Dishwasher Failed the Toddler Test

Years ago, my wife and I bought our first new home, which came with a new stove and built-in dishwasher.

We've previously experienced problems with dishwashers and had the dishwasher upgraded to something considerably better than the typical "contractor-grade" stuff that usually gets installed. It was a GE Profile series. About a year after we bought it, my three-year-old sat on the end of the open door and "snap," something broke. We closed the door, there was a crinkle in the outside metal of the door and it took an extra "push" to get the door to shut tight.

I took the door apart to see what had happened and was so greatly disappointed in the cheap design. The door of the dishwasher had no frame -- it was a molded plastic interior part with a folded (very thin) sheet metal exterior. The hinges attached at the very bottom of the plastic interior part with a couple screws on either side.

I contacted GE first to find out what they were going to do about this situation, and they simply denied any responsibility for the failure since it was my child sitting on the door that broke it. As far as I was concerned, and I told them this, anybody who designs a dishwasher that can't handle a small child sitting on the end of the door didn't design the dishwasher appropriately for its intended market. Needless to say that got me nowhere.

So, I fixed it. All it took was going to the local hardware store and buying a 4-ft length of 1x1 angle aluminum, which I cut into two 2-ft lengths, drilled holes to line up with the hinge holes, and laid these inside the folded metal cover. I screwed the whole thing back together and the door fit and worked fine. And the next time one of my children sat on the door, there was no more "snap" or any other issues.

Was it really necessary for them cut out what would have been for them a few cents of steel? They could have just extended the hinge arms up into the door.

This entry was submitted by Matt Demaree and edited by Rob Spiegel.

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