Sink & dishwasher DILEMMA...

Hi all!

I'm looking for suggestions to install a sink and a dishwasher in a space-efficient way. I'm not doing the work myself. A contractor will. I'm only trying to figure out where each will go.

FIRST OPTION:
My initial thinking is to install the dish-washer right under the shallow bowl (and staying clear off the deep bowl) of a double-bowl srainless steel sink, so that the rinsing-dishes-in-the-sink-and-then-putting-them-into-the-dishwasher motion can be done ergonomically while the dishwasher is open and the are trays out. If the dishwasher were right underneath both bowls it'd be pretty cumbersome to use the sink when you are in dish-washer-loading mode.

Any suggestion for a double-bowl stainless steel kitchen sink in which one of the bowls is shallow enough to accommodate a dishwasher underneath and the other bowl is "regularly" deep"?

SECOND OPTION:
Then I thought: well, do I really need a double-bowl sink? Maybe not. I could just find a regular-depth single-bowl sink that is not too wide, so that there'd be no issues with the size of the dishwasher I would have to buy. Will I miss out on the second bowl?

Did I answer my own question...?

Thanks for any input,

JLMA

A dishwasher is 24" wide. They do make a special "undersink" model, which is shorter and of course TINY inside. It will be a "basic" model. You probably won't find and undersink with tall tub options or high end features, like quiet. And of course the sink must be a very shallow bowl. Most common kitchen sink is 33 inches wide, so a double bowl version with one shallow bowl will not work for that.

Obviously, you must do a tremendous amount of homework before embarking on this. You must download detailed spec sheets of the sink and the dishwasher, and share those with your general and plumbing contractors BEFORE you start buying things. If you just show up one day with a sink and a dishwasher, assuming they can cram in in somehow......can you spell $$change order$$$

Here is GE's only model: http://products.geappliances.com/ApplProducts/Dispatcher?REQUEST=SpecPage&Sku=GSM2200VWW

Notice the price tag, and notice the sound. 64 db. Not really quiet. A high end GE Profile will be about 48 db, a big difference.

SO when you want a compact kitchen, there will of course be trade offs.

WIth respect to the dishwasher, another comact option is the "apartment size". Regular height, but only18" wide.

Thank you very much for the reply, jimbo.

I did some research (I guess I should have done that before I posted the thread...) and found a 14Wx18D (inside bowl dimensions) sink and a compact 18-inch Wide dishwasher that I like (sound is 52 db):
sink: http://www.elkayusa.com/cps/rde/xbcr/elkay/01-115G_ELU(H)1418.pdf
dishwasher: http://www.electroluxappliances.com/kitchen-appliances/dishwashers/eidw1805ks

I know the dishwasher is large enough for my/our needs.

The 14Wx18D single-bowl sink (in either 8 or 10 inch depths) might be somewhat small, though.

Thanks again~

JLMA

According to the specs, it is a standard height (33-1/2") and as such probably won't fit under a sink unless you have custom height counter. What counter height do you plan to have?

Do you need to rinse dishes with modern dish washers? I thought that was last century.

Thanks LLigetfa.

No, the sink & dishwasher I said I liked would go side by side, instead of the sink being above the d-washer.

This is a kind-of-small sink (14Wx18D), but it might be large enough for rinsing veggies and fruit (since we won't be using it to rinse dishes prior to putting them in the d-washer ). I have not used/had a dishwasher since I moved out of my parent's home in 1993 (where they still have the one that we used to use back then) and the rules then (and still now) were to rinse-before-you-put-anything-in-the-dishwasher.

Thanks for the input~

JLMA

My bad... I didn't follow the link to the sink specs and missed the change of plans to a single bowl side-by-side arrangement.

Unless the DW doesn't run daily causing the dirty dishes to start to smell, rinsing is old school unless you have a garburator. I wanted to put in a garburator but the wife vetoed it. She was convinced they are not septic tank friendly.

When we designed our kitchen layout, we messed up on the location of the under-sink pull-out garbage. With the DW open and the garbage can pulled out, the cabinet door is in the way between them.

There are a few companies that make dishwashers in a drawer format that could be put anywhere in the kitchen. Most decent DW today only need the big pieces scraped off, and pre-rinsing is a big waste of water.

We only run our dishwasher about once a week, so pre-rinsing is a must unless you really like a foul-smelling kitchen.

Interesting that running it once a week is enough for you. Since, like I said, I have not had/used one in decades, I'd like to ask you: is yours a full size washer? how many of you live at home? That info'll give me an idea of how often I/we'll be running it and whether a 18-inch wide compact washer would be enough.

Thanks!

JLMA

JLMA said:

Interesting that running it once a week is enough for you. Since, like I said, I have not had/used one in decades, I'd like to ask you: is yours a full size washer? how many of you live at home? That info'll give me an idea of how often I/we'll be running it and whether a 18-inch wide compact washer would be enough.

Thanks!

JLMA

Click to expand...

Full sized dishwasher & 2 adults in the house. We wash pots & pans by hand, the rest goes in the DW.