Laundry Room Placement--Main floor or upstairs?
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I am going to build a house and I like the idea of having most of the bedrooms upstairs and the laundry room upstairs. But in a few years we will finish the basement and some of our kids will live down there...would I regret having my laundry room be upstairs? Would it be better to have a main floor laundry?
17 answers
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I have on the main floor off kitchen. The store said main floor is sturdier for the front loaders since they vibrate so much- and they do. I have bedrooms on booth floors so it isn't a big deal. I do remember one house where the laundry was on 2n'd And boy was it a job moving those machines.
Robin Seefahrt
on Oct 31, 2013
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I would love one upstairs
Cindy Keefe Hack-Cross
on Oct 31, 2013
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If you are going to have children living in the basement, I'd put your laundry room on the main floor, convenient to both the basement and the upstairs.
Janet Smith
on Oct 31, 2013
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I would say main floor. We are elderly now and don't use our upstairs much, so I am very glad we put ours on the main floor. We need to always think ahead.
Dolly Smith
on Oct 31, 2013
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Main floor.
Margery Thompson
on Oct 31, 2013
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the best thing I ever did was put 2 laundry areas in! Yes, 2. One is in an upstairs bath with a 2.2 cu.ft. front loader stacked and one is on main floor with an older top loader stack unit (which is 10 yrs old and will be replaced with afull size stackable unit that will fit my king size comforter again). The best thing I ever did. So I would think about putting a laundry room in the basement which would be for the kids and have one upstairs. It is so much better upstairs. I am down to 1 teenager but the downstairs washer is older so it is used for kitchen rags/towels, husband's dirty work clothes, some heavy rugs and coats. The small front load is used for good clothes and for rag rugs, linens, etc. It has many people asking why but I love it.
The Garden Frog with C Renee
on Oct 31, 2013
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main floor if you plan on living there in your senior years. we have learned the hard way. got old faster than we thought . hehe
Regenia Lynn May
on Oct 31, 2013
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Put the laundry room near where you spend a lot of your time, so that it is super convenient to switch loads over and fold when you have a few spare minutes.
Mary Johanson
on Oct 31, 2013
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Great idea asking before building. Many people are putting / wanting laundry on the upper floor where most of the sleeping area is. If you decide to do this, I would strongly suggest a system underneath that will have a drain that will allow any "accidents" to be drained away from the area and not create damage on that floor and the ceiling/walls/floors underneath. I like C. Renee's idea of two.... cause it will be a whole lot cheaper to install two areas (wherever you decide) during construction than to add one at a later date. Good luck!!!!
Straight Nails Construction
on Nov 01, 2013
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If you have a choice of building a home, why not allow for both? You can put in one upstairs to use for the next several years (please make sure you place washer in drain pan) and plumb in for one in the basement for the future. The area can be used as storage for now and converted to a second washroom later on. This also makes it accessible for aging parents, kids living at home to get a start, etc., to be more independent.
Jeanette S
on Nov 01, 2013
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Oh MY!!!!!! I have had a laundry in a bedroom closet after a fire-rebuild! I do NOT miss up and down 2 sets of stairs to the basement one single bit!!!! I wish I had one up here when I was doing cloth diapers for 5 straight years 35 years ago.........................DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ruth james
on Nov 02, 2013
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We put the laundry area on the main floor in the bathroom, have never regretted it. It's easy to do a few loads, while cooking or watching tv.
Kyra Fish
on Nov 02, 2013
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My laundry room is upstairs and I both love and hate it. Pros: The machines are located on the same floor as most of the dirty clothes. It's easy to toss in a load at night and change it over when I get up to go to the bathroom at night. I was able to turn my LR into a closet and free up that space in the bedroom of my very small house. BIG CON: Because my house is a very old (100+ years) row home, the stairway is very narrow, so I am extremely limited on the size of he machines I can buy. No front loaders or HE machines for me! I have only 26" of clearance on the stairs to get a machine up to the LR. THAT is a nightmare when trying to find machines.
Sarah
on Nov 02, 2013
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I absolutely love having the washer and dryer UPSTAIRS with the bedrooms. It saves so much energy for me.
Pat
on Nov 02, 2013
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The main floor. If it's in the basement you can install a Laundry shoot from the upper level to the basement laundry area.
Linda
on Nov 02, 2013
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I have had all three. The laundry room upstairs with the bedrooms is great because it saves so much effort lugging clothes up two flights of stairs from the basement. However, its noisier than you might think. For a ranch, a first floor laundry room makes sense. Mine was in the mudroom, which was a blessing when there were dirty work and play clothes, but a logistics nightmare during the winter clothing season. My current laundry room is in the basement of my 3 story home. I have a laundry chute, so with the exception of bulky things getting stuck, getting the laundry down isn't a problem. But lugging laundry baskets up two to three flights of stairs is getting exhausting. Should have made that laundry chute a dumb waiter instead! I'm considering converting my second linen closet in the bathroom to accommodate a stacking unit. If you are building a house that you plan to have for a number of years (read grow old in), and plan to have at least one bedroom on the first floor, I'd say put a first floor laundry room in, and have a folding area shelf or bin system where everyone is responsible for picking up their own clean clothes and linens, or as other suggested, plan for two laundry areas.
Colette
on Nov 02, 2013
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Good point in exercise, Colette---so many people say "get a laundry chute" "put in a chute...." but that hardly makes any sense with tossing down soggy, soaking diapers OR with lugging UPstairs neatly folded perma-press laundry. I love my BR set and I do not have to do the wash when I am in there ir sleeping.*DOH*
Ruth james
on Nov 03, 2013
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