I would include it if feasible. I don't have one (well, I do but it's in the basement and I hardly ever use it) but I think if we had an accessible one, I would find a lot of uses for it. We're also in early stages of planning a kitchen and mudroom remodel, and I think we'll try to incorporate one in the mudroom.
As a buyer, not having one wouldn't be a deal breaker for me, though.
Apparently DS’ schoolyard is an absolute mudzone (that he can’t seem to avoid, despite repeat reminders), because I rinse his rain boots off in the utility sink often during spring/fall. Same with winter boots during the winter when there’s a melt between snowfalls. So.much.mud.
Where do you monsters wash paintbrushes and rollers when you paint?
Well, as most places in the world don't have separate laundry rooms, we tend to wash paintbrushes in our kitchens or we put a bucket outside and use that.
I saw Fryjack's poll before this thread, but I don't have a utility sink and I've spend the last 21 years in this house wishing I had one, and if/when we remodel the downstairs I will be putting one in, even if it's in the bathroom down there instead of a regular bathroom sink.
I have a kid who barfs a lot (every time he's sick he barfs due to his overactive gag reflex and inability to blow his nose). I use the utility sink to rinse his bedding before I put it in the washer at least a 6x/a year. For that the utility sink is priceless. H put the barf bedding directly in the wash last week. I was cleaning gross food bits out of the washer and dryer for a week!
One of the 3 main reasons we bought our house was the mud room/laundry room. We do not have a utility sink in there but we do have one in the basement if needed. I say skip it.
How does everyone wash shoes without a utility sink? I mean I don't have one so I do know how to, but it's a pain in the butt I hate it and dream of having a utility sink lol.
What are you walking in that washing shoes is a frequent enough occurrence to justify a utility sink? I'm not sure I've ever washed a shoe. Anything gross in the sole I scrape off outside with a stick.
well it's my kids shows moreso then mine lol but just the dry dirt that gets kicked up from the playground and has to get scrubbed out. I've tried just doing the wash but it doesn't scrub enough they need to get hand scrubbed.
I don't even do them that often! Maybe every month or two but they look so trashed when dirty.
I have a kid who barfs a lot (every time he's sick he barfs due to his overactive gag reflex and inability to blow his nose). I use the utility sink to rinse his bedding before I put it in the washer at least a 6x/a year. For that the utility sink is priceless. H put the barf bedding directly in the wash last week. I was cleaning gross food bits out of the washer and dryer for a week!
So sorry if this is gross….but do the chunks just go down the sink? Do you have to like….fish them out? Our utility sink has very small drain holes so it can really only handle liquids. Chunks would need to be scooped out, and I’m not doing that.
Post by mrsslocombe on Apr 7, 2024 16:38:34 GMT -5
Maybe I’m just naive and living in an NYC apartment for the rest of my life but I cannot fathom installing a sink merely for resale purposes when I do not want said sink. Do people really not buy a house because there’s no sink in the laundry room? I don’t even have a washer/dryer.
I did grow up with a utility sink, in the garage. My father used it all the time. But if we didn’t have one…he just would have used a bucket.
I’m try8ng to think what we do in the laundry room sink, because I don’t typically soak laundry. But, I throw kitchen rags there to dry before they go in a sorting pile, so they don’t funk. I drain the detergent tray for our washer there. Small paint brushes (we paint a lot, just today in fact, I was touching up some stuff). But mostly, it’s holding damp stuff to give it a place to dry without turning into funk.
The garage sink is more of a slop sink. Painting, gardening, tools, etc.
I would die to have a utility sink for general kid clean-up and soaking. Our laundry room is on the second floor, and has plenty of space for one, along with other storage, so I’m always frustrated that the building didn’t include the plumbing so we could add one.
If you’re building a new addition, with new plumbing, I’d have the connection for a sink added, even if you don’t plan to use one. The plumbing is the expensive part to add, but probably won’t be much more given the scope of the new work.
I'm now wondering on if the usefulness of a utility sink is directly tied to having children. I almost never soak laundry. I painted my whole house when I moved in, but very little painting since. The biggest appeal of a utility sink for me would be for bathing the dogs if they'd fit in it (they're too big for the kitchen sink, but not by much). I don't bathe them often enough to want/need a dedicated dog wash station. It sounds like kid grossness makes a utility sink more useful/appealing.
How does everyone wash shoes without a utility sink? I mean I don't have one so I do know how to, but it's a pain in the butt I hate it and dream of having a utility sink lol.
I don’t regularly wash my shoes. Is that a normal adult chore? My shoes for work/procedures get a wipe down if they have blood on them. My other casual shoes (loafers, leather sandals, etc) get a wipe down if they have visible mud. My running shoes get surety and I never clean them.
My partner has sneakers and he just spot cleans them as needed.
I didn’t know shoes got washed in a tub regularly! (Some shoes like Rothy’s can be washed in the washing machine)
Once again, my life is nothing like many ML posters who wash paintbrushes and shoes enough to need a utility sink.
Agreed. Also, if I had to do those activities I would just use another sink or the tub. I mean I guess if I had a utility sink and I did those activities I would use it, but I don’t understand the omg, where do you wash shoes, brushes, etc? It’s not like the rest of us are living without any sinks or running water lol.
