With kids I really like my upstairs laundry. It's also convenient because that is where their playroom is. I know the concern with the smaller upstairs closet can be where to put dirty clothes, etc. our is in a master suite area we just created so I have the closet right across from the laundry so stuff can get thrown in there and I tend to just fold everything on my bed. Works for us - much easier then when I used to lug everything to the back of the house and make my kids accompany me because they are too little to leave unattended.

simps, what is more important to you ? The ability to move around and fold your laundry in a spacious room, or, to have your basement wide open for other use ?

Assuming you won't miss the closet space terribly, I definitely would choose the smaller space upstairs. I would much prefer to have to fold my laundry on my bed than have to trek all the way down two floors to do laundry. I'm sure there are many other uses you can find for the space in your newly renovated basement. And, while people always appreciate a nice laundry room, most do not like having to go to the basement to do laundry (too much like living in an apartment building where the laundry is in the basement, just w/o the quarters), while even a small laundry upstairs is usually a selling point.

I fought with my boyfriend when we built our house. In my previous home, I had my laundry room in the basement. Yes, I minded the lugging of the baskets up and down the stairs. I did have a huge soft sided tote that I used to make it a little easier.

The big drawback with having it on the second floor (or first floor) is exactly what happened to me. When we moved out of my house and moved the washing machine, there was this HUGE rust stain on the concrete floor. Unbeknownst to me there was a small leak in the water supply hose and was dripping for years. It was slow enough that it never seeped out of the front of the washing machine. Imagine if that was your upstairs and you had a slow water leak onto your subfloor for years.

smugsy -- if there is a tiny leak and it's unnoticeable for years, this can happen to any plumbing in the house, toilets, faucets, baths, showers. To prevent this problem in simps's case, would it be possible to "lift" the washer an inch or more off the floor, but somehow still have shock stabilizers for both machines ?

Thanks for all the feedback!
@sam0705 and @K B An upstairs laundry does seem really appealing for all the reasons you mentioned. Its nice to know you've had positive experiences with that location.
@Ed In the current plans there would be 15×15 ft. of available space. I'd have to give it some thought-maybe a gym? Very good point.
@smugsy1122 that's my biggest fear-a leak from the second floor of our historic home! I'm glad it sounds like yours wasn't too serious.

@Ed Yes there would be space after shock stabilizers and we would be installing a drain.

There have been other posts about the leak issue - there are ways to make the room a wet room with drain or use a pan, etc. I honestly don't know what they did with ours - I left it to their expertise. Also a historic home - fingers crossed! :)

A tray can protect the floor.


http://www.homedepot.com/p/t/202214668?productId=202214668&storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&PID=500871&ci_sku=202214668&ci_src=9324560&cm_mmc=CJ%2d%5f%2d500871%2d%5f%2d10368321&SID=%2d8105742641685499852&AID=10368321&cj=true

I've mentioned this on a previous post, but a friend of mine is an ergonomics designer and she designed her house with the laundry on the second floor - it saves your back lugging tons of clothes up and down stairs at the very least.

@sam0705 I'll definitely keep that in mind and look up other posts about leaks. I appreaciate the heads up!
@Judy M Thanks for the link. I've heard mixed reviews on trays-Have you had a good experience with them?

My question would be when do you normally do your laundry? Would you be doing it at night, while the children are sleeping? Would the sound of the washer running be a problem? Is there any way that the laundry room could be moved to the first floor? Just some things to think about.

If you decide to have the laundry room in the basement, see if a laundry chute can be put in a closet upstairs. It is an amazing help!

@ASVInteriors I hadn't thought of my back but that's definitely a concern! Thanks.
@mollythecollie I typically do laundry in the early afternoon on Sundays. The kids would not be sleeping at that time unless they took a nap. As for moving it to the first floor, I think that would be a nice compromise but there's no available space there :(

@thedarlingsbecca Oh a laundry chute! I had one in my childhood home and loved it. Unfortunately, they are no longer considered up to "code" in my area, according to out designer and GC. Not sure why though.

I love big table and all of the cabinet space in the basement. I see it as being multi-purpose (yours alone). A place to gather and wrap gifts; a hobby center for jewelry making; scrapbooking; sewing; floral design; genealogy; etc.

@thedarlingsbecca Yes, I there would be so much space in the basement! You're right-I could have a Houzz worthy craft space, too :)

@tennisanyone haha those are good points! Kids doing their own laundry? Does that happen?! Oh that would be lovely!

simps, it happened in my house when they were going into 6th grade, middle school. They don't stay young forever. I refused to pick up the laundry off their floor(they will change three times a day for no reason) and taught them how to sort, where to pour the detergent/bleach, and turn on the machine. If they ran out of clothes to wear they brought them down in the morning before school. I would finished it for them but they had to put it away too or left it in the basket. It was up to them. They certainly knew how to do laundry by the time they went to college. Just something for you to think about. Whatever you decide, will be the right decision for you and I look forward to seeing the end result.

I have my laundry in the main floor mudroom. But I find that the vibration is really loud - with clothes in the washer. When I run a 'test' to check the balance and vibration, it's not a problem, but running the washer without the clothes does seem kind of pointless! I have a front load washer, so the final spin has a really high rpm. Maybe we need a stronger floor support? I don't know - but nothing was mentioned to us when we bought the new washer, and it's in the same spot as washer that came with the house. Something to investigate before you decide.

