Raam - Stupid question... how do you block an I-Joist? Blocking solid lumber is pretty straightforward.. but an I Joist? Do you block just the top flange? The webs? Brickeye - Hey! Don't know if you remember, but I used to post here as "Saltbox-NH" a few years back.. I owner built a reproduction Saltbox colonial. Sold that, now I'm building again. The washer and dryer will be sitting on a pan connected to a dedicated drain. It's a high efficiency washer so the total water it would ever have at one point is like 13 gallons... I think it also has some sort of overflow sensor but I'm not sure.. I'll have to RTFM. There will also be easy access shutoffs for hot and cold water supply in the laundry room itself and we are doing Pex/manifold so there's an additional shutoff in the basement. Worthy- No rubber membrane, curb or tiles... seems a bit overkill vs. what a pan w/drain can provide in the rare occurance of an issue.

I have a bosch 800 vision washer. There was a small puddle of water (3" diameter) on the floor under the front right corner of the machine. The aquastop switch was triggered (cycle stopped and machine drained all water out of the washer). Took the front cover off the machine and discovered that the water drain cap cover was an 1/8 turn loose. Makes sense that the machine only leaked at high RPMs and heavy loads if the drain cap was slightly loose to let water pass. Ill post a pic of the aquastop switch if I can figure out how. Pretty cool safety device - It probably stopped a small puddle from turning into insurance claim since the machine is upstairs!

We are trying to think like the installer. We realized that our machines will have to be connected, leveled, and then pushed into a very tight space. So, we decided to: 1) max on insulation in floor and adjacent walls to try reduce vibration noise. 2) plumb the back and side walls according to where the machine outlets are (water, electricity, dryer vent). (Got a diagram of the back of the machines from the owner's manual) 3) install a Watts IntelliFlow (about $200) for leak detection 4) stub out the waste pipe already there for a pan because a delivery guy we consulted told us that they may not be willing to lift heavy machines over a lip, so we abandoned a built in, tiled pan. We would have liked to have a real floor drain but code requirements made this another $2000 worth of plumbing. 5) bought braided, steel hoses for extra measure. Here is a link that might be useful: Watts Intelliflow

In our first house we had one level, and W/D near the garage entry. Next and current house is 2-story with laundry room on 2nd floor, and I love it. But, it just depends on how you live and how you actually "do" your laundry. For us, by that time, our girls were school-aged. So I was not tending a baby and folding lots of little baby things. The upstairs is just great since the laundry is in the middle of the hall, with baths and BR's on either end, so all linens and clothes just go there. You can dash and get something from the dryer to put on, or a warm towel. I don't think it's as simple as "where you spend your time" with the exception of watching small children, but maybe more about how you attack the clean clothes, and whether you have bedrooms on 2 floors or all upstairs. Or maybe as pointed out, if you do 10 loads of laundry in one day, you then are having a real laundry project, like a cooking project, and tending it most of the day. So those habits and preferences will affect what works best. I spread my laundry loads throughout the week, and so tending 1 or 2 loads in a given evening overlaps with other trips up or down stairs to do other things. With the upstairs laundry, I bring a hamper to my room and fold clothes and towels and put them directly in the closets/drawers. I may use the bed to make piles of folded stuff. I listen to radio or talk with my husband or just, you know, think deep thoughts. (