Well, I've never done a remodel like this but I can tell you that the last two homes we have owned have laundry upstairs.... here is what I know...

1. Venting the dryer vertically through the attic is code these days for 2nd floor laundry. My laundry comes out of the roof and works fine. If you live in a cold climate, make sure that the hot air leaking onto the roof does not cause an ice damn with the snow melting on the roof. But I can tell you this is normal to vent through the attic.

2. Not sure what you mean here.... using existing plumbing for water waste. Do you already have a drain upstairs you could tie into?

3. You need to rip up the floor to put in a drain because upstairs laundries require a drain underneath the washer inside of a "pan". Do not skip on this... if you have a leak most of the water will go down the drain and you'll be left with just some towles to mop the rest up.

And I do have some advice.... the #1 problem of upstairs laundry is not on your list... and that is on of VIBRATIONS from the washing machine. Washing machines are build to be on a concrete or main floor, you put them up on the 2nd floor and let me tell you when it his the spin cycle you WILL have things shaking all over the main floor. I would look into reenforcing the floor joists if at all possible and doing some kind of cross bracing, which still might not be enough.... it will be worse if you have one of those new front loading washers which spin much faster than top loading.

We are in the process right now of moving the laundry upstairs. We live in New Orleans and are "making lemons out of lemonade" so to speak (due to hurricane damage).

We had a drip pan made at a local sheetmetal shop the size of our closet (where the laundry will be located) with a "nipple" for the drain in a location where it is visible if we ever have a water leak.

The plumber put our water and gas connections on the side wall for ease of access as we will be purchasing stackable units and wanted to be able to turn the water off if needed in a hurry.

We opted to have the vent run horizontal through the floorboards and then down to the ground all through the studs (as we have no walls or ceilings currently on our first floor). We did not feel comfortable with a vertical vent if lint would start to collect it could become a fire hazzard.

The drain for the drip pan follows the same path.

The drain pan cost $70 -- it is approx 40X40X2

The licensed master plumber was $8K for extensive work -- jackhammering on the slab to move a commode and a kitchen sink, reworking the existing master bath, plus other minor remodeling issues.

We will probably handle the sheetrocking ourselves.

The plumber told us about a product another client was using as they were moving their laundry to the second floor and it was in the middle of the house. They did not have easy access to run venting. It is some sort of water pan that collects lint, I did not understand it thoroughly, but you might be able to research it more if you are interested in not running venting.

Thanks for the tip about vibrations, hopefully we can reinforce the joists as we will be getting stackable units.

Hope that this helps.

I'd take the dryer vent into the attic, but instead of bringing it through the roof consider a pitched horizontal run exiting through a gable end wall.

It's one less perforation in your roof, and the fewer holes in your roof the better.

Have a pan under the washer. You might also want to consider a leak-sensing auto shutoff valve. The sensor goes in the pan, and if the sensor detects water it automatically closes off the water supply to the washer.

While the pans will capture most of the water from a leak in the tub or some other internal leak, the sensor will fire off and close the supply valves at the first sign of moisture. That would minimize water damage if a hose burst and water was spraying everywhere.

My advice is don't move your laundry room.

We bought a new house in 2000 and the laundry room was on the main floor. Being my office is in my home, I honestly thought I would love the convenience of a 1st floor laundry, but I hate it. We are on our own well and so I am very careful with my detergents, any additives and I never use bleach. But I just can't stand the smell of laundry detergent thoughout the first floor and you just can't seem to get away from it. And I can't imagine a laundry room on the 2nd sleeping level. Oh to sleep in the aroma of laundry detergent...NOT!

By August my laundry room will be back in the basement and I can't wait!

My home in NC has a laundry on the second floor and my initial reaction was 'what psycho did this?' because I am very leak/stability/safety conscious. However I have come to LOVE having it up there because 95% of the laundry is generated on the second floor. I don't know whether the floor reinforcement was done as one person posted above, but I don't have trouble with the first floor shaking and quaking during spin cycles. I don't have a floor drain but I do have braided steel hoses; my insurance guy told me that the #1 cause of laundry leaks is from a burst hose, so this is a cheap $25 investment.

