The water flowing through the pipes and into your dishwasher is supposed to make your crockery and cutlery lovely and clean. It's not supposed to be gushing onto the floor. A leaking dishwasher can be a major annoyance, but it's generally something that can be taken care of, provided you know who to call. So what do you need to do when your dishwasher starts to misbehave?

Safety

Your first instinct will be to immediately switch off the dishwasher or even to pull the cord right out of the wall. You need to deactivate the machine, but you also need to take heed of the fact that water and electricity don't mix. Go to your home's circuit breaker and kill the power supply to your kitchen. Be sure to turn the machine off at this point so that it doesn't immediately start again when the electricity is restored. Is the leaking water clearly coming from the dishwasher? The source might be immediately evident—perhaps the drainage hose has detached? In the most straightforward of circumstances, you might be able to make the necessary repairs yourself, although you will first need to clean up.

Cleaning

Mop up the water from the floor, and old towels will make quick work of this task. Next, you will need to remove excess water from the dishwasher. You might need to manually empty the water from the base of the dishwasher. This will require a scoop (such as a small bucket or plastic jug) along with a fair amount of time and patience.

Diagnosis and Repair

Now you need to try to diagnose the cause of the leak. As mentioned before, there are some causes (such as a detached drainage hose) that you possibly can fix yourself. If the water seemed to be coming from the machine itself, you will need to call a company specialising in dishwasher repairs. If the water seems to be leaking from a source that is not the actual machine, you will need to call a plumber. This is a simple mistake when it comes to a leaking dishwasher. It's important to realise that a plumber will probably not know how to fix a faulty dishwasher; just as an appliance repair person will not know how to fix a fault with your plumbing. This is why it's vital to try and identify the source of the leak before you call for the necessary assistance, otherwise, you might need to pay for two call outs.

A leaking dishwasher can be an extreme annoyance, but as long as you call for the right kind of assistance, the problem can hopefully be quickly fixed.    

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