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fifamom

laundry room location

8 years ago
What is the best location for a laundry room in a 2 story home ? Since 90% of the laundry is clothing having the laundry near the bedrooms should be a given. What do you think? 1st floor near garage or kitchen or wherever they put them or 2nd floor where the bedrooms are?
2nd floor laundry room
1st floor laundry room

Comments (13)

  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    it depends on your family. if you will have teenagers in this house, and they do their own laundry, you cannot complain when they do it adjacent to your bedroom at 1 am.

    and it depends what you are doing while laundry is happening. making extra trips up to the second floor to move the clothes from the washer to the dryer isnt exactly a picnic.

    and it depends if you want to go to sleep after putting the last load in. BZZZZZZZZZZZ just as i fall asleep sucketh. i'd rather have that happening far from my dozy self.

    when i weighed up all those downsides, i decided that carrying a basket of laundry up and down wasnt really that big of an issue.

    fifamom thanked Judy Mishkin
  • 8 years ago

    As the last poster said, it depends on your family. My personal choice is upstairs for the reasons you stated. The noise doesn’t bother anyone as I rarely do laundry late at night.

    I don’t like to have a Laundry room near the entrance as that is usually the dirtiest and busiest part of the house. I sort laundry on the floor and hang a lot of it to dry. I also like to fold everything right out of the dryer so I wouldn’t want clean clothes dropping on the dirty floor.

    All that said, how do you typically do laundry? What would be most convenient for you?

    fifamom thanked valiamo
  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    I prefer first floor. I don't intend to run up and down the stairs all day either loading the washer or switching the laundry from one machine to the other. Much easier to just stroll into the laundry that is off the kitchen.

    With a larger family perhaps a second stack-able set upstairs also would work. Teens could toss in their own clothes while hanging out in their rooms or a load of bath towels would never have to leave the bath.

    fifamom thanked Elizabeth
  • 8 years ago

    Downstairs by the garage entrance with a laundry chute from upstairs.

    fifamom thanked dchall_san_antonio
  • 8 years ago
    We have ours on the main floor, close to garage door, with a laundry chute leading from bedroom upstairs to laundry area on main floor. Love it there. I spend more time on main floor so that works well. Also, if your washer breaks and creates a spill, water damage occurs from top floor down.
    fifamom thanked Prairie Summer
  • 8 years ago

    1st floor - once laundry is done and folded it needs to be carted upstairs (except for the 5% of stuff that is used on the first floor) a dumbwaiter would be best.. LOL

    ln my case we cart the dirty things down, wash, dry and fold and then have to cart them back upstairs.. it is that carting up and down that drives me crazy... I personally spend a lot of time on the 2nd floor as that is where my office is and running up and down to do laundry is a pain.. we have clients who have had us move the plumbing and venting to 2nd floor for laundry rooms and they love it... keeps it upstairs and out of the 'common' living areas.. in a previous home we had the laundry at top of steps on 2nd floor behind bifold doors and i liked it... it was hidden and out of the way... I am now trying to find room on 2nd floor to install a laundry room without taking space from a bathroom or my office.. our landing is open to the 1st floor.. if we move a door and wall between hallway and master bedroom we will have enough space for a laundry room..

    laundry rooms around here are usually in a room between the garage and hallway to house and end up being very messy.. my laundry is in a dedicated room right now off the hallway and next to a bathroom.. it is great but.. i just hate the carting up and down and may just add a 2nd laundry on the 2nd floor and turn the 1st floor one into a stackable smaller set with storage...

  • 8 years ago
    I guess if we had two floors I wouldn't allow food upstairs at all. Carrying dirty table linens (and with kids, they are indeed dirty) upstairs would be something I'd rather avoid if possible, plus I like hearing the load finish if I'm working in the kitchen.
  • PRO
    8 years ago

    I love my main floor laundry I can be doing other things and still hera the washer finish and the dryer

  • 8 years ago

    I guess the allure for me, chiflipper, is that I spend most of my day upstairs where my office is which makes it very convenient to both work and get my laundry done at the same time. I spend very little time on my main floor. I rarely, if ever, watch tv; I cook only at meal times (with few exceptions) and, other than that, the only room left is the bathroom. I can only spend so much time in there....;)

    If the laundry room was a separate room and not part of the dirty entry/mudroom, then I would agree that, for those that spend more time on the main floor, then the main floor would be an ideal spot for the laundry room.

    I have had one on the main floor (in its own separate room) and am on the third home with it on the second floor. I liked both but in this house, I would never get any laundry done if it were on the main floor.

    Again, you have to go with what you feel will work for you. Enjoy your planning! I'm sure it will work out in the end!

  • 8 years ago

    I would do the lowest level when dealing with a washing machine and water.

    If there's a fault with a leak from the fill hose or drain hose there's going to be a lot more damage the more floors there are for the water to run down to.

    The water damage from the top floor will ruin that floors level, the ceiling and or walls of the next floor down and then the ceiling and or walls of the next floor down from that until (if you have one) to the basement.

    If you have a basement only the basement would have damage but not much if the floor is cement or finished tile. You may just have to use a wet vac or use a mop or towels.

    I would NEVER put a washer/dryer on a top level or mid level if the house has a basement.

  • 8 years ago

    I strongly recommend main floor laundry, not 2nd floor. We had a 2 story house with 2nd floor laundry and it made a lot of noise. Especially do not put a front loader on the 2nd floor. It shook the house and sounded like a train was going through the house.

  • 8 years ago

    We have it on the 1st floor and I like it. Clothes are brought in a hamper, washed and then I bring them on the couch in the family room until I'm done with all the laundry. I fold and everyone takes their own stack of clothes and brings them to their own closet. Sometimes, I have a last load going into the dryer as I go to sleep and I don't want to hear the sound of the dryer or the buzzer at the end:)

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