Laundry Room Location

[lolanjoe]

So after venturing forth to the soon-to-be home over the holidays, DH and I got into a discussion about the laundry room. Right now, the laundry room is visible from the kitchen and living room, since it's really just a bedroom that had the closet and main doors removed and hookups for the washer and dryer added in the closet space, which is directly in front of the door on the right. An ugly sink was also installed and is the first thing visible when glancing into the room. I'm told the sink is only there to drain the water from the washing machine, but removing the sink would mean removing the washer/dryer hookups. There are the usual washer/dryer hookups in the basement.

DH wants to remove the hookups from the bedroom (it is not the master bedroom, and it is a 3 bedroom house) because the sink is an eyesore, and wants to use the rest of the room as a study to be later used as a nursery if we ever get around to that.

I think it's very convenient to have the laundry room there, we can hide the sink somehow, and we can always have the hookups capped off later. 

I didn't take any pics of the room because it was a sty at the time. The sink looks like this:



Layout is something like:Attachment Deleted

[pitterwoo]

I've seen worse utility sinks, so that doesn't seem all that bad. I don't know specifics, but I would think that some plumbing work could be done to hook the washer up to drain directly into the plumbing.

To be able to use the room as a study, you could have a closet built around them like this or even have the washer and dryer stacked.

[SusanBAnthony]

Our laundry room in our old house had a sink for washer drainage. It was in the basement so wee didn't have to use it much. I definitely wouldn't get rid of it. We don't have a utility sink in this house and it kills me! But we priced it out and it would be about 400$ to install. Just doesn't seem worth it.

Whether I would move the w/d to the basement permanently would depend on how many kids you plan to need bedrooms for. If the long term plan is one or zero kids, I would leave the washer and dryer the, and maybe enclose them in a closet if they bug you. If the long term plan is to have two or more kids, I would move the washer and dryer now, and not waste money on interim fixes. I do love having main level laundry, but not at the expense of having enough bedrooms.

[wawa]

Ditto pp's that a sink for a drain is not required. Ours goes into the wall.

Looks like this:


But that said...ditto SusanB. If you plan to have 0-1 children leave it, and make it look better if it bothers you (like put the door back on?). If you think you might want 2+ spawn, just put them in the basement and be done with it now.

[auntie]

Is draining a washer into a sink even up to code where you live?

If you plan to be OAD and make this your forever house, than having the utility sink and laundry room can make sense. I would sell my only child for a proper laundry room the space to fold, iron and a sink. It would make sense if you needed a craft/sewing room. Otherwise, you really want a 3 BR house for financial reasons.

That said, moving a washer and dryer to the basement isn't ideal. It's a major PITA to schlep stuff up and down several flights of stairs. And it's a hassle to have to listen for the end of a cycle to switch clothes or fold them before they wrinkle.

Your HVAC system matters, too. If you have forced air heat, a heat pump or central A/C you do not want your dryer in the same space. Even if you properly vent it and keep the traps clean, you will spew lint all through your ductwork and house. My parents built the house I have now and elected to put the laundry in the basement. I curse her choice pretty much daily. It's inconvenient and makes work for me in the form of having to dust constantly.

[Susie]

Jan 6, 2014 7:35:47 GMT -5 SusanBAnthony said:

Our laundry room in our old house had a sink for washer drainage. It was in the basement so wee didn't have to use it much. I definitely wouldn't get rid of it. We don't have a utility sink in this house and it kills me! But we priced it out and it would be about 400$ to install. Just doesn't seem worth it.

Whether I would move the w/d to the basement permanently would depend on how many kids you plan to need bedrooms for. If the long term plan is one or zero kids, I would leave the washer and dryer the, and maybe enclose them in a closet if they bug you. If the long term plan is to have two or more kids, I would move the washer and dryer now, and not waste money on interim fixes. I do love having main level laundry, but not at the expense of having enough bedrooms.

totally agree.  To me, giving up a bedroom sounds like a high cost to have main floor laundry, especially since it sounds like it's a 2 story house so you would not be avoiding stairs with the laundry, just reducing stairs.  We have basement laundry, and while not what I'd pick in an ideal world, it's totally fine.  I also find our utility sink pretty useful.

[lolanjoe]

It's a ranch style home, it just had a bedroom converted when grandma couldn't do the stairs anymore. I honestly don't know if having it drain into the utility sink is up to code anymore, though the work was likely done sometime in the last 20 years (grandma did her own laundry until she was 90, and had the hookups installed when she no longer wanted to do the steps). The ventilation is a bit of a mystery also, none of the ventilation in the house is modern (no vents in the bathroom, kitchen vent is literally a hole with a fan in the ceiling).

Even if we just wanted the one kiddo, the bedroom is the one closest to the master bedroom, which is where I think I'd want a nursery to be. I don't have any need for a craft room.

Ugh, I think we're going to end up moving it downstairs. It's right off the living room in our current home, which is convenient, but I don't think I'd want to move it in a couple years.