Contractor Tips: Wise Advice for Laundry Room Design

Charmean Neithart Interiors, LLC. Great information about the "water hammer" condition. I have never heard that term before, thanks Kenny. Charmean Neithart

Timeless Wrought Iron I wouldn't mind doing laundry in any of the spaces above!

Peter Hawser Hi. Thanks for the article, but your recommendations for managing leaks are not correct or well thought out. A washing machine hose leak can generate up to 500 gallons an hour. The pan you recommend will not handle that. A floor drain would conceivable deal with this, BUT do you really want 500 gallons an hour to be running down that drain until you get home from work or a weekend trip? In addition, that would be the only time that drain is ever used. Since it would only be used in a leak the trap water would evaporate within a month or two of no usage leaving your laundry room with the smell of sewer gas.

The key is leak prevention. You need the best quality hoses (no not the metal braid cheapos from Lowes) and a leak detection + shut off system. There are a few such as BurstBuster or Intelliflow. You could have a pan or even a drain as a back up to this, but the first line must address preventing leaks and stopping the water flow if it starts.

Sorry, but this is a serious issue and #2 in all time reason for generating a home owners insurance claim. Your advice will not help people. Style is one thing, but when it comes to engineering and building a system that will protect your house, please do your homework.

Fine Art & Portraits by Laurel Full of good advice! Even in the most expensive (American at least) homes where there's professional help, the lady of the house is usually in the laundry room, so it deserves to be pretty and cheerful. I really prefer either top-loading or raised front-loading washers and dryers, so you don't have to stand on your head looking for things.

jeanettchka Beautiful rooms, but i noticed that none of the rooms had top-loading washers, which many people prefer or already own and don't want to replace. I realize that it makes designing for counter space easier if the washer is a front-loading machine, but it would be nice to see options for top-loading washers too.

marie2001 There are many excellent reasons why laundry rooms are usually found in the basement. I agree with Peter Hawser. Safety should always come before style.

morgana44 When my top loader washer and dryer stopped working I set out to buy new ones but quickly found out that the front loaders are more efficient and can (if stacked) take up less floor space. And when these go I'll be looking for the washer/dryer combo that is sold in Europe...so only one machine is necessary. In fifty years of doing laundry I only had one leak which flooded the laundry room. And yes, it was the hose.

Renee Nalls we recently purchased a new construction condo with laundry room on the 3rd floor, we have front load washer and dryer. When the washer is on spin it is very loud and we can feel the vibrations. We have had to washer replaced, with minimal improvement. The room is just construction grade flooring, hollow 6 panel door, painted drywall, closet for water heater and gas heater. Any suggestions for flooring options to decrease sound?

jbyron i still want to know where you put the piles of dirty laundry?

supersonya Last fall we worked on our basement and one of the best improvements we made to our house was moving the laundry room from the very high traffic area mudroom to the basement. No sound problems, no water concerns. Whether we had to take clothes to and from mudroom on main floor or down to basement is no different, yet we have so much more room to work and not jump over clothes while coming in and out of the house. We love our laundry room and so do all our visitors! Funny to take people to the basement and see the big smiles for a work area! It's 24'x12' and we incorporated storage shelves on one whole side with a hang to dry "system" immediately in front. I also created a dirty laundry sorting system out of wire panel shelving units (those crate looking shelves). The laundry area has a 10' counter space with pull out folding "drawers". With a busy household of 5, sometimes the cleaned and dried clothes pile up on the counter, but there is always a place to fold. Functionality was number one, but we did make it a fun place by going with a retro look in red, black and white and turquoise. Best decision and value we've done so far to our home.

Pangaea Interior Design, Portland, OR I love the idea of having a laundry room very close to my master bedroom and bathroom (soundproof walls, please). But if your home is multi-level and you prefer your laundry room in the basement, I'd like to see a resurgence in laundry chutes and manually operated dumb-waiters to move those piles of laundry from floor to floor. I hate having my arms full of laundry when trying to use the stairs. Thanks for the info on the hammer sound.
Pangaea

Kate Wormington For laundry sorting... We installed tall lower cabinets with holes cut out of the counter top. Three cabinets with their own hole: one for darks, one for lights and one for reds. The kids sort their own laundry at the end of the day into the correct hole.

John Whipple - By Any Design ltd. I'd like to add a couple points to this useful post.

1). Is that these laundry room's on the second story have a habit of vibrating the entire home if the washer and dryer are not perfectly balanced. I'm not sure how I feel about this other than it can not be good. I do everything I can to get these units installed on slab concrete.

