 | 2×2 furring, 8′ (board) | $4.00 |
| 1 | 3/4″ birch plywood, 4×8 sheet (sheet) | $68.00 |
| 1 | 1 1/4″ wood screws (box of 100) | $7.00 |
| 1 | 2 1/2″ wood screws (box of 100) | $10.00 |
| 1 | Wood glue (bottle) | $5.00 |
| 1 | 3/4″ iron-on birch edge banding (25 ft roll) | $9.00 |
| 1 | 2″ L-bracket with screws (each) | $2.00 |
| 1 | 5/8″ pan-head screws (slides, hinges) (box of 100) | $6.00 |
About $115 · rough estimates, check the store
Parts
| Part | Qty | Length | Width | Material | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | End panel Notch 3″ deep × 4″ tall at the bottom front. Edge-band the front edge after gluing the layers. | 2 | 34 1/2″ | 24 3/4″ | 3/4″ birch plywood |
| B | Countertop cleat Lies flat inside the top edge. | 1 | 22 1/4″ | 1 1/2″ | 1×2 pine board |
| C | Floor block Inside, at the back corner. | 1 | 4″ | 1 1/2″ | 2×2 furring |
Cut list
3/4″ birch plywood, sheet 1 of 1
1×2 pine board, 72″ → B 22 1/4″
2×2 furring, 96″ → C 4″
Kerf 1/8″ included. Every cut runs edge to edge.
Have the store cut it
Most home centers rip sheets on their panel saw. Show them this; do the short crosscuts at home.
- 3/4″ birch plywood: rip into strips 24 3/4″, keep the rest.
Steps
- Tape measure
- Speed square
- Pencil
- Drill/driver
- Clamps
- Safety glasses
- Hearing protection
- Dust mask
- Circular saw and a straight edge (or have the store cut the sheets)
- Jigsaw
- Compass (for scribing)
- Shims
- Level
- Sander, 120 and 180 grit
1Before you start
Read every step once, start to finish, before you buy or cut anything. Each step names the parts it uses by letter; the parts list gives their sizes.
Set up somewhere flat with good light. A pair of sawhorses with a sheet of plywood on top makes a fine work table.
Wear safety glasses whenever a tool is running, hearing protection for saws, and a dust mask for sanding and for cutting treated wood or sheet goods. Tie back long hair and loose sleeves. Keep children and pets out of the work area.
- Tip At the store, pick straight boards: hold each one up to your eye and look down its length. Skip boards that bow, twist or have big knots near the ends.
- Tip Measure twice, cut once. Most mistakes are a misread tape, not a bad cut.
2Cut and label the parts
Cut every part on the cut list. Cut the longest parts first: if one goes wrong, it can still become a shorter part.
To mark a cut, hook your tape on the end of the board, make a small V with its point exactly at the measurement, and draw a square line through the point with a speed square. Put an X on the waste side.
Cut on the waste side of the line, so the blade's kerf (about 1/8″) comes out of the scrap, not your part. Cut sheets with the good face down when using a circular saw: the blade splinters the top face.
Write each part's letter in pencil on a face that won't show, and stack the parts by letter.
Sand the faces before assembly while they're flat and easy to reach: 120 grit, then 180.
✓ Lay the parts out and count them against the parts list. Measure a few: if one is off by more than 1/16″, recut it now.
STOP. Let the saw reach full speed before it touches the wood, keep both hands clear of the blade's path, and never reach under a board you're cutting. Support long boards on both sides of the cut so the blade doesn't pinch.3Check the manual and the hookups
Find the "cutout" or "installation" page of the dishwasher manual: it gives the opening width and height and how the dishwasher fastens (to the countertop underside or to the sides).
If the dishwasher is already in place and must come out, turn off its breaker and its water valve first. If the hoses and cable don't have enough slack to slide it out 2 feet, stop: have the installer or a plumber pull it.
Look at where the water line, drain hose and power come in. They usually run on the sink side. Nothing in this plan goes near them.
✓ The manual's opening width is 24″ or less, and its height 34 1/2″ or less.
