Having had the experience of a dishwasher leaking and ruining a floor to the point of having to have the entire floor removed, I'd like to avoid this ever happening again. I am building a new house so am wondering if there exists such a thing as a drain pan (similar to what goes under a hot water tank) that can be installed beneath a dishwasher. It seems such a logical thing to do seeing as how eventually any dishwasher will leak.

Not every dishwasher leaks. I've only seen one that leaked and it was because a mouse chewed through a hose. I guess you could try Home Depot(shrudder) or Lowes and see what they have. You can also visit a local appliance store and ask them.

I don't think there is any pan small enough to fit under a diswasher without being visible that would have the capacity to contain all that water.

The pan under water heaters is not there because of possible leaks, it's there to cantain any discharge from the pressure relief valve. Those pans also would never contain the entire contents of the water heater if there were a serious leak.

Pans are placed under water heaters here that are placed in attics and they have drains in them. The TPV's are also piped outside if the water heater is in the attic.

I've never seen a pan for under a dishwasher, and I think you'd have a tough time installing the dishwasher with one installed. It would certainly need a drain to be of any use. A better solution might be a leak alarm that kicks off an alarm when it senses a water leak.

Every dishwasher I've ever owned the water level never exceeded the door opening height. I could stop everyone of them mid-cycle to add a dish without any water coming out. Most leaks would have to come from connections below the washing tub from connections to the unit or a broken hose.

Perhaps there was some misunderstanding concerning the type of leak I was talking about. I've had two episodes of leaking; one was due to a ruptured plumbing fitting beneath the dishwasher, the next was due to a failure of the seals within the dishwasher itself. I'm thinking that eventually the seals in any machine would fail - in this case a pan with a drain would reduce or eliminate grief.

No, in fact it would not eliminate grief, it would just delay it. A pan deep enough and big enough to contain a full load of dishwasher water would never fit. So, any pan you might be able to squeeze in there would soon fill with water and overflow onto the subfloor, just as before, only a little later. A better defense would be to use an impervious floor in the kitchen, and do what most installers don't do, and that is, run the floor all the way under the cabinets and the dishwasher.

A pan would be one step above useless.

Guess I'm still not being clear... sorry! The leaks I've had before and would wish to prevent again do not involve a full load of dishwater; rather, they involved "slow" leaks. The one involving a ruptured fitting was a pressurized leak through a small split in a plumbing fitting and the one where the pump seals failed dribbled water over time until it reached a point where I noticed a bulged floor underfoot and then a water stain on the ceiling underneath. I'm thinking both of these could have been contained by a drain pan. If a moisture alarm is the way to go, does anyone know whether these are an "add-on" to any make of dishwasher or whether they are included on certain brands??

I guess I wasn't clear either. A dripping leak would still fill any pan that would fit under a dishwasher, and would then overflow onto the subfloor, and create exactly the same problem, ony a few hours or days later.

I do not think I would even think of installing a pan under a dish washer. Remember there are wires under the dishwasher. I would consider maybe installing a drawer type dishwasher that is installed higher in the cabinet. Then if you desired a pan it could be installed by modifying your cabinets. the drawer type dishwashers do just as good a job as the regular type ones do and hold the same amount of dishes.

You can have a pan that drains to the outside(or somewhere). Thats what washing machine pans do(or are supposed to do). Its true that it won't handle a big spill but will handle a leak. You have to make sure you check the pan every once in a while tho so you know if there is a problem or not.

The water alarm might not be a bad way to go for your piece of mind. I believe hardware stores sell a water alarm near the sump pumps.

The ones I've seen are small, a battery case with alarm siren and some type of plastic card hung on a wire. When the two metal sensors on the plastic card come in contact with water, it completes the circuit and the siren goes off. They work well if your sump pump fails and the sump pit fills with water.

You might try putting a shallow plastic pan or cookie sheet type catch under the DW and laying the card inside. Careful, shut the power off under the unit.

My father recently replaced his flooring with a laminate wood product. The installation company provided a pan that sat underneath the dishwasher. The pan has a high edge in the rear and tapers to the front where it is flush with the flooring. This pan doesn't hold the water it just forces it out the front where you're more likely to notice it and take prompt action. Without the pan the leak is much more likely to remain hidden underneath the machine and the cabinets until it causes enough damage to notice.

Try this. I just ordered one, due to my leak:

http://www.repairclinic.com/0081.asp?RccPartID=1021760

Thank you, plasmatron ....this is a helpful site with all kinds of leak-preventing devices! Now if only this company shipped their products to Canada! Perhaps after you get your pan you could see if their is a brand name on it and post it here. Then I could then go about trying to track one down locally.