2). A floor drain is a must. If used for cleaning the floors with a mop and water will stay primed. It can be installed with a bleeder valve that self primes the drains as well. We find here in Vancouver a little olive oil slows the evaporation down. These floor drains need to have a sloped floor or a slight dam at the entrance to work.

In North Vancouver our laundry room has a three inch floor drain which we self prime every four months. No big deal.

What would be useful is a drain under the sink, under the dishwasher and under the fridge. I hope in the coming years our North America code changes and these extra drains become mandatory like they are in other parts of the world.

John Whipple
By Any Design Ltd.
http://www.No-Curb.com

Susan Mills Design Great discussion, very solid advice, thank you.

CAROLE MEYER These are fantastic laundry rooms....(not the favorite place in most houses) BUT, I would hang out and have coffee in a couple of these. Beautiful.

judithuk Mirgana 44 Be very careful before you buy a combined washer and dryer. these machines are usually very slow and inefficient. Check cycle times before you buy otherwise laundry can be a very long process

pamzella Laundry rooms in bathrooms, even w/ a door, will create lint on every surface due to the steam in the room. If you don't want to go crazy with cleaning, don't put your dryer anywhere near anything else that steams either, or you'll be washing down walls and baseboards a lot.

Kenny Grono Hi Peter, thanks for your comments. The pan I showed in one picture was meant to handle a leaking washing machine drum, not a hose burst. I stand corrected on the braided hoses. You are right that these are also prone to failure at the couplings. The intelliflow valves designed to automatically shut off the water in the event of a hose failure are a great idea. A simpler and less expensive solution is to always shut the valves that your hoses connect to off when not in use.

ebea I guess I'm the oddball in the crowd. We are currently moving our laundry room to the downstairs (not really a basement) which is a walkout level. Very tired of the noise, lint dust and inconvenience of having it upstairs. Its going to be out of the way and near the family room and two of the bedrooms.

jcpc If you put one large pan under both the dryer and the washer, it will hold more water incase there ever is a water leak.

spacesprit I have just completed the planning phase of a laundry room for a client and we have incorporated a few helpful ideas: 1. We are installing mesh facing on the laundry drawers to keep these areas ventilated. 2. We are installing pull-out panels that have horizontal rods to be used for hanging clothes to be dried. The facing on these pull-outs will also have mesh for ventilation. 3. The homeowner requested that her cabinet (above the washer) have enough depth for her large washing detergent containers and the bottom of the cabinet will have a concealed hole where the detergent can be poured through. I am attaching a photo of the mesh (for a different project) and will post photos of this project, once it's completed.

anrol Has anybody had any experience with the water cop? I was facinated reading about it but I don't know anybody who has used it. www.watercop.com

mmsalg If you're looking for makers to help create your custom laundry room, there are many here who would love to help you. http://custm.co/hz/35

pisapete Nice design and functionality ideas. I really do think that the small upstairs laundry rooms are a bad idea. (like giant soaker tubs in master bathrooms from the 90's)
Keep the laundry in the basement and use a laundry chute.

tcufrog We use a 3 bag laundry cart for sorting machine washable clothes. One bag for lights, one for darks, and one for denim. It's nice because I can wheel it to bedrooms to collect the clothes and immediately sort them. I have a hook on the door for a bag for dry cleaning. When the bag is full I take in my dry cleaning. The laundry that doesn't fit into either category such as sheets and towels go into a tall narrow laundry basket.

sowmya_padki I have a tiny laundry room. Very very small. It is very cluttered and I don't know what to do. I love these but the rooms are too big. Ideas please!!

phillytim Some great stuff here, thanks! One question; we're doing second floor laundry with a counter above, and the local township requires a drain pan under the washer. I'll follow Mr. Hawser's advice and get high quality hoses and Burst Buster, but my question is how we'll ever get the washer out again (for servicing for example)? It would have to be lifted out of the pan, but with a counter above and counter supports on each side (we're planning on 1.5 inches of clearance on each side-a 27 inch wide washer in a 30 inch wide opening), lifting it would seem impossible, and I also worry pulling it out would risk damaging the pan. Thoughts?

Kenny Grono Hi Phillytim, the counter is being installed, so it can be removed. Depending on the material, it will either be screwed or siliconed in place, both of which can be undone so it can be lifted and the washer taken out of the pan. Perhaps once you show the inspector the BurstBuster you could get away with a floor drain in the area and pitching the floor toward the drain. This would mean no pan lip at the front of the washer and you could pull it straight out. Brainstorm with your inspector and builder and I think they'll be able to work out a solution.

