The reason older utility rooms had the washing machine draining into the utility sink is because the drain lines were usually only 1.5", and the sink served as a buffer space that held water and allowed more time for the washer to drain. New code requires a 2" drain and standpipe that handles the full water flow, so it only needs to have a P-trap at the bottom and a vent.

If your plumbing is arranged so you can install a new 2" drain, or connect into the larger soil stack (usually 3" or 4"), then you can upgrade fairly easily to a standard washing machine drain setup. It just depends on the layout of your plumbing under the slab.

Bruce

@Bruce thank you for your response. I’d love to use a clean sink without all the washer water going by. For the second option I have - turning a room which used to be laundry room back to use, does a plumber have a way to tell if all plumbing and pipes are still usable without tearing down the floor or wall?

What's wrong with having the washer empty into the sink? It does the job.

How about this? Replace the old washer with a front loader and replace the dryer with one of the same height. Replace the utility sink if you must; there are even ones that come their own cabinet. Add a (removable) countertop over the washer and dryer on which you can sort and fold laundry. Hang shelves or cabinets over the countertop for storage. Fix/add drywall, paint, tile the floor, change the lighting, etc. to make the room more pleasant.

Your existing drain for the laundry sink connects to a vertical drain pipe in the wall. If you demo only part of that wall the plumber can determine if its a 2" drain pipe or a 1.5" pipe. Its fairly common to use a 2" vertical pipe in the wall and then connect a 1.5" sink drain pipe. You won't know until you demo a little.

Don't get too concerned about cutting out some drywall to investigate. It looks messy, but any competent handyman can put it back in if you later change your mind later. My recommendation is to use a Dremel oscillating tool (or similar) because you can draw a nice square on the drywall and then only cut deep enough to go through the drywall (about 1/2"-5/8"). That mostly removes the risk of accidently cutting a plumbing pipe or an electrical wire. If you can locate the studs in the wall I usually try to cut at the vertical midpoint of the stud, so it will support the drywall patch on each side when you cover the hole.

Bruce

@Bruce thank you so much!

@wdccruise The washer water does not smell good and it just looks messy with a drain hanging over the sink which I kind of prefer a clean sink I can hand wash some small items in while the washer is working. My laundry room smells all the time! And i think our toilet drain outlet is in the laundry room (do not know why it's not outside the house) but that room is crying for help lol