Review on Danby 18 Inch Built In Dishwasher by Maurice Strawther

After months of planning I bought a Danby 18 inch dishwasher. I bought an old house with no duct or dishwasher so this was part of my DIY project. I chose the 18" dishwasher because it fits into the existing cabinet opening. I had to remove the top drawer and base of the base cabinet, but didn't need to extend the cabinet. In my photos you can see the built-in dishwasher, as well as another one Cabinet in my kitchen that is the same dimensions. The cavity is almost exactly 18" wide and 32.5" high and I find Danby to be a perfect fit. At this price point I've found that there are really only 2 options: Danby and Edgestar. While I liked the more traditional Edgestar controls, the Danby was about $50 cheaper and had similar reviews. The controls on this Danby unit are fine, but be sure to read the manual, they're not intuitive. If If I were to install a dishwasher in a place where a lot of different people would use it, I would probably choose choose the Edgestar. The performance was fantastic. I'd say the noise level is okay and my wife said she was pleasantly surprised by the sound too. It also washes dishes just as well as the 24 inch Frigidaire I had in my previous home. I've found that unlike previous 24" dishwashers I've had, rinse aid is a must in this machine. Without rinse aid, the dishes dry completely for a very long time. Luckily, Danby has an indicator light to let you know when the rinse aid is running low, which should make it difficult to use. Overall I'm very happy with this dishwasher, especially since the more popular brands cost twice as much! My installation took me a few days of odd work since, as I mentioned, I was starting from scratch. On day one I installed a 20A GFCI/AFCI circuit to power the dishwasher and slide and installed the slide. As you can see from my photos, I hooked up all the electrics in a work box with a garbage disposal switch for convenience. As I mentioned, this is an old house and it was pretty much impossible to get electricity through the wall from the flat ground under the sink. Also, I didn't want to mess with the backsplash tile and potentially damage it. Another solution would be a countertop mounted air pressure switch, but that would take additional time. Overall, I don't see any major inconveniences with the cabinet and I understand that it has happened more often in the past. The next day I remodeled the cabinet and installed the dishwasher. The only extra part I need that isn't typically included in a dishwasher installation kit is a water splitter. Of course, when replacing a dishwasher you already have a place to connect the water supply hose, but since I was starting from scratch I had to do this. Since I didn't set an air gap, I made sure to run the drain line fairly high to reduce the risk of backflow. I recently redid the drain to get rid of my outdated S-trap and provide a more appropriate and efficient route for my new setup. I also filled in, sanded and varnished some imperfections in the wood surface. Although I would have preferred a 24 inch model, this Danby has really modernized my kitchen and I am very happy with it. I highly recommend it to anyone who needs an 18 inch solution and is trying to avoid the high prices of the big brands!