STOP. Verify every clearance in your appliance’s installation manual before you cut. If the manual asks for more room than this plan, the manual wins.4Cut the toe-kick notch
Measure the toe kick of the cabinets next to it and confirm they match 4″ tall and 3″ deep.
Mark the notch on the bottom front corner of each layer (A): 3″ back from the front edge and 4″ up from the bottom. Cut the two lines with a jigsaw, stopping exactly at the corner.
Check the floor is level along the panel's line. If not, scribe the bottom edge to the floor: hold the panel in place, set a compass to the biggest gap, and draw along the floor onto the panel. Cut to the line.
- Tip Cut with the good face down when using a jigsaw: it splinters the top face.
✓ Held in place, the panel touches the floor along its whole length and its front edge is plumb.
5Glue up the two layers
Spread glue over the back of one layer, set the second on it with every edge flush, and drive 1 1/4″ screws from the inside face every 8″ around the edges and in a grid in the middle. Two layers are only 1 3/8″ thick, so a longer screw would come out the finished side.
The screws go in from the side that will face the dishwasher, so no screw shows on the finished outside.
✓ The edges are flush all round; plane or sand any step.
6Edge-band and seal the panel
Iron edge banding onto the front edge and the edges of the notch. Trim and sand.
Paint or finish the panel now, before it goes in: both faces and every edge, especially the bottom. Steam rolls out of a dishwasher every time it opens, and bare plywood edges soak it up and swell.
✓ Every face and edge has finish on it, including the bottom edge.
7Fix the cleat and the floor block
Glue the countertop cleat (B) to the inside face with its wide side against the panel, top edge flush with the top of the panel, 1″ back from the front. Drive 1 1/4″ screws through it into the panel every 6″.
Fix a small L-bracket to the inside face at the bottom back corner with 5/8″ screws; the floor block (C) goes under its other leg when the panel is in place.
✓ No screw tip shows on the finished outside face.
STOP. Check every screw length before it goes into the panel: the screw must be shorter than whatever it passes through plus the panel’s 3/4″, or its tip comes out the finished side. A 1 1/4″ screw through the 3/4″ cleat is fine; a 1 5/8″ one is not.8Stand the panel in place
Cut a scrap board exactly 24″ long as a spacer. Stand the panel in place with the spacer between it and the cabinet, at the floor and at the top.
Check the front edge is plumb with a level and flush with the cabinet doors. Shim at the floor if needed.
Drive 2 1/2″ screws up through the cleat into a wood or laminate countertop, 4 in all: they go 1″ into it, and most of those tops are 1 1/2″ thick. Measure yours at the edge first. Under stone, run a bead of silicone on top of the cleat instead.
At the back corner, set the floor block under the L-bracket, screw it to the floor with two 2 1/2″ screws, and screw the bracket to the block.
✓ The opening measures 24″ at the floor, the middle and the top, and the panel doesn't move when you push it.
STOP. Before screwing into the floor, check nothing runs under that spot: the dishwasher lines usually come up on the sink side, but look first.9Slide the dishwasher back in
Slide the dishwasher in, keeping the hoses and cable from kinking. Level it with its own feet so the door lines up with the cabinet doors.
Fasten its mounting brackets as the manual says: up into the countertop, or into the side of the panel with the short screws from its kit.
Turn the water and breaker back on, run a short cycle and look underneath for drips.
✓ The dishwasher door opens without rubbing the panel, and nothing drips after a full cycle.
10Finish
Ease every sharp edge and corner with 120-grit sandpaper so nobody gets a splinter.
Sand all over with 180 grit, always along the grain (the direction the wood fibres run). Scratches across the grain show through stain.
Wipe off the dust with a barely damp rag and let it dry.
Paint, stain or a clear coat (water-based polyurethane is the easiest). Apply thin coats with the grain, let each dry fully, and sand lightly with 220 grit between coats.
Let it dry for the time on the can before using it.
- Tip Try your finish on a scrap of the same wood first: stain looks different on every board.
Conceptual layout, material estimate and assembly guide from the sizes you entered. Not engineering, not a building plan, not stamped or approved. Confirm measurements on site; follow local codes and product instructions; anchor tall pieces before use. Using this plan means you accept the Terms of Use.