Dishwasher wiring

I am installing a new dishwasher the house we just bought has never had a dishwasher. How would I go about installing the wiring for this? The house I have has a basement but am unable to tell where the wire would go since the basement was finished when we bought it. Without paying an electrician is there a way I could do this. I consider myself pretty handy around the house, but don't we all.

 

What is the basement ceiling made of?

 

It is a drop ceiling. I can see the subfloor.

 

First of all, don't even consider doing this yourself until you've read at least one book on home wiring cover to cover. I'm going to give you the high-level picture here, but it's not all you need to know to do the job safely.

You need to install a new single-pole 20-amp breaker in an unused slot in your panel. I'm hoping that you do indeed have a breaker panel and that it does have an unused slot.

Then you need to run a 12/2 Romex cable from the panel to the dishwasher. How this is done is different in every house, since it depends on where the panel is, where the dishwasher is, and what is in between. The home wiring book will describe some of the techniques you can consider, and will tell you the proper way to protect and support the cable.

Wiring at the dishwasher is usually pretty simple, and is described in the dishwasher installation manual.

So the only two tricky parts are: (1) Installing the breaker in the panel and connecting it to the 12/2 without killing yourself, (2) Getting the cable safely and legally between the panel and the dishwasher.

Installing a new circuit is usually a job for a DIYer with a few other successful home wiring projects under his belt.

 

I could be wrong, that why I make this statement, If I am wrong they will tell me quickly.

" you can wire a recp. for the hookup to the dishwasher, it does not need to be hard wired as long as its on it own 20 amp circuit"

Ok let me have it.........

 

You are correct, brownbag. A dishwasher can either be connected to a receptacle, or can be hard-wired. If connected to a receptacle, there are some quite restrictive limits on the length of the cord. If anybody needs that, I'll look it up.

But there is no requirement that the dishwasher be on a dedicated 20-amp circuit (unless the manufacturer's installation instructions demand it). However, it is typical and a good idea to put it on its own 20-amp circuit.

 

My folks just bought one that came with cord and plug assembly. I was suprised,, it was quite long as I remember,, 6 or 8 ft