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Appliance repair

Dishwasher repair near you

Dishwasher repairs are among the cheapest in the kitchen, and poor cleaning is far more often a spray-arm or filter problem than a failed pump. Most of what people replace machines over is maintenance.

664 of the 873 businesses in this directory list dishwasher repair, across 50 states and 316 cities. Below them: what actually fails, what the repair costs, and when replacing is the better call.

Stainless dishwasher and garbage disposal in a bright kitchen
Listed pros
664
States covered
50
Licensed
659
24/7 emergency
13
Average rating
4.6
Reviews
78,442
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Top-rated dishwasher repair pros

The 12 highest-rated of 664 businesses that service dishwashers. Call the number on the listing — we never take a cut.

652 more dishwasher repair businesses are indexed by state and city further down this page.

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Common dishwasher faults, and what each one usually is

Symptom, the cause it most often turns out to be, and whether it is homeowner work or a job that has to go to a licensed technician.

The complaint that brings most dishwashers to a technician is not a breakdown at all — it is cleaning performance. Food residue on the top rack, cloudy glassware, grit in the bottom of cups. Nine times in ten that is a clogged spray arm, a filter nobody has ever removed, or an inlet temperature below 120°F, and all three are homeowner fixes.

The genuine failures are worth knowing because they present differently. A leak at the door is a gasket; a leak from underneath is the pump seal or a hose clamp, and it usually shows first as a warped cabinet toe kick. A machine that fills and does nothing is a door latch switch or a control board. None of these cost more than a few hundred dollars, which is why dishwashers are usually worth repairing.

Homeowner fix
Safe for a homeowner with basic tools once the appliance is unplugged or the breaker is off.
Technician
Needs a technician — meter diagnosis, a model-matched part, or teardown that is easy to get wrong.
Licensed trade only
Gas piping, sealed refrigerant systems, or fixed wiring. Licensed and, for refrigerant, EPA Section 608 certified technicians only.
  • Dishes come out with food residue still on them

    Homeowner fix

    Blocked spray-arm jets, a filter that has never been cleaned, or inlet water below 120°F. Rarely the wash pump.

    Step-by-step: Dishwasher Not Cleaning
  • Standing water in the bottom at the end of a cycle

    Homeowner fix

    A clogged filter or sump, a kinked drain hose, a blocked air gap at the sink, or a failed drain pump — in that order of likelihood.

    Step-by-step: Dishwasher Not Draining
  • Water seeping from the bottom of the door

    Technician

    A hardened or displaced door gasket, or a door that has dropped out of square on worn hinges.

    Step-by-step: Dishwasher Leaking
  • Water under the cabinet with no visible door leak

    Technician

    The wash pump shaft seal, or a loose hose clamp under the tub. Usually spotted first as a swollen cabinet toe kick.

    Step-by-step: Dishwasher Leaking
  • Fills but the wash motor never runs

    Technician

    The door latch switch, the thermal fuse on the control board, or the board itself.

  • Glassware comes out cloudy and permanently etched

    Homeowner fix

    Soft water plus too much detergent, or hard-water scale. Etching is permanent; scale is not. A rinse aid and a correct dose fix both going forward.

  • Grinding or buzzing during the wash cycle

    Technician

    Glass or bone fragments in the chopper or sump, or a failing circulation pump bearing.

  • Trips the breaker or the heating element does not heat

    Licensed trade only

    A failed heating element shorting to the tub. Anything beyond the appliance cord is licensed electrical work.

Maintenance that prevents those failures

Each item below maps directly onto a fault in the list above. This is the whole of dishwasher preventive maintenance — there is nothing else worth doing.

  • Remove and rinse the bottom filter

    Monthly

    Prevents: Poor cleaning, drainage faults, and odour — the three most common complaints.

  • Clear each spray-arm jet with a toothpick

    Every 3 months

    Prevents: The top rack coming out dirty while the bottom is clean.

  • Run a hot empty cycle with dishwasher cleaner or vinegar

    Monthly

    Prevents: Grease film and scale on the heating element and sump.

  • Run the kitchen tap hot before starting a cycle

    Every wash

    Prevents: A first fill of lukewarm water, which is the most common cause of poor cleaning.

  • Scrape but do not pre-rinse; keep rinse aid topped up

    Every load

    Prevents: Detergent that never activates properly, and spotting on glassware.

Try it yourself first

Free step-by-step guides and the replacement parts that fix most dishwasher faults, with realistic difficulty ratings.

Dishwasher parts & suppliers

8 more dishwasher repair guides cover the rest of the faults above.

