If you plan on folding clothes above the W/D, then you'll be standing...

Our FL's are on pedestals in the basement... out of the Dryer, the clothes go into a basket
to be folded while sitting on the basement sofa, watching Oprah on TV ...

Miele, Asko and Bosch all make washers and dryers that will fit under a standard 36" counter height. These machines conform to European standards, so are somewhat smaller than washers and dryers manufactured in N. America for the American market, but all will accommodate a wash load similar in size to a standard American top-loader. All of these washers and dryers can be stacked with their matching counterpart.

From Miele, any models in the W3000 series would fit under a standard 24" deep counter. The model W1203 would also fit under a standard height counter, but would require a deeper counter as the model W1203 is 4" deeper from front to back than the series W3000 machines. Alas, Miele seems to be in transition on available model numbers, so it's a bit confusing, but machines sized to European standards remain in the model line-up. Your Miele dealer can advise you on model availability.

From Asko, as far as I know, any laundry pair would fit under a standard height and depth counter.

From Bosch, any of the models in the Axxis line would fit under a standard height and depth counter.

I have an older Miele laundry pair sized the same as the W3000 series machines. They are installed under standard counters and look just as "built-in" as a dishwasher. Folding on a standard height counter presents no problems, whatever.

w8ab- Thanks for the info. I have 10-year old TL Maytag's right now...they fit my needs perfectly fine. I'll have to go back to my owners manuals and see what capacity is and what the capacities of the above washers are.

Thought of one more thing....I need a gas dryer.

The gas dryer thing makes your quest a bit more difficult. All of the smaller Euro machines are 240V electric.

That being said, Frigidaire, and I'm sure other brands, make washers with matching gas dryers that are somewhat bigger, although still only 36" tall. They'd fit under an extra deep counter, although the counter would have to be a bit higher than normal, perhaps 39" or so. I'd say that would still probably be a comfortable and workable height for folding.

We have counters over Duets, so they're on the high side. No problem folding and plenty of counter space.

I just had a similar issue. I decided against getting pedestals, so I gained folding space on top of the washer and dryer. They were pushed together all the way to the left of the wall, leaving me with 42" of space to the right. I first wanted a counter all the way across the wall and over the machines with a cabinet, but decided that it was going to be too much $$, trouble and hassle to fit something perfectly and still have access to the pipes/hoses if necessary. I also had a very limited budget for this. My machines are about 39" tall.

Just in case you are looking for options other than a built in counter that is foldable, look at IKEA for a freestanding kitchen cabinet that is counter-height to place next to your machines. I decided it wasn't a deal-killer to have something that wasn't the exact height of the washer. What I ended up doing is buying an ELFA drawer system from The Container Store with laminate countertops that were 40" across (an 18" unit and 22" unit pushed together)- almost a perfect fit. They are 41" tall, so I have two different height workspaces -but that seems fine so far. The storage issue was huge for me and having all those drawers is wonderful. I'll try to post a picture later today or tomorrow.

I now realize that you don't have the room width that I do - so my above response isn't really helpful. But, to be more direct, I find the tops of the washer and dryer to be very convenient for folding and I'm only 5'0" tall - it's changed my life, almost! However you might have the best of both worlds if you can stack your set and then have cabinet storage with a countertop to fold on next to them.

I don't know how to post a picture in this forum so unfortunately can't show you my laundry room set up.

Ok, here's what I'm left working with. Right now the door is where the hall is (near the garage door) and there is a niche on the wall where the new laudry entrance is. By getting rid of the niche, I gain an extra 16" of depth.

Right now if you walk in the door (which opens into the laundry room, the door practically hits the edge of the washing machine.

With the new arrangement, I gain a mudroom area (new wall where the old door is) and could the leave the washer dryer in approximately the same location they are now. I need to leave air space on the left as it is an intake for the heater. I may also be able to get a laundry chute from the upstairs linen closet.

As for the connection to the valves, couldn't I just leave a cut out for the hoses to run from the wall to the washer below the counter? I don't need the room to look beautiful, after all it is a laundry room...