Hi Liberty2,

We are building a house with two dishwashers (sorry they are not in place yet). As your small kids get older they will continue to create more and more dishes. I hope to be able to put many of my pots and large bowls in one so I have less dishes to hand wash. We have a family of 6 with two teenager boys who sure do eat and use up dishes. You do need a large kitchen to accommodate the second dishwasher though. Good luck!

Carol

If you have the space in your kitchen and your budget, I'd say go for it. I don't have that luxury but it sure would be nice. It sounds like your wife will be the one using it, and she will likely resent it (you) if you deny her just because you don't like the idea. I would make sure at least one is full sized, though.

Sorry, should have said "may resent". I don't know her or how she would react. Mine would likely resent.

Our home will be 5600sq ft and we are only getting 1 dishwasher. We also have 2 small children and are planning for more.

I've never had a dishwasher before though so I am used to handwashing everything (I wear rubber gloves to protect my hands). Even with a dishwasher, I'm sure I will choose to handwash some of our dishes. And when our kids are older, they will help.

We built our home five years ago and went with two dishwashers. Our kitchen is open to the dining and living room and so there is no way to hide dirty dishes. I'm a clean as you go cook anyway and having two dishwashers makes clean up a breeze. Cooking dishes go in one dishwasher and after the meal is complete, it gets turned on. After the meal is over, all the dining dishes go into the other dishwasher. It also helps that they are whisper quiet.

I would say the only con is when both have clean dishes to empty!

Hi Liberty: Oh, how I wish I had put two dishwashers in my kitchen. When all the kids and grandkids are here (20 of them for 2 weeks twice a year), it would be so nice to get all the dishes cleaned at once...without having to hand wash. One good thing I did was to create a large beverage center on one end of the kitchen with sink. It's where the fridge is, and where all the glasses, cups, coffee pots, wine, etc, are kept. An extra dishwasher there would be wonderful. Even a low end one without all the extra cycles would have been perfect for all the extra cups and glasses they use. It's in your budget, and your kitchen is large enough to accommodate one, DO IT.

What do you have now and is it sufficient for your needs? We have only one and are happy with it. In fact we only run it every 2-3 days. Sure it would be nice to have 2 when we entertained, but that only happens once every month or 2. Personally I would rather have the cabinet space. Now if I had family in town, and weekly family dinner, then Definately.

We sort of put in 3. Two separate dish drawers and a full sized dishwasher. That way, we don't ever have to unload. We can just take clean dishes right out of one and load dirties into another with the third for pots/pans, the blender and glasses that need to be washed more frequently because they are used and needed often.

Perhaps a compromise w/ your wife would be one full size dishwasher and one dish drawer? Although I would say to just go for the 2 dishwashers!

We are putting in 2. I am very excited! We have 3 boys and they generate lots of dishes. On the weekends and in the summer when they are home all day and/or have friends over, I have to run the dishwasher before dinner to fit all the dinner prep stuff in it. We did a lower end one and a higher end one and I am so excited about both. I love the clean as you go idea and starting one dishwasher with all the dinner prep stuff in it (along with breakfast and lunch) . . .

If your kitchen is large enough, I say go for it.

We are empty nesters and plan to have one full size dishwasher and 1 dish drawer. They will be in separate parts of the kitchen based on work zones. We run the dishwasher daily - even with two of us. Like Joyce - we have adult children that have families and they keep multiplying! :-) When they come home there are dishes everywhere. Even if we order in - dishes are used.

I recently talked to a woman who's husband said she "didn't need" a laundry room sink, but he has a 30x50 garage that is fully insulated and has every too imaginable. As we drove by their house yesterday I told DH that man would have been dead years ago if married to me. And, I am very passive person.

The dishwashers are tools that only make life a little easier.

WOW! Thanks for all the very quick responses. She is going to love the fact that i am wrong and will be including 2 dishwashers in the plan now. We do have the room and the budget and the family is growing and plan on hosting most holidays, so, it appears it would be one of those things i would regret if i didnt add.
2 Dishwashers it is.
Thanks everyone.

Joyce--I am intrigued by your idea of a beverage center. Do you have pics? Thanks.

Hi Red_lover. It's really nothing special, just a long bank of cabinet/counter on the end of our kitchen next to the fridge. The drawers hold all the coffee cups, everyday glasses, coffee makings, mugs, napkins, paper products, etc. It's a great place to set up a "bar", coffee center, or appetizers when entertaining. And wonderful for the grandkids who are constantly running in and out to get a drink. Now if it just had a dishwasher!!! And I kind of wish the sink was just a bit bigger.

We're empty-nesters and have FOUR (4) dishwashers. Yeah, I know...but it's probably not as crazy as our ten refrigerators! My only defense is that the house is large (7,200').

Two of the dishwashers (Miele Incognitos) are in the kitchen on either side of the kitchen sink, which brings up an important consideration: placement. You can't truly optimize the placement of BOTH d/w for putting away dishes and silverware and you'll find that it makes no sense to dedicate one dishwasher for a particular use. We entertain a lot and my wife is a gourmet cook so we're typically running a full load daily, two when entertaining.

