I've had both. I do like the extra height of the pedastals for transferring laundry to the dryer, and unloading the dryer . I have only had the new machines with pedastals for four years, so I don't know about how repairmen feel about them.

I love having the pedestals. My back appreciates it!

I have had a built in base, but with limited space I need a counter over top for a work area.

JTC - If you had the counter space would you prefer the machines raised? Or would you still prefer the “extra” counter space on top of the machines?

I love our machines pedestals. My low back, knees, rotator cuff . . . all really appreciate the extra height. Especially my back. Actually, I could not function without the pedestals.

My new-to-me house came with Duet front load washer and dryer already mounted on pedestals. I love them but I'm 5'7" with a bad back. My laundry room is next to the master bedroom, so I prefer to fold everything while watching TV in the bedroom.

For service, I think it'd be easier with pedestals rather than harder as the extra height makes them easier to move away from the wall. We just had the water inlets/solenoids replaced and access was from the top and the top of the back. We have not (knock wood!) had to do any big part like a drum or counterweight so I don't know if that'd be different.

We just installed a laundry sink and are now going to get cabinets installed. I too had looked at the over-the-fridge cabs since they're 24" deep and I thought they'd be easier to reach. But that created a problem with the cabs on each side since those are only 15" deep and taller: it seemed to become very complicated with including fillers for door-opening clearance and the different heights would bug me.

So what I'm planning now is a normal 15" deep wall upper cabinet but with a pullout drawer on the bottom "shelf" (and also the middle "shelf" too) with Ikea cabinets. With the cabinet frame being 14 3/4" deep and the drawer 13 1/4" deep, the front of the full-extension drawer will be 28" from the wall. The front of my WD is 34" from the wall, so I'll be able to reach just fine. I do plan to check with one of their kitchen setups while at Ikea before ordering though, to be sure.

HTH

I have a tiny laundry closet and I chose pedestals and no sink over stacked with a sink because my back can’t handle that much bending. I’m not that old, just have a weak back. I also fold my laundry on the bed while I watch tv. It’s my one guilty pleasure. Ok Houzz is a guilty pleasure, too! In our old house, the countertop was constantly cluttered with everyone’s junk anyway. Horizontal surfaces are like that.