Yes. Yes it should.

If you spring a leak in your plumbing, assuming you discover it at all, you'll have to remove your dishwasher to repair or even turn off the water supply. I can endorse a single drawer mounted very low, but eh. Nobody wants that.

On the bright side, with your proposed arrangement, I'd never have to help clean up at your house because I'd not be able to reach to turn on the faucet.

It would be so much fun to stand at the sink to rinse or scape dishes, then scoot back to open the DW to put them in, repeat as necessary. And that assumed that you can reach over the top of that sink to scrub a pot or pan at the bottom of it. NO WAY I'd want it. The DW and the sink need to both be accessible to function properly.

I doubt a water shutoff behind an installed DW would pass code. Doesn't sound like it should.

Put them in a peninsula or island with a door on the back side? Extra wide sink with drain/disposal on one side and faucet on the other?

Nah. Just make your undersink storage better so you don't have to work so hard to make it useful.

You are aware that GE makes an under-sink DW? I wouldn't do it for the reasons advanced above, even if I were really tight on space, though, because being that tight on space I wouldn't have any place else to put the stuff that normally needs to live under the sink, aside from the plumbing issues.

Of course you can install a DW under a sink. I had one. There's a sink made especially for this purpose, and it's quite shallow. I think the DW was special-designed, as well; it was a GE and loud as a truck.

It wasn't really awkward to load the dishwasher. The spray hose, however, always got hooked up on the mechanics behind the DW; we had to fix it multiple times with expensive plumber visits. And the shallow sink was highly unpleasant to work with.

The only thing I can think of that might work is playing with the variable sizes of dish drawers available, including the wide one, and seeing whether you can mount one at a height that makes sense.

The lip around the sink is truly idiotic.

Ive been trying to think if there was any really tight space where I would think this was an idea that I would want to explore, and I haven't come up with one. I would rather have a smaller sink and DW (single drawer with storage underneath or and 18") or even no DW than one that wasn't easily used. And I wouldn't give up a deep sink to have a DW. As marcolo said -- very unpleasant to work with.

Squeeze, BLAM!, >>

Who thought up that ridiculous idea? Certainly not me. I was, ah, posting it for someone else.

Well, how about a dishdrawer dishwasher under the sink? With maybe other ones installed under other sinks (like prep and bar). Sounds like an idea taking the oft-repeated "store it where you use it" idea one (logical) step farther.

Now, I'm a total hand washer (don't ever use DW) so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about, but I wouldn't reject the idea out of hand.

L

You can fit drawers with cutouts for plumbing to use that space under the sink. Maybe it's Davidro who has that? Not sure--someone with a masculine screen name. The space doesn't have to be wasted.

And come on--if you have room for a prep sink you have room for a dishwasher!

So maybe whoever asked you to ask about that was crazy, John, but these crazy ideas are what gets us things we like such as alldrawerseverywhere and Tapmasters and fridge-depth counters. I like crazy so see what other crazy ideas your "friend" has because they can't all be this bad. :P

I guess I am not going to mention the other idea of an extra-large cedar dishwashing sink that would also serve as a Japanese soaking tub, for guests to relax and criticize my cooking in naked comfort.

I guess I am not going to mention the other idea of an extra-large cedar dishwashing sink that would also serve as a Japanese soaking tub, for guests to relax and criticize my cooking in naked comfort.

I'm glad you're not.

I think the one that I would choose, in extremis, is the single drawer dishwasher mounted at the bottom of the base cabinet under the sink. You could rinse all at once move and load all at once, or, since it sticks out less than a door you might be able to straddle it and drop things between your legs:)

I've seen the GE Spacemaker Sink DW thing and it doesnt seem a pleasant thing to use.

Or, you could get this:

{{!gwi}}

the sink rim has to be lower than the idea proposed.

one dish drawer is a good idea. They pull out about 20" max.

an 18" dw is a good idea.

the GE combo unit can also work, if you have another sink too.

hey, i kind of like the one palimpsest posted. is that an induction cooktop, too?!

johnliu, i don't think that the idea was a bad one, just not as convenient as the alternatives.

but the cedar dishwashing sink... yuck.

If you really starved for space, maybe you can build a lid for the sink that turns the sink into a dishwasher. Build a spray and a hose into the lid. If that could be fit into the back six inches of the counter, I could go for a sink that was narrower front to back.

On House Hunters this afternoon (episode 'Finding a Home Before The Wedding') one of the houses the couple looked at (a 70's or 80's ranch) had the dishwasher smack dab under the sink, looked awkward to use and no one seemed impressed. They didn't buy that house.

omg - there is one!

Okay before we go further, John must clarify: are you simply trying to not waste space or do you actually have an absurdly small amount of space to work with?

john - why not just divert a stream into the house? Ten you could wash dishes and take a bath in it, have nothing to clean up and have a WAAAAAY cool conversation piece.

palimpsest - as far as I know those units are not available in North America. I almost brought one back from Europe, twice for a terrace level bar. Just ended up redoing the whole elevation in the end though. You can always order one up and import it yourself if you REALLY want one.

lyvia - I think that KitchenAid combo was discontinued but don't hold me to it. I also seem to recall there was a problem or some sort of really annoying use issue with the DW part. Anyway - I don't think that would help out john anyway since one could fit an 18" wide conventional DW and a pretty wide sink in the same floor space that thing takes up while not gaining that much storage underneath either.

Ditto what fori said.

If you really starved for space, maybe you can build a lid for the sink that turns the sink into a dishwasher.

Or, you know, really do use the sink as the dishwasher. As in: dishcloth, squirt of detergent, rinse and drain... A novel idea but perhaps one whose time has come.

(evil grin)

My dad prefers hand-washing to loading/unloading the DW. I can't imagine he's the only one.

I have a reasonable sized space. I was just bothered that I'll have two ''undersink spaces'' and don't really see the need for two musty caves full of noxious chemicals, so I am trying to think of something better to do with one of them. The dishwasher isn't going to work, but perhaps I can put a trash pullout under one and cleaning supplies under the other. I thought of trash under one and compost under the other, but I - deep breath - don't compost. There, I said it.

I don't compost either. Composting poses a slight conundrum when there 's either a) 67 inches of snowpack on the ground or b) clay soil that requires dynamiting to plant anything in.

I think you'll find the trash/toxic chem plant combo useful. A deep sink and decent garbage disposal take up a lot of room, anyway, so it's not like you're wasting some vast amount of space that could otherwise be used to house an immigrant maid and her family.

I guess I am not going to mention the other idea of an extra-large cedar dishwashing sink that would also serve as a Japanese soaking tub, for guests to relax and criticize my cooking in naked comfort.

Wait, we have one of those! I like to lean over the side when I finish my mojito to put the glass in the dishwasher. So convenient.

how about two drawers?

bottom one would be full sized.

Here is a link that might be useful: Blum sink drawer

johnliu, I too got rid of the musty cave full of noxious chemicals. That is another subject deserving its own thread.

Here is a link that might be useful: I too got rid of the musty cave full of noxious chemicals.