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2 nd Laundry?

9 years ago

Our new home has master bedroom and kids bedrooms upstairs.So I am planning to have a second laundry room upstairs.Is it a good idea to have laundry hidden in the closet in the master bedroom or have a separate room/closet for this?

Comments (19)

  • PRO
    9 years ago

    Most of the laundry is generated in the bedrooms -- linens and clothes -- with some more laundry coming from bathrooms -- towels especially. So why in the world would the washer and dryer be located on an entirely different floor of the home? It makes no sense to me, and I think it's just an old idea that builders are continuing.

    That said, if home and lifestyle allows, laundry at both levels of the home is wonderful. If there's room at the second floor, create a laundry room where you can also store more linens, towels and other items. If there's not much room at the second floor, put a stack unit in a closet. You'll be happy you have this conveniently located appliance set. Enjoy!



    Aparna Reddy thanked MLB Design Group
  • PRO
    9 years ago

    I always recommend a second or primary laundry where the majority of dirty linen is created. I do not think you will want a laundry in your master. Do you have a hall closet or small unused room you can convert to a laundry for the second floor?

    Aparna Reddy thanked Gray & Walter, Ltd.
  • 9 years ago

    I would definitely have the main floor laundry in a separate room. I have laundry going at all times of day and night and the noise would be a terrible intrusion.

    Aparna Reddy thanked katinparadise
  • 9 years ago
    I put mine in the main hallway in a large closet. Absolutely LOVE IT!. One thing I did was to pay to have the floor tiled with a curb and a drain in the floor in case there was a problem. The pans tend to make a lot of noise.
    Aparna Reddy thanked gtcircus
  • 9 years ago
    Sorry, I have one off the kitchen and one in the main hallway upstairs, its stackable and use to be the linen closet. I was able to put in shelves for storage.
    Aparna Reddy thanked gtcircus
  • 9 years ago

    The area selected would depend upon your floorplan and where the drain lines and water supplies are located. It would save a great deal of money if you could put the laundry closet near existing plumbing. That is probably why you are considering the master bedroom closet, although it is not the most desirable location for the reasons listed by the previous commenters.

    Before you do anything, draw a floorplan of your entire upstairs area. If you have never done this before, research the topic and learn how to draw it to scale. This will help you to evaluate all the alternatives for locating the laundry area.

    A washer and dryer takes a very deep closet: the appliances are deep, and extra room is required behind them for water hoses and dryer vent lines. You might be surprised how much room a washer/dryer would take. That is why it is do essential that it be drawn to scale, including wall thicknesses for the closet framing. You can make the laundry area quieter by installing insulation in the walls.


    Aparna Reddy thanked armchairshopper
  • 9 years ago
    A friend of mine remodeled to have a separate closet in the master for laundry. All their bedrooms are upstairs.
    Aparna Reddy thanked simstress
  • 9 years ago

    If you go with a 2nd laundry upstairs, do it in a separate room and have a drain and pan installed in case it overflows or pipes burst.

    Aparna Reddy thanked Angel 18432
  • PRO
    9 years ago
    Who is the second laundry for?

    If every Tom, Dick and Harry is going to use it, what purpose does the primary laundry serve?

    If kids are big enough to do own laundry, they can use the one downstairs. If not, guess who is going to get stuck doing laundry?

    I would put second laundry in master BR walk in closet. This is where you get dressed in the mornings, and where you/spouse change into something more comfortable after getting home from work. The WIC is essentially the source of adult dirty laundry, and where clean laundry is hung up or folded. Super efficient. Also convenient for master bath towels.

    Fact is, an upstairs laundry is going to require multiple trips up the stairs. Put washer load on when get home from work, socialize or cook supper downstairs, back upstairs to change load to dryer, downstairs to eat, back upstairs to hang or fold clothes. No reason to have to stay up late waiting for laundry to finish.

    Practical reason for second laundry in WIC: you don't have to get dressed again to check on laundry if you have already changed into night clothes.
  • 9 years ago
    Personally I want my laundry room as far away from me as possible. In the master bedroom? Talk about a mood killer.
    Aparna Reddy thanked oOamyOo _
  • 9 years ago

    I really don't understand a closet laundry without a sink, without a place to hang what you can't put in the dryer, without a space to ironing

    Aparna Reddy thanked dyliane
  • 9 years ago
    A laundry in an existing house is very different from one in a new build. Need put a metal pan into a second floor laundry of a retrofit because it will band and clang you to instantly do it right and tile instead with a floor drain. IMO
  • PRO
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Depending your habits, there's a flaw in either location, if you want to make a flaw. The laundry at mud location in many homes is a sty that never empties itself of the task. Also a collecting spot for every item that seems to have no real "place". Except these items DO usually have a place.

    To me, the best spot is where you're most likely to finish the task at hand, and finishing means laundry is dry, folded, stowed away, and hung. Or it is line drying and then finished.

    To that end, the MOST convenient is a pair of W/D'S . Yes Two. Running a load of both whites and colors at the same time, ditto the drying, and cutting the task time in half. Wherever you locate them, it's a residential laundromat.

    In any scenario, the laundry task of today is a simple one compared with several generations ago. The tendency to make a huge project of it is recent......despite the conveniences of this era. Believe it, as below.

    [https://www.houzz.com/discussions/laundry-living-i-cant-tell-which-is-the-dirty-and-clean-laundry-dsvw-vd~4704721[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/laundry-living-i-cant-tell-which-is-the-dirty-and-clean-laundry-dsvw-vd~4704721)

    Failing that, there's always the laundry lady.........you provide the machines and soap, and $$. She provides the elbow grease : )

  • 9 years ago

    It's obvious that everyone's habits and needs are different. I would not put a dust-creating machine like the dryer in my closet. As for two laundry rooms -- I can't imagine popping a few items from one floor into one washer without checking around the entire house for all the other like-coloured stuff that needed washing -- it's an incredible waste of hydro.

    Makes me realize how lucky we are not to have to stand over the ringer washer like my mom did, then hang everything outside, no matter the weather.

    Good luck with your new home -- very exciting.

    Aparna Reddy thanked hatetoshop
  • PRO
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    hate to shop

    My mom had the last two wringers on the planet, the first from grand ma.. She had the WHITEST WASH too! She clung to the last wringer, dug up in Iowa of all places when internet was not yet invented for another thirty years. With a modern "set" right alongside, in the ugly unfinished basement portion.. ................!!!She did wash in HALF the time it takes to run a load in a front loader, to far better results: ) and the sheets went outside, no matter what, and got ironed.....no matter what. She was addicted to "wash". Loved it.....

    Aparna Reddy thanked JAN MOYER
  • 9 years ago

    Besides Jan's idea :) I think the best thing would be to have only one laundry room, upstairs. You can use the space downstairs for something else. Maybe put it hookups just in case but not but two washers and dryers.

    Aparna Reddy thanked Pool Habit
  • 9 years ago

    I'm old enough to remember my grandma using her wringer washer in the basement. In the summer, the clothes got hung outside on the clothesline. Sheets got ironed just like your mom's Jan. In the winter or when it was raining, she had lines strung across the basement where she hung it. My mother always hung hers outside-summer or winter. Nothing smells better than sheets hung outside!

    Aparna Reddy thanked katinparadise
  • 9 years ago

    I found a great tool on Houzz. Here's the link:

    https://www.houzz.com/photos/bedroom-sketch-phbr0lbl-bl~l_147036

    You might be able to use this to lay out your floor plan.

    Aparna Reddy thanked armchairshopper