The most important component of our remodel has always been the kitchen. It is actually pretty good looking, but everything in there is broken.

For instance, the spring that keeps the dishwasher door from crashing to the floor has popped off. To fix it we would need to pull out the dishwasher from its cabinet. But the previous owners installed a 1/2 inch ceramic floor in front of the dishwasher and so it won’Äôt come out. The only way to fix the spring (which is by itself a pretty minor repair) would be either to chip out the ceramic or to remove the countertop. So instead we keep a jar of peanut butter sitting on the counter that is the right height to support the door when it is open.

When I was first trying to figure out how big of a deal it would be to fix it and called some plumbers, one of the first questions they asked was whether the floor was built up in front of it. So we aren’Äôt the first!

It doesn’Äôt help my love of this dishwasher that its tines are rusted out right where the plates rest on the bottom. All my plates now have rust stains on their edges. A year or so ago I got some dishwasher interior repair goop and put it on the rusty places, but it came off in no time.