Los Gatos Glass I know that the front load washers are in style now, and are more efficient, however there is a drawback that I never liked. You cannot add anything to the machine once you have started the cycle. Front load washer means loading the washing machine, adding soap, etc. and then starting. Once you start walking down the hall and find the lone sock you dropped, or if you decide to toss in the dishtowels, you can't! I hated that! I went back to the top load machine and I love it! Also allows me to pull out delicates prior to spin cycles.

morgana44 Los Gatos Glass...I have Samsung front loading washer and dryer. The washer has a start/pause button. When you pause it stops the washing or spinning process and 30 seconds later unlocks the door and at that point you can add or remove whatever you want. If you are on the wash cycle it will add more water to accomodate the extra clothes.

frenchdecor It's very good and useful article and thanks for discussion section, learned a lot. I am curious, what architects think moving laundry room up and if insurance companies consider it's as a higher flood risk? My laundry is in the basement but under the kids bedroom and there no way to do sound insulation because of all wires and heating/cooling in the same space. I would like to see architects to be involved in discussion.

npeben We have a 50s home with a basement laundry. The drain is under a free-standing sink with legs. We haven't had issues with the washer leaking, although the drain has backed up a few time (yuck!), and one of the basement windows has leaked with heavy rains. I need to have access to the drain to periodically snake it out, so is my only option another free-standing utlity sink with legs?

I was trying to redesign with a sink cabinet and have the washer drain directly into the waste pipe, but my plumber said the best way to have the washer drain was into my sink or a similar contraption under the sink before it goes out the waste pipe. This was so that lint could be trapped?

Any suggestions on sink arrangements? Is there an issue with the washer draining directly into the waste pipe? What about accesss to the floor drain? Does anyone have a floor drain with a cabinet sink?

frenchdecor @npeben I can only partially give you an answer. I have washer drain into the sink and we have from time to time mild floods because someone forgot in sink a cloth after washing dogs paws, or footwear. Sometimes it's hanging on the edge and water twirls (pulls) it into the sink. Sink is deep so you don't see what in it if you don't check, which we sometimes forget to do. Regarding sink cabinet, we did custom cabinet on metal legs about 4-5" high (chrome, tube like, IKEA). Depends on your budget and preference, but custom is not necessary, any standard cabinet but not tall (from floor to sink) and added legs could do. If cabinet is not solid wood but man maid material and you have water trapped from spills or flood cabinet standing directly on the tile would be damaged very soon. Also you'll have, perhaps, access to snake your drain if it's not in far deep corner.

silverlily22 Just bought a penthouse and have managed to tuck a small space for my washer and dryer in one of the bathrooms, love all the ideas, in Europe space is at a premium.

John Whipple - By Any Design ltd. ADDING SAFETY TO A UPSTAIRS LAUNDRY CLOSET

Here is a space for a laundry stacker. It's on the second floor of a Dunbar Custom Home Build. We used this linear drain from ACO and some creative tile work to build a safety net into the small laundry closet.

We have designed the drain so it is 5/8" below the hardwood flooring outside. When the doors to the closet are closed you do not see any tile.

This home has a radiant heat system. We excluded the closet from the pour and blocked the space so I could install my clamping drain and built this little closet the same way I build my showers. JW

embracegrace We put two laundry rooms in our new two story house. The second floor one is used for most of our clothing. The first floor one is in a closet of the mudroom. We use almost all cloth in our kitchen so it's convenient to have it right there. We also have a first floor master/guest room/play room. When our parents and other guests come, they don't have to navigate stairs to do laundry (because they live far from us, they often stay for several weeks). Also, if at some point, any of us have mobility issues, we can move downstairs and still have access to the laundry.

We love our second floor laundry room, which has a stacked washer and dryer. Our main floor washer and dryer are side by side on a riser. The washer is quite loud. I'd love to know if you have a solution for that. We're looking at getting a rubber mat like this: http://www.amazon.com/Rubber-Cal-Heavy-Duty-Appliance-Mat/dp/B004EF8MVG/?ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top. Does anyone have experience with this?

http://www.dejongdreamhouse.com/2012/07/upstairs-laundry-room-tour.html

ruffian829 I'm no expert, but my dad is a master plumber and despises putting laundry on any floor other than the basement/bottom floor. The risk of flooding is huge otherwise. Those little plastic hoses are often the only thing standing between a finished house and a lot of damage.
A lot of the precautions listed above are great but keeping laundry in the basement or on the bottom floor is the best.

And re: laundry shoots/dumb weighers- we cannot have them around here (against code) because they are considered a fire hazard. That is likely why you don't see them anymore.