I'm not a lazy person … I work full time, I take care of my kids and husband, I occasionally even help out at his restaurant when he's short staffed ... in general I'm not just someone who refuses to do 'work'. HOWEVER ... I don't know exactly why, but I HATE washing dishes by hand. I can't stand it! I don't do it! I would rather go hungry than have to wash a sink full of dishes ... but as a mom who doesn't want her kids to starve, this just wasn't an option.

When we purchased our house in Y2K, we were very happy with it. Except ... why was there no dishwasher?!? It's a relatively modern house, not brand new, but it certainly didn't predate indoor plumbing and electricity. It has a nice size kitchen, but NO DISHWASHER!!!!! And worse yet, I discovered there was NO place to put one. The layout of the appliances and sink didn't seem so wrong just a bit awkward with many small cabinets ... (from left to right around two sides of the room - cookware/bakeware cabinet, range, tiny narrow corner cabinet, single door sized cabinet, sink, set of drawers, refrigerator, tall pantry cabinet, itty bitty cabinet with counter top that would make a nice place for a kitchen phone, but *surprise* there's no phone jack there!) … there was just NO place for a dishwasher. And while the dining area of the kitchen had a lot of open wall space where I could have stored a portable one, I really didn't want one of those that you roll across the room.

So the only option, short of remodeling the entire kitchen which just was not in our budget, was to remove the drawer cabinet between the sink and the fridge. I hated to lose my only large set of drawers (where would I put my towels and dish cloths and pot holders and such?) ... but I WANTED a dishwasher!!!!

Next Murphy's Law happening ...I measured from the lip of my sink to the edge of the counter top ... the space measured exactly 26 inches ... TOO small for dishwasher installation!!!! I was told by every expert I asked and read on several 'do it yourself' web sites, that you need 30" to install a standard dishwasher. Apparently it's 24" for the dishwasher and 6" for space on either side of it. ARRRRRGGGGGG!!!! ... I WANTED a dishwasher!!!!

Being the avid HGTV geek … err … watcher that I am, I happened to remember seeing a tiny NY apartment remodel in which they had installed a 'compact' dishwasher. So I set out on my quest ... I was on a mission! The salesperson at our local Sear's store acted like I was crazy and said she'd never heard of a different size, but told me all about the sale and financing on the TOO LARGE models that they had in stock. The 'mom and pop' appliance store that I called said they could check on it for me ... but didn't sound terribly enthusiastic about it. I did some searching on the internet and did come up with a few models but not a lot of info at that time. Finally, hubby and I ventured into the dishwasher aisle of our local Home Depot! Still NO narrow dishwashers!!! BUT … while I don't think he believed I knew what I was talking about, the friendly guy in the orange vest was at least willing to look it up on the computer and dag-nabbit there is such a thing! Even two brands to chose from!!!!!

So we ordered our compact GE Spacemaker 18" Built-In Dishwasher which, by the way, cost MORE than many of the full sized brands they had in stock! ... signed on for an extended warranty (at $60 extra) ... hubby presented his check card, we scheduled delivery ... and I could barely contain my excitement!!!! NO MORE WASHING DISHES BY HAND!!!!!!

Things are looking up ...

My father came up to help install the dishwasher ... and as we removed the drawer cabinet, I was delighted to discover that the cabinet could be salvaged as a stand alone unit! All we need to do was add a top to it, and I could keep my drawers ... perhaps it's a bit lonely over in the corner behind our table ... and maybe our kitchen will never make it into Better Homes and Garden ... but at least I still have a place to store my foil and ziplocs and dish cloths, etc.

Back to the dishwasher ... dad and hubby and son took care of all the 'man' stuff ... plumbing connections, electric connections, drilling through the floor, crawling under the house ... all that good stuff. Mom, daughter and I stood and offered our verbal encouragement and appreciation. By the way ... if neither you, nor mom, dad, hubby, son, daughter or best friend is an electrician, plumber, contractor, handyman or appliance installer, I suggest that you pay for professional installation if this is a first time intallation in your home. If you are replacing an existing dishwasher and are reasonably handy with tools, you may be able to do it yourself ... but otherwise, pay the money ... and keep your fingers crossed for a cute installation tech!

