washer/dryer in the basement bad idea?
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Anonymous
| We want to move washer/dryer to basement. Currently, they are on the first floor. Kitchen designer had one of those "are you sure?" expression. We can also move them up to main bathroom but that sounds weird too. Thoughts? |
Anonymous
| Both of our houses have had the washer and dryer on the same level as most of the bedrooms, including the owner’s suite, so I wouldn’t like having to climb stairs with laundry because the machines are in the basement, but I wouldn’t really like having the washer and dryer in a bathroom either. How are people supposed to do laundry if someone else is showering in that bathroom? There’s no way to put a laundry closet upstairs? It absolutely has to go in a bathroom? |
Anonymous
| Laundry on the main level and/or the level with the bedrooms is far superior to the basement and will hurt you on resale. |
Anonymous
| I like it as its out of the way/sight. |
Anonymous
|
Opinions will vary. Do what makes you happy.
Our preference is for W/D in a ground floor mudroom. I cannot abide an upper floor laundry room, because when it leaks it will make a bigger more expensive mess. (This actually happened to our neighbors: when it happened their laundry drain turned out to be clogged -- all unbeknownst). I am told it is stylish to have an upper floor laundry setup. |
Anonymous
| Ours is in the basement and laundry piles up. If you have option of bedroom level that sounds dreamy. |
Anonymous
| Ours is in the basement and I hate it - our previous house had a laundry room next to the kitchen and it was wonderful. |
Anonymous
|
I worry about leaks.
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Anonymous
| I lived in a house with a basement laundry for 20 years, down 1 flight of stairs. It was not terrible but now we have a main-level laundry in a rambler and it is so much more convenient. If your basement requires you to walk down more than one set of stairs I absolutely wouldn’t do it. |
Anonymous
|
Bedroom-level is best for resale and most convenient for most people.
Main level is okay if you have the space, but most people don't so it ends up being in a closet in the kitchen or off the garage. Most people dislike basement laundry. IMO, it's okay if it's in a finished living area in the basement, not the utility space, but that's still a lot of stairs with the hamper. I don't understand the warnings about leaks - you have bathrooms upstairs, which can and do leak - but if you're worried you can install a drain to the outside. I wanted a floor drain to the outside, but we compromised on a washer pan that drains to the outside. |
Anonymous
Main bathroom is absolutely amazing place to have a washer and dryer, if you have the space. It makes laundry easy to tackle from washing to putting it away in the dressers. Basement is a good place...if you are trying to have more space in the main level. But, doing laundry will take a trip or two to start the laundry in the washer., then move to dryer, then move the clothes back to the bedrooms. Bringing clothes down to the basement can be easy if you have a chute in the upper floors....but, if you let your clothes remain in the basement, you can create mice problems. My 2 cents - move it to the floor where your bedrooms and closets/dressers are. I have mine in the main floor and it irks me. The placement is in the small area that opens into the garage - so the two doors eat up even more area. |
Anonymous
I have seen upstairs laundry done very well with no issues in a large space and also seen it done in a small space with issues. LEAKS - Poorly done - had leaks because of a shoddy installation that saw the dryer lint blocking the drainage.. How did that happen is a mystery. Well done one - had the water and steam venting outside at the same level with a mesh at the outside of the vent to prevent critters from making nests. The length of the vent pipes was quite short from the appliance to outside. So the risk of blockage was less. ACCESS - Poorly done - put the washer/dryer in the small bathroom and was always having problems of mold and access. Well done - Washer/dryer and sink, counter, cabinets, access door was put in a seperate room adjacent to the master bathroom because they had the space. However, this is a function of having a large space vs a small space. Another feature I saw in the large, bedroom level laundry set up was that it was placed in a space adjacent to the bathroom with a seperate door, had lots of counter spaces, windows to get the sunlight, kitchenette setup (fridge, RO, microwave, coffee maker) and TV and lounge set up. My friend used it to basically sunbathe, do yoga, watch TV, get her morning cup of coffee, do all her laundry, and also take online meetings. So there is that also. |
Anonymous
| if i had a choice, i would have the washer near where all the clothes are, which is upstairs in my case. i would never want in in the basement. more stairs would make doing laundry more of a pain than it already is! |
Anonymous
| We have w/d in our semi-finished basement. I hate it, but that's mostly because our basement is kinda gross. But I also feel like it's dangerous from a fall perspective to have to carry the laundry up and down the stairs. |
Anonymous
This is me. I love the laundry area in my basement because I can leave a pile of unwashed, unsorted clothes on the floor, and another pile of ready-to-fold clothes on the big table next to the dryer. If that stuff was by my kitchen or the bedrooms, I’d be annoyingly unsettled because I’m weird about clutter. |