I would say that the venting of the drier has been a substantial problem and I would suggest that you keep the run as short as possible with as few kinks as possible. Having a right angle bend to vertical shortly outside the drier sounds like a lint fire to me and I would not accept it. I had to have my vent line blown out (weed blower works great) and as the previous owner had cats the guy who did it said 'you would not believe the #$$% that came out of it'. I still think my dry times area little longer than in the old short-vent home. The vent comes out of the soffit on the side of the house but it is almost a 20 foot run with two right angles and I sure wouldn't build it that way.

Count me as another person thrilled with having the laundry room on the second floor. I had been going down to the basement for 20 years to do my laundry. We added a second floor to our home last summer and decided to move the laundry up to that floor. It is SO convenient!! I find it a lot easier to keep up with, and put away, the wash now. I would do it again in a minute!

We will be remodeling and moving the laundry area upstairs. I cannot wait. I know there are risks, but the contractor is putting in many controls to help prevent leaks.

We moved our laundry room from the mudroom to our master closet last year. Plumber was about $2000, I did the electrical. Absolutely no compalints. Sounds like using part of the bathroom could require moving walls, fixtures, etc so that may be why your estimates are higher.

Please, please read Dominogold's reply at least three times or whatever it takes to memorize it. The vibration issue is very real. If a house was originally built with the laundry on the second floor, the vibration issue was taken into account (as were the code issues)in the design. Retrofitting is another story. The vibrations can be really annoying even if not structurally damaging. The drainage pan and adequate waste lines are another very serious issue. I speak from having had a second floor laundry in a very old (18th century) house. The vibrations from the washer would occasionally create little dust showers downstairs and always made the house feel like an earthquake. Ultimately, one day while I was out of the house, a sock or something got stuck in the waste line, the
washer overflowed, the saturated ceiling was shaken from the lath and I returned to find a collapsed ceiling. The story goes on from there, but a major lesson was learned.

I'm one that has a laundry on the 2nd floor and my wife and I love it. We never have to carry laundry up/down stairs unless we just happen to want to fold it downstairs. It just makes sense.

And, I don't know about any vibration issue either. I was heavily involved in building my house and I know there were no structural changes made to the flooring/joists to account for laundry room "vibration." Yet, we have no problem with any types of shakes/rattles when we do a load. Maybe our Kenmore washer is new/sturdy enough that it just doesn't vibrate as bad as some other older ones might, or maybe our overall "silent joist" system covers the shakes/rattles mentioned. But it wasn't done with the 2nd floor laundry room in mind.

The one thing that I would suggest is to put a tile floor with a drain in the center if you possibly can. The tub-basin-connected-to-a-hose solution is decent, but what happens if the tub doesn't collect all the water from, say, a hose bursting? You could still have a major mess, disaster even, on your hands. A center drain would solve any water issue that might come up. Might as well factor it into your remodel now.

I used to think I'd love having a laundry right next to the BRs. This house has it and I HATE IT! Yes I don't have to go very far, all that's great but the NOISE drives me nuts. And my laundry is on a cement foundation. Of course I have adult age children still in college. They like to drop in at night and do their laundry - all night! My younger daughter takes naps and I can't do laundry then because her bedroom is next to the laundry. I work one schedule and my DH works another. I have to literally schedule laundry times to avoid waking someone up. So PLEASE take noise into consideration.

Our laundry was moved upstairs in a 1925 house. No problems. It's heaven.

This is good info, I'd like to ask a related question. I'm thinking of moving my laundry upstairs into our master closet. The master closet is built in the attic space of a den/half bath/laundry downstairs and is currently 7' wide by 14' long with 8' ceilings 5' wide sloping to 7' at side walls (12 in 12 roof pitch). I'm thinking of bumping back the knee walls to 4-5' height to gain an additional 2-3 feet width on each side. The washer/dryer will sit almost directly over their present location so plumbing/electrical won't be too hard. I'm wondering if there are humidity problems that this may cause in the closet and if I should include a ventilation fan (maybe tied to a humidistat).

Good point on the noise/vibration... I was thinking of some cross-bracing on the floor joists and maybe some sort of rubber washers to isolate the washer pan to decrease vibration/noise transfer.

Any thoughts would be appreciated on my plans. THANKS!

