Many of my friends have recommended Speed Queen but they are a little too pricey for us.

Thanks, I was once told by an appliance repair person that they were very reliable, but yes, costly. They seem to only come smaller capacities too. Not sure if they would handle our king size bedding.

I agree that Speed Queen seems to get raves. But I’m kinda jaded when it comes to trusting appliances these days and I don’t trust that the quality will be there. I’m currently in a rental home and spent as little as possible on appliances. I bought a top loader Samsung Washer/Dryer pair from Costco (about $1400 last year) and I really like them. They are smaller capacity than I ever had, at about 5 cu ft each, but they’ve handled my King size blankets (heavy Pendleton acrylic fleece), sheets, etc without any issues. Much better than my larger Electrolux front loader.

Do not get Samsung. They do electronics well but not appliances.

Editing to add detail as to why to avoid Samsung-

Our washer started rusting where the water and soap pour into the machine. So bits of rust go in with the load and stain our clothes. It also doesn't use enough water, with no way to change the level, so I have to fill 2-3 jugs of water and pour them in to make the clothes heavier so it will use more water and only then do all our clothes actually get wet when “washed”.

The dryer shot sparks out that were visible from the next room when DH unplugged it when it stopped working. It burned a hole through a metal plate on the back of the dryer.

The depth limitation is a real problem. Sorting front-loaders by depth at appliancesconnection.com shows only the Speed Queen FF7010WN (depth: 27-3/4") less than 30" deep. But it's capacity is low, it's very expensive ($2200) and its predicted reliability is mediocre (unlike the brand's agitator washers). An additional 2" is needed behind that washer. The shallowest non-Speed Queen front-loader is the LG WM3400CW ($745; 30-1/4" deep) however the installation guide recommends 4" behind the washer. The compact Miele WXD160WCS ($1500) would fit within a 27" space but its capacity is small (half that of the LG).

Remember that owners' reviews are biased as they are more likely to have been written by people who are unsatisfied than satisfied.

MOST Miele owners are happy. If you buy from them before the end of the year you get a free five year warranty from them as a promo they are running. The extended warranty is normally $350. They haven’t offered this promo in many years.

My neighbors have Miele, and though it has a good reputation, when it does break, you have to hire a special Miele specialist. They have had to wait a couple to several weeks to get the Miele repair person there. I do so much laundry, I could never wait that long. I have an appliance repair person who comes within 1-2 days, and that's the deciding factor for my situation.

I have Samsung w/d and I love them. They are middle of the road and I have no expection they will last 20 years, but I also didn't pay top dollar for them. I have a top loader because I also have an exterior door that needs to be able to open and not bang into an opened front-loader door (narrow back hallway, like yours). I love the way my Samsung sings a little song when the load is done and it washes the clothes great. I think Samsung's bad reputation has to be related to their refrigerators, right? I take pride in my laundry and I have zero complaints about the way they wash and dry the clothes.

About the narrowness in your laundry area: it is my understanding that the dryer hose in the back can be recessed into the wall by someone who knows how to do that kind of work. It is on my mind that I could get 4-6" more for my narrow laundry room, and if I ever get the funds to have that done, I would do it. Maybe having that work done inside your wall would allow you to have a larger selection of machines.

Note: I like my Samsung set, but bought it mostly because of price. I have no illusions that it’ll last as long as my Maytags of 20+ years ago. I will say that it has gone off balance only once and it was a small load of towels and lighter things. I’m pleased with the capacity. I think wddcruise is addressing a real problem that the OP has. 👍🏻

we have Maytag top loader ,depth is 27” Had our upper cabinets installed 58” above floor but have room to spare with lid. We’ve had the set for probably 8 or 9 years with no issues.They are the “commercial technology” line. Not sure the exact capacity, I believe it’s 4.8

>>> "We wash king size bedding as well, so the smaller capacity ones might be a problem."

I have a SQ FF7 FL washer. Our bedding is queen-size. It washes our matelassé bedspread and our queen-size quilts just fine (but not together at the same time ;-) ). Our fluffy comforter/duvet won't fit, nor did it in our Miele W4842. IMO, our SQ FL can definitely handle king-size sheets or a bedspread or quilt just fine, but not a fluffy comforter/duvet.

You have the exact set up of my laundry room! Because of the door placement and the room being only 6 ft deep, the depth of machines was limited and I could find NONE that would fit and also handle king size bedding. I removed the upper cabinet so I could stack a set where your machine on the right is to be able to get the door open. I struggled with a Hotpoint (or Westinghouse, I forget) set for 15 or more years, but had to wash my comforters at the laundromat, which I hated doing. During the pandemic, they died and I had to buy what was available, so got an Electrolux set. Not great reviews, mostly because of mildew smells. It was much bigger than the old set and really crowds the walkway, but I can open and close the door ok. It worked well because the door on the washer was reversible vs some sets that didn't have that feature and would have been extremely awkward with the door hinged on the left. I have been pleasantly surprised by how much I like the Electrolux, even tho they are huge. I LOVE being able to wash my king size duvets and very large loads. I am diligent about running the 'clean machine' cycle to try to prevent mildew. So far, 3 years in, all is well.

I hope you are happy with your GE set.

Thanks and I hope yours continues to serve you well! It’s funny (not really) about the laundry room design we share— as if the room was a complete afterthought. I’m thinking that the architect had no children or pets when it was designed. I’m always thankful that at least there’s a window though. Sorry to hear that you had to mess with your cabinets to accommodate your washer and dryers but at least there’s no trips to the laundromat! 😉

Speaking of sharing, I shared your Neptunes until a month ago. Along with their mildew and dying sounds! I was similarly constrained but squeezed in some LG’s which are now 34” off the wall, looks like they wouldnt have worked for you. I see yours is also 4.5 which feels enourmous after 3.3. Life changing. Good luck!

Just wanted to take a moment to report back on the new GE top loader set. They work well—clothes are clean, capacity is great and the water level is very adequate. They are a bit of a throwback in how they look and don’t have any kind of top of the line facade going on, but we don’t mind. We’re glad for the door on our laundry room because they are a bit noisy. The main thing is that they fit and the lid clears the cabinets when you open it. You do have to grab it on the sides rather than the top, otherwise you’ll pinch your fingers. With our laundry room being only 68” wide we’re glad to find a pair that fits!

One last thing— we are SO glad we decided to buy new ones before the old pair died. When the old washer was moved there was an ugly brownish wet spot on the floor underneath it where water had been slowly leaking. Who knows what kind of trouble was waiting if we’d put it off! It was time!!

Just a thought - When we moved into our home, I had a similar situation to yours. I switched the door hinges to the other side and also changed the direction of door swing. Mine was an interior door though.