Now that we've spent our $400 ... Dad happens to mention that he thinks a full sized dishwasher would have fit into our opening ... "you would have just had an inch or two of space on either side instead of 3 inches ... also, did you measure to the top edge of the sink or the actual edge of the bowl under the cabinet?" SOMEONE SHOOT ME NOW!!!!!! Why did everyone and everything say that we HAD to have that extra 6 inches? WHY didn't *I* stop to realize that it was just for 'give' and that we could have probably shaved in a tiny bit and still been okay? Oh well, hindsight is 20/20, right? And I'll never again so easily dismiss the 6 inch issue!

Now about the actual performance of the GE Spacemaker 18" Built-In Dishwasher :

First ... I LOVE IT!!!!!! I'm happy to have it!!!!

It is a fairly simple dishwasher without many of the bells and whistles of the larger, more expensive, new models ... but it's sufficient for my needs. It features: 2 Wash Levels , 4 Cycle Selections: Pots & Pans, Normal Wash, Light Wash and Rinse Only/Hold, Heated Dry On/Off Option , Standard Upper Rack, Standard Lower Rack, Standard Silverware Basket, Standard Sound Insulation Package. It is available in a wide selection of colors ... WHITE and BLACK! *lol* You may be able to have custom panels made by an appliance shop if you wish to coordinate it with stainless steel or other colors in your kitchen ... but if, like us, you're buying a compact dishwasher at Home Depot, I sort of doubt that you are in the market for custom appliance panels.

I tend to use the Pots & Pans setting almost all the time ... just to get that extra heavy duty washing. This means I fill both detergent cups with dishwashing detergent (I prefer the gel, but powdered is fine too) ... and the machine goes through many different cycles of pre-wash with soap, rinse, a longer main wash with the second cup of dish detergent, then another rinse and then the dry cycle. The normal or light was cycle would probably be sufficient if you are washing recently soiled tableware or even cookware that has nothing baked, burnt or dried onto it. I don't normally use the heat dry in order to save on electricity.

Using this cycle seems to get my dishes clean. I've had a few baked on, burnt on casserole dish messes that took a bit of hand scrubbing or at least a second trip through the dishwasher, but for most dishes, glassware, and even cookware that doesn't have cooked-on or dried-on gunk the dishwasher does a great job. I've also used the rinse/hold' feature a few times when the dishwasher wasn't full and I didn't want to run it, but didn't want things to sit in it dirty for a day or two. It seems to serve its purpose well.

We've had this dishwasher for almost a year and a half now. It seems to work as well today as the day we installed it. I've learned to pack as much into it as humanly possible with everything still positioned correctly for maximum washing exposure. I continue to use gel type automatic dishwashing liquid most of the time, but I've used one box of powdered and it seems to work just fine though I did notice a bit of dried granules still in the cup. I've occasionally remembered to fill the rinse additive dispenser and when I do, it seems to keep the dishes especially spotless and shiny ... though they aren't noticeably bad without it.

The top rack is GREAT for glasses, coffee cups, cereal bowls, and I've even discovered that if it position it JUST right, I can get a fairly large dutch oven type boiler in the dishwasher ... it takes up a lot of the rack space, but it does fit! I can even fit inexpensive stemmed wine glasses into the top rack with no problem. Sure, stemware should probably be hand washed, and if they were expensive crystal they would be … but back to the top of the review, incase you missed it … I HATE washing dishes … so my Target-ware goes into the dishwasher. * lol *

The bottom rack is a bit less satisfactory. There is room about 6 dinner plates, and then a bit of room for other things such as serving bowls or cookware. However, my standard sized roasting pan will not fit lengthwise across the rack ... and one of my Corningware French White casserole dishes is too thick to fit in a 'standing on it's side' position between the rows of pegs, so if I want to wash it in the dishwasher I have to lay it down and it takes up lots of room. The silverware basket is adequate in size but doesn't have any special features such as a covered area to hold small items securely.

All in all ... I'm just thrilled to have a DISHWASHER! This one works well, gets dishes clean, keeps me from having to hand wash them. I'd definitely recommend the GE Spacemaker 18" Built-In Dishwasher to anyone who absolutely has to have a compact model, but would encourage them to REALLY try to find room for a full sized model. Measure, re-measure … make absolutely certain you are measuring the right space … and find out if you can cheat a little on the installation space on either side … 6 inches is nice … but not necessarily necessary!

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Note: this is an update of a review that I wrote in Oct. 2001 ... I've updated the review and have moved it from the 'under the sink' product listing to the correct listing. I apologize to anyone for whom this is a repeat.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 349