A dryer moves a great deal of air out of the laundry room so an exhaust is not usually necessary but it can help with odors during the washing cycle. Be sure the dryer vent is 6" or larger metal ducting with few bends and that it doesn't terminate in the attic space.

We just bought a new house - ranch style with a full house basement. We love the house, but the laundry room is in an awkward space, between the foyer and the kitchen. I would like to move the washer and dryer to a closet near the bedrooms on the same floor. The closet is next to a bathroom - the side of the closet is next to a shower and sink. The closet does not have any exterior walls.

I am going to meet with a plumber, but I wanted to educate myself first. If anyone has info about the what considerations are necessary for installing a washer and dryer in a new space, I would appreciate it. I have been told that we have to consider drainage for the washer, vent pipe for the dryer, and electricity requirements that may have to be increased in that space. Thanks for any help!

We just remodeled our home and specifically wanted the laundry on the 2nd floor. Our LG washer sounds like it is going to come crashing to the 1st floor.

I am ready to move it back to the basement.

Does any one have any suggestions of a good washer that works well on the 2nd floor?

Is the maytag duet better? top loader?

very frustrating

Chrisnorscross -

Did you ever find any info? We just built a second floor with laundry room. Washer and dryer (LG Tromm Steamwash) taken upstairs, all was well - until vibrated house like crazy. Tried KE shake away pads, concrete pavers, no help. Engineer saying that if we find out the vibration frequency of the washer, he could design something to stop the vibration, but it would be major work and we'd have to re-open the basement walls to provide more structural support.

Despite all our attention to detail, we never questioned why the laundry room floor/subfloor was the same as all the rest or if there was extra structural support there.

We've already moved the front loader back to the basement and figure we will have to sell it and get a top loader for upstairs

1. Should any laundry room above the basement have extra structural support due to potential weight?

2. Any info on which washer is best on a wood frame floor? I could look back at the plans but can't right this minute - floor is basically built to Canadian code.

Thanks!!!!

Andrea

I wanted to let you know what I have found with my upstairs front loader over the past several years. I had major issues with vibration too from my 3 year old Kenmore front loader (dishes would fall off my shelves on the first floor). It died 3 weeks out of the extended warranty (isn't that always the case?). I had my husband bring my older model Kenmore front loader from our rental property. It was an older model one and it was really heavy (I would guess 400 pounds). The repairman told me the older ones actually had a rim of cement in them for added weight to dampen the vibrations. Ironically, the old heavy machine doesn't vibrate at all. The extra weight more than dampens the spin cycle vibrations and we don't have any more issues. I would choose the heaviest one I can find next time I buy one. Maybe you can trying weighting it down with a few hundred pounds to see if it improves???

My washer just sits on hardwood. I only do laundry when I am home so I don't worry about a leak.

Maybe the key to fixing your machines may be to add weight to it.

I want to say that mongoct has some GREAT advise. I strongly recommend venting through the gable or overhang on your house instead of through the roof.

Here is a link that might be useful: Have have found many helpful hints in this book.

You can avoid venting altogether by buying a washer/dryer combination machine. It vents into the waste water line. There are some drawbacks with these machines but many people use them and like them.

We did a rehab and put laundry in a central closet along with a slop sink on our second floor. Ditto the tiled shower pan with central drain. Great thing.
I have older kenmore frontloaders which were so loud I thought they would tear the house apart. I had them leveled and the vibration was cut in half!
Those who are having big vibration issues, make sure the machines are level.
We vent through the attic, no problem.
The machine has it's own drain line and hot and cold water hook-ups.
What a great thing to have the laundry upstairs.
good luck

Be sure to have automatic cut off valves installed for the washer spigots, and a drain pan (or floor drain) with a trap primer (especially for the pan).

At least with an open floor drain you can pour water into the drain monthly to maintain the trap seal.

The drain needs to be relatively large to handle the washer (2 inch in many places) and to have any chance of handling a washer overflow. The automatic check valves will handle the burst hose issue.

The washer is not a weight issue, but it can be a vibration issue.
There are some after the fact tricks that can help with vibration. Simple cork and rubber blocks under the washer feet (and sometimes the dryer) all the way to framing up a box put the appliances on to spread the vibration load around.
It is much better if the appliances are on an outside wall that has joist bearing below.