Common dishwasher replacement parts with typical price, service life, and installation difficulty.
PartTypical priceDifficulty
Spray ArmLasts 5–8 years$15–$40easy
Inlet ValveLasts 8–12 years$15–$40moderate
Drain PumpLasts 8–12 years$35–$120moderate
Door Latch and Switch AssemblyLasts 6–12 years$20–$80easy
Heating ElementLasts 8–14 years$25–$85moderate
Float SwitchLasts 10+ years$10–$35easy
Door GasketLasts 6–12 years$20–$75easy
Rack Roller and Adjuster KitLasts 5–10 years$12–$50easy
Detergent DispenserLasts 8–12 years$30–$100moderate
Circulation Pump and MotorLasts 8–14 years$90–$330advanced

Brands the listed dishwasher pros service

Counts are how many of the 664 businesses servicing dishwashers name that brand. 54 distinct brands are covered in total, and 34 of these businesses hold a factory-authorized servicer credential.

All brands →

Bosch, Miele and Thermador dishwashers use different sump and pump architecture from mainstream US models, and their parts are typically ordered rather than stocked. Confirm brand coverage on the phone so the first visit is not purely a diagnosis.

Dishwasher repair by state

50 states with listed dishwasher repair businesses. Each opens a ranked list for that state.

Cities with the most dishwasher repair pros

316 cities have at least one listed dishwasher specialist. Ranked by how many.

Browse all locations →

Other appliances we cover

What dishwasher repair costs

National ranges for parts and labor together, before the diagnostic fee. Regional labor rates move these by roughly 20% either way, and no figure here is a quote.

Typical dishwasher repair jobs with national cost ranges.
RepairParts + labor
Filter, sump, and spray-arm clean-outOften just the diagnostic; ask to be shown how so you can repeat it.$80–$160
Door gasket replacementCheap part, fiddly fit — worth having done properly.$130–$260
Drain pumpHave the sump checked for glass first.$150–$300
Water inlet valveSymptom is a machine that fills slowly or floods.$150–$300
Door latch or lock assemblyThe most common no-start cause.$130–$280
Heating elementDishes wet at the end of a cycle is the tell.$180–$350
Circulation / wash pumpApproaching the replace threshold on a budget machine.$250–$450
Electronic control boardOn a unit past year eight, price a replacement first.$250–$500

Blue Book

The 50% rule for a dishwasher

New unit, US average
$700
Expected lifespan
10 years
Repair-or-replace line
$350
Diagnostic fee
$50–$100

A quote above $350 on a dishwasher past 7 years old is usually money better spent on a replacement. Below that line, and with life left on the clock, repair wins almost every time.

Estimate my dishwasher’s value

Adjusts for brand tier, age and condition. Free, no sign-up.

How long a dishwasher lasts

9–10 years, the shortest expected life of any major kitchen appliance. Built-in units in hard-water areas trend to the low end unless scale is managed.

Two habits account for most early failures: pre-rinsing every dish, which starves modern enzyme detergents of the soil they need and leaves residue that hardens in the sump, and running short eco cycles exclusively so the tub never reaches a temperature that clears grease.

When replacing beats repairing

  • The wash pump or control board has failed on a machine past year seven.
  • The quote exceeds roughly $350 — half the price of a mainstream new unit.
  • The tub is cracked, or the racks have rusted through and are shedding onto dishes.
  • It leaks from under the tub and the cabinet floor is already water-damaged.

Dishwasher repair — common questions

How much does dishwasher repair cost?
Most dishwasher repairs are $150–$300 including parts and labor, plus a $50–$100 diagnostic. Latches, gaskets and drain pumps sit in that band. A circulation pump or control board at $250–$500 is where replacement starts to compete.
Why is my dishwasher not cleaning dishes properly?
In order: clogged spray-arm jets, a filter that has never been cleaned, inlet water below 120°F, overloading, and only then a worn wash pump. The first four are free to check and account for the large majority of complaints.
Is it worth repairing a dishwasher?
For most faults, yes — latch switches, gaskets, drain pumps and inlet valves are all well under half the price of a new machine. The exceptions are wash pumps and control boards on units past year seven, where the expected 9–10 year lifespan leaves too little runway to justify the spend.
Why does my dishwasher have standing water in the bottom?
Check the filter and sump first, then the drain hose for kinks, then the air gap at the sink. If a garbage disposal was recently installed, confirm its drain plug was knocked out — a factory plug left in place blocks the dishwasher line completely and is a very common cause.
How long do dishwashers last?
9–10 years on average, the shortest of the major kitchen appliances. Monthly filter cleaning and a hot maintenance cycle are what separate a machine that reaches twelve from one that fails at seven.
Should I pre-rinse dishes before loading?
No. Modern enzyme detergents need food soil to work against, and pre-rinsing leaves the enzymes nothing to bind to, which shows up as film on glassware. Scrape solids off, load, and let the machine do the rest.
Why is my glassware cloudy?
Either hard-water scale, which is removable with a citric-acid or vinegar cycle, or etching from soft water plus too much detergent, which is permanent damage to the glass surface. If a vinegar cycle clears it, it was scale; if not, reduce the detergent dose and add rinse aid to stop it worsening.

Need a dishwasher fixed this week?

Every listing above is a real business with a real phone number. Compare two or three on rating, licensing and years in business, then call the one that explains the job best — and tell them what you found in the fault list above.