And my dissing of d/w's for specific uses is because that's what our other two are and proved to be a disappointment. One (an F-P dish-drawer) is upstairs in a game room that has a wet-bar, refer, sink, microwave, etc. The other (an 18" Miele) is in a fully equipped lanai kitchen. We virtually NEVER use either of these...seemed like a good idea when we were building, though!

Finally, in case you're wondering about those ten refers: 36" SZ refer only, 36" SZ freezer only and SZ refer drawers in the kitchen, two wine refers in the pantry, storage freezer in the garage, bar refers in the lanai, game room and downstairs bar and a mini-fridge in the master bath coffee station.

So are you happy with your placement on either side of the sink? Our house is actually bigger (!) but we have more people ;) A walk out basement the size of the first floor makes the house sound bigger than it feels.

We had plans for an 18" dishwasher in the basement but eliminated it. The microwave fit better there (not visible) and we figured it would get much more use. A trip upstairs to wash glasses or washing them by hand seemed like a good trade off. . .

Our fridge situation is similar - 2 drink fridges (basement and pocket door bar in den), a 36" all fridge SZ in the kitchen, cheap freezer (integrated with cabinets though) in the laundry, fridge/freezer drawers in the kitchen. . . We are big fridge users and used to going to the garage for most freezer items. Are you happy with your fridge situation?

Glad to know buckhead. We have the same set up - pull out trash in the island and dishwashers flanking the sink. Glad you like it!

I must have gotten this idea from motherof3sons, but we're also doing a full-size and a drawer (F&P Tall Drawer). We have four mostly-gone kids and anticipate just using the drawer for hubby and me when all are gone.

We were going to do an 18" with a 24" but the standing advice was that 18"ers were pretty loud. I think we'll be happy. We also entertain on occasion and I think having two will be pretty useful.

We have two Asko dishwashers in the kitchen and love having them! It is definitely worth it. We have a Fisher Paykell drawer in our bonus room.
Times it is great:
1. Entertaining
2. After dinner if I put one on and my children have drinks and deserts the plates are not sitting around in the sink they go in the other dishwasher.
3. If I bake I can put everything on right away with out having to worry about things filling up the sink.
4. If one breaks down you have back up!
It might seem unnecessary but where we live (Atlanta) it has become the normal thing, I guess because in the south most people entertain frequently.

Thanks again to everyone for their comments. Now the big question, if i will have one large and one prep sink, where do i put the 2 dishwashers. I would assume the should go on either side of the sink and have the garbage in the island behind my back, anyone think this is a bad idea and i should have on the other side of the kitchen near the other sink or drink bar?

Joyce. Love the idea of a beverage/snack center. Great place for coffee, prep sink, toaster, one tall dishdrawer and drawers with kids Corelle dishes, paper plates, and their frequently used glasses. All close to frig like your is.

Loe this and yours is so pretty.

Thanks for the idea.

I have installed pairs a few times.

The customers did not want to be unloading clean dishes in to cabinets.
They used the clean dishes from one DW until it was nearly empty, then put the last few away.

In the meantime the dirty dishes went in the other DW.

Then swap.

The house my DH finished last year had two dishwashers, two washers and two dryers. Only two retired people live there but I guess they need it for when family visits not to mention it's a 10 million dollar house. I guess it will be nice for resale if they need to. I would go for it if you have room. I would love to have two for company.

We have two Bosch dishwashers, a 24" and an 18". The top shelf can be used on its own in the 24" if desired. Both are very quiet. We have a lot of guests and I cook and bake everything from scratch. We always empty the dishwashers but it's good to be able to start filling the second one while the first one is washing or drying so that there are never dishes hanging around. The dishwashers flank our (deep and large single bowl) clean-up sink with dinnerware storage above both dishwashers. We have a food prep sink in the island. The kitchen is cherry and all the appliances apart from the range have the matching cherry panels.

If I had to I could live without a dishwasher but I confess I love this set up!

We LOVE our two dishwashers, located on either side of the large sink. Definitely a smart move if your home will be the holiday host location. Because I have two dishwashers, there's always room for family members to load their own plates into a dishwasher - so they do. A little re-shuffling after the party and clean-up's almost done.

Trash locations -- If you've got two sinks, I'd suggest you'll also need two trash cans. Out set-up is that the main trash is by the prep sink, with compartments for garbage and compostables. By the clean-up sink, we have a smaller trash and larger recycling area. If I had a do-over, I could have better-sized the various trash/compost/recycling containers -- but the locations are right.

Liberty- How about one in "her" kitchen and one in "your" bar area. she gets 2 and you get a man cave.

We are two - retired. We out a full dishwasher in the kitchen and a single dishdrawer in the nearby butler's pantry. Don't know what i'd do without
the 1.5 dishwashers!

The dishwashers should go next to the clean up sink (not the prep sink).
And, I would probably do 2 trash cans (one at each sink) unless the set up was such that you could EASILY accommodate both sinks with the one pull out.

You'r all treating your staff way too well. Two dishwashers? I make my staff work for their money and have them wash the dishes by hand. Makes it also easier to reprimand them if the dishes aren't spotless.

jrldh - LOL! My staff are all grown and gone! I remember my siblings (and me) with the dish assembly line. The favorite song was from The Sound of Music. Great memories.