The glitch in a stacked frontloader set is service access. Any type of service on the washer requires the dryer be removed from atop it.

Access to connect the dryer exhaust, washer hoses, and power cords (or gas line for a gas dryer) can be a challenge on units in an recessed/enclosed space, although you seemingly don't have that issue per your description of having available room to place them side-by-side.

I would ask:

1. If either appliance requires service, can it be serviced from the front?
2. If either appliance requires service from the back, can the stacked appliances be pulled away from the wall or must the dryer be first removed from atop the washer?

If the dryer must be removed from atop the washer, I wouldn't do stacked. (An LG stackable dryer I checked weighs 122 lbs.)

I lived with stacked FL pairs for 16 years. I could reach all the controls etc, but the problem for me was there was no surface in the LR that I could fold laundry on, making it necessary for me to pull the load from the dryer and take it to another room to fold. After a while it was a hassle; I just find it more convenient to fold things as they come out of the dryer, and then put them in the basket to take back to the bedroom. Service accessibility as dadoes and wdcruise hi-lighted is essential, but for me so is having a convenient place to fold things.

Agree that service accessibility is an issue. If you have a closet (or similar) behind the washer/dryer, perhaps you could build in an access panel? I say this because I recently had a leak in my tub, and the plumbers put an access panel through a closet; this allowed them NOT to destroy my tile.

How will you clean out the lint? I don't mean the bit of lint that's in the screen; rather, I mean allll the lint that builds up inside the machine. Ideally you'd pull your machines out /vacuum the inside well -- but this isn't easy with stacked machines. This is a very big deal for fire safety.

How tall are you? Will reaching the top controls be an issue? Go down to Lowes and look at the machines in real life. Imagine reaching up to put clothes in /adjust the dials.

Typically stacked machines are JUST stacked machines -- by that, I mean if you're stacking machines, you usually don't have space for "waiting loads" and detergents, etc. Keep in mind that you need more than the machines for laundry.

My friend also resides in a condo with a stacked, full sized LG w/d. The dryer must have the lint trap professionally cleaned every 3 years, per the condo association bylaws. There have been no needed washer repairs, to date. Although there's no problem reaching the controls, she'd prefer the w/d be side by side, to facilitate folding, etc. Unfortunately, her space forces her to have these items stacked. Will you also have your water heater in this space? Remember that not all manufacturers have washer doors that can be reversed, if that is required within your condo build.

...and you can buy appliances from different product lines and different manufacturers if you don't stack. I have a GE washer and LG dryer sitting side by side.

I recently had my first floor remodeled , took room from laundry room to enlarge the kitchen. No regrets , but now my washer and dryer are stacked. If I had more room I’d go back to side by side, just a tiny bit more of a pain with the loading and unloading. Really not a big deal. Folding is not a problem for me , I always take the laundry out to the dining room table so I can fold it in front of the living room tv.

And my dryer fits ontop of my different brand washer just fine ...

Laundry closet (not in pic) is to the right ...

No thanks.

My worked good for like 8 years until drain pump failed (gasket failed on pump motor, it got filled with water). Two years after the pressure sensor failed - so system was reporting SUDS, SUDS, SUDS.... No way I will go with stacked.

urchinsushi, what's the model number of that dryer? It appears to be a Kenmore brand? Sears doesn't manufacture anything, sources appliances from the various manufacturers relabeled as Kenmore. The first three digits before the period of the model number is a code for the manufacturer. It may be Whirlpool.

We were forced to temporarily stack until we can enlarge laundry area. Both machines are front load.

If you are somehow tall enough to operate dryer controls and remove dried clothes without using a stepladder, it will be correspondingly that much more difficult to get clothes out of the washer.

Do side by side. Avoid pedestals. Instead do built-in platform with incorporated drawers.

Add a pullout tray above drawers to hold a clothes basket which is great for loading or unloading each appliance.

For most people, a front load is too tall for an ergonomic folding countertop. Instead have extra-depth cabinets above the washer and dryer — conceptually like a refrigerator surround sized to fit around the washer and dryer.

Bending down to reach into the washer and then lifting to put into the dryer was no fun when we had stacked. Good exercise, but not fun. Plus unless you're tall, hard to see into the dryer or see the controls. I was always leaving socks to be dried again when I didn't see them the first time in the dryer. No thanks.

Urchinsushi, your machines look like they are different brands in name only.

Whirlpool Corp. (WHR) is a leading home appliance company that sells products under a wide variety of brands such as Whirlpool, KitchenAid, Maytag, Amana, Jenn-Air, and Consul.

In the past, many Kenmore appliances were rebadged Whirlpools as well. Can't speak about current products.

That’s really interesting ! I guess I was lucky that I didn’t need to buy a new appliance then :)

Yes, as others have made clear above, they really are that bad!

We have a mismatched set stacked. Between the washer top and the dryer we placed foam kneeling pads used when gardening. Found some in white. Zero problems for years now.

@Dan1888 - are they connected to each other in some way? Otherwise you run the risk of the dryer vibrating off the top.

Nope and no vibration from the slow(relatively) rotation of the dryer drum. And the Miele on the bottom is perfectly leveled on tile over concrete floor. It hardly vibrates on the fast spin setting. That minimal vibration is fully damped by the near 1" dense foam necessary for a kneeling pad. No bolts or any other fasteners have been necessary for years.

Dan, still I would be cautious if you have children or pets around. I know Miele's are supposedly bullet proof, but things do happen with machines. When the spider arm in my Kenmore failed in 2011, that thing was vibrating and moving like mad until I shut it off. Had the dryer not been bolted to it, it would have gone crashing into the wall or to the floor, probably destroying it as well and doing damage to the room.

I'd always choose to not stack, unless if I had to (not end of the world). Maintenance issues, more potential for vibration, more crouching/stretching to swap loads, visually less appealing looking.

You can store laundry baskets on top of the units (side by side), put cabinets over them, but (high) counter top over them...

An earlier Miele lost a drum shock and there wasn't any adverse loss of stability for the dryer. The dryer a a lightweight simple gas unit. Easy to unhook and lift off into the larger open area. 10 minute job. As safe as anything based on my direct experience over 20 years using the pads.

Thank you! You have all convinced me not to stack since it is avoidable!