I don't have my laundry upstairs yet. This is one of my priorities for our new home. We will be using the same precautions that you would use in an upstairs bathroom (durock, membrane, tile flooring, a drain). My sister lives in a newly renovated craftsman and has her laundry upstairs--loves it. (She also has a main floor laundry, I found this a bit of overkill until you need one-floor living.). I'm one of those people who prefers to live above grade. If given the choice, I would rather not have to spend time even in a nicely finished basement. I never understood people who made their basements the nicest part of their home (if you have no other choice okay, but otherwise why not make your main floor your main living area IMHO.)

I am a Frigidaire-Electrolux fan in the kitchen, but when it comes to laundry, its all Maytag for me. I thought it was interesting that Electrolux has a second floor guarantee promising not to wake sleeping children!

http://www.electroluxappliances.com/secondfloor

Laundry chutes are amazing. I can't wait to put mine in.

My dad told me a story (and this is probably part of the reason they're removed from code) about when he was growing up. They had a laundry chute in the main floor bathroom that went down to the laundry area in the basement. It used to be a game for the older kids to drop the younger kids (babies) down the laundry chute and catch them at the bottom.

No wonder some of the family is estranged. Lol!

@tennisanyone I showed your comment to DH and you are now my role model in all things laundry related :) that may sound strange but I mean it as a compliment and will keep your example in mind in the future.
@kmkh Thanks, testing for vibrations is a very good idea! Hope everything works out for you!
@K B Yes, making everything as watertight as a bathroom is a must! Can't say I feel the same way about basements though. Here in Michigan they're very common but I agree they should compliment rather than overshadow the rest of the house.
@Olivia I didn't know that about Electrolux but I'm reading the consumer reviews now. Thanks a bunch!

@rwillekes Oh goodness that certainly gives me a different perspective on laundry chutes lol. I'm just glad everyone survived to be estranged ;) thanks for clearing up that code business

I haven't used a tray, just know they exist. My laundry room is on first floor. Lived in this house for over 30 years, as I'm getting older carrying the clothes down is not getting any easier, but now I just drag the laundry basket behind me as I go down the steps.

When our kids lived at home, I found I was most often on the main level, so switching a load from washer to dryer didn;t mean a trip back to second floor. I would rather have space to separate clothes into piles ( whites, darks etc.) then to have all that in the middle of a second floor hallway.

What you might do with a larger basement room is have a place to hang items that get hung on a hanger to go into closet. You could also keep a separate basket for each person and they can carry their basket back upstairs.

we just remodeled our laundry room and got electrolux front loaders, no vibrations. we added a black granite counter and white cabinets above on the wall with undercabinet lighting and a green glass tile backsplash that my son used in his kitchen and had leftover.

The biggest thing is safety. It's super easy to turn your back and suddenly the child you thought was safe is into places they shouldn't be. I did that once at my moms with her laundry chute. My daughter was about a year old and after her bath, I had to grab the lotion from the closet just outside the bathroom. In that time she got untangled from her towel and was halfway into the opening for the chute before I was able to grab her. Scared the snot out of me!!!

As the guy of the house...and the one whose responsible for all the laundry and ironing etc.. I would not like to try to deal with all the laundry stuff from such a small space as a closet (like the picture you posted). I would definitely opt for the renovated space in the basement. I use a folding table. I want hanging space for damp things that don't go into a dryer, ironing space, more hanging space, we also have a steamer... no way that all of these activities will be comfortable from a small closet.

simps214, thanks for the compliment. I remodeled my laundry room last year. Wish I had done it when the kids lived home. It is in a room off my kitchen. I have front loaders electrolux and I love them. I can't believe all they fit and the drying time is cut in half. Would have cut my time in half when I was doing about five loads a week. Now I only do about two loads. Looking back, I should have done the laundry room before I remodeled any room in the house.

Aha! Another possible use for laundry room in basement: Kivi mentioned hanging space for clothes - getting change of season clothes stored and putting aside clothes the kids have outgrown was always an issue. Lots of drawer and closet space in bedrooms, but all a mixed up mess! Your room could be a sorting and storage (until out the door) place for such clothes. Next: Do you have a mud room? If not, is there an entrance from the outside to the basement?

@Judy M That's an excellent idea for a basement laundry room-then I wouldn't have to carry them by myself! Thanks.
@rwillekes That is a scary situation, I'm so glad you were there! You're quite right, safety first.
@Kivi Good for you, representing all the hard working men out there! Yes, those are all necessary tasks and I worry I would end up doing those things in the dining room or bedroom. Thanks for your $0.02
@tennisanyone You're welcome and you all have sold me on these Electrolux models! Better late than never :)
@thedarlingsbecca Unfortunately we don't have a mudroom but we do have a walk-out basement. I like the idea of keeping a second space for laundry-Thanks!

@simps214, One more tidbit. When my son went to college, I asked him how laundry was going. He said "Mom, I can't believe all the kids that don't know how to do laundry". I said, well, aren't you glad I taught you how to do it at such a young age? He said" well not really, they learned in 5 minutes".

You don't have a mud room, but you have an outside entry to the basement - could that entry be used and a mud room area be set up? Just think, dirty sports wear could be put right into the laundry room. Could store the sports equipment, umbrellas, boots, etc., etc. there. Sure would keep the house cleaner and neater! The only problem I found with having family members carry their laundry baskets to their rooms was they didn't bring the basket back downstairs.

We put our laundry facility in the master bedroom suite when designing our home and I love the convenience. Washer and dryer are stacked and a fold out ironing board is in the same area.