I’d love a utility sink. We don’t have room for one, but it would get plenty of use with 4 young kids and pets (ok our pets have all sadly died, but it would have gotten tons of use).
Post by arehopsveggies on Apr 7, 2024 18:36:34 GMT -5
I’ve never had a utility room sink before but we just added one with our remodel. I often rinse things in my bathroom sink so it will be nice to have a better place. I can also imagine sticking kid feet in there after they play in the mud this summer!
I can't think of anything I have ever soaked. Is that a kid thing or am I doing laundry wrong all these years?
I wash paint brushes in the bathroom sink. This comes up maybe once or twice a year, a little more frequently when we first moved in and I painted a lot in a short time.
Just to add, on the same floor as my laundry room, i have three bathroom sinks and two bathtubs. If i’m soaking a pair of pre-teen period-stained jeans, they aren’t fitting in the sink, nor do i want to tie up a sink for that. And also, I’m old. I don’t wanna kneel down to use a bath tub. I’m not walking downstairs to the kitchen sink (I wouldn’t wanna tie that sink up, either). I want a work-height sink. I wanna leave damp things in it. I don’t want to drag drippy things across the house.
Also, my need for a utility sink only pops up maybe once a month if even. But usually I’m doing something that reminds me how useful it would be to not have to adapt otherwise.
Seriously, I’ve asked H numerous times how much it would cost to add plumbing for a sink in our laundry room. He never has an accurate answer, but I’m sure it would be in the thousands-of-dollars range.
Just to add, on the same floor as my laundry room, i have three bathroom sinks and two bathtubs. If i’m soaking a pair of pre-teen period-stained jeans, they aren’t fitting in the sink,
I’ve soaked lots of things for my stepdaughter including jeans, but I never soak the entire thing. Just the crotch or area that is stained. I do that in my bathroom sink.
I have double sinks in 2 bathrooms and a kitchen sink. I don’t have nor ever missed having a utility sink.
I would use a utility sink if our house had one, but I wouldn't spend the money to plumb or take away from the precious little storage space we have to add one.
I paint fairly often since we're still fixing up our house. I rinse paintbrushes in the bathroom sink, set the brushes on a rag to dry (on the back porch of the weather is good), then give the sink a quick clean.
I treat laundry stains in our bathroom since our hampers are in there and it's adjacent to our laundry closet. I have never soaked anything. Just wet, treat, scrub, leave to dry until I do laundry. I am very good at getting stains out.
I do scrubbed dirty shoes regularly in mud season, but that is easy to do in the sink or bathtub.
I have been a dog owner for a week and after one bath I can see the purpose in a dog washing station, but I will never ever get one in my house so bath tub or paid dog wash it is.
Maybe I’m just naive and living in an NYC apartment for the rest of my life but I cannot fathom installing a sink merely for resale purposes when I do not want said sink. Do people really not buy a house because there’s no sink in the laundry room? I don’t even have a washer/dryer.
I did grow up with a utility sink, in the garage. My father used it all the time. But if we didn’t have one…he just would have used a bucket.
Re: Not buying a house because it doesn’t have a sink…I think it’s the proverbial “It’s regional.” and it also depends on the price range of your house. In an area with a lot of really old homes where utility sinks are very uncommon, it’s definitely not going to hurt to not have one. But it might help if you did! In an area with a lot of newer homes that are quite similar, it might be a factor for some people. I think it’s kind of similar to things like “Is having a 2+ car garage necessary?” Definitely not a need or feasible to even be a want in some areas…but our last house was a nightmare to sell because it “only” had a 2 car garage. In our area, I’d never build a large home without a utility sink because people would notice and comment. (However, this is my first house with one, so it wasn’t on my Must Have list when shopping.) It wouldn’t be THE deciding factor for most people, but would be in the “con” category for most.
I also think we do more things that result in people getting much dirtier than if we lived in a city. We have a creek in our backyard that the kids are always messing around in (and “creek stomping” is a favorite activity of many who like to be outdoors), and do a lot of planting and yardwork. Soccer fields are always a VERY muddy mess in the spring, a lot of the trails that we like to walk on are dusty and gross crushed limestone or other material. We wash our vehicles in the driveway (and rags are hung over the sink to dry). I feel like something is always disgustingly dirty around here! Our utility sink is right inside the door from the garage, and is always in use for something.
I have a kid who barfs a lot (every time he's sick he barfs due to his overactive gag reflex and inability to blow his nose). I use the utility sink to rinse his bedding before I put it in the washer at least a 6x/a year. For that the utility sink is priceless. H put the barf bedding directly in the wash last week. I was cleaning gross food bits out of the washer and dryer for a week!
So sorry if this is gross….but do the chunks just go down the sink? Do you have to like….fish them out? Our utility sink has very small drain holes so it can really only handle liquids. Chunks would need to be scooped out, and I’m not doing that.
Not OP, but in a similar situation. We have a drain trap on the utility sink drain to keep the chunks from going down the drain. Yes, they must be scooped out, but it sure beats cleaning them out of the washing machine. Barf laundry also doesn’t get clean without pre-rinsing.
We use our utility sink constantly. We’re in WI and rinsing items outside is not an option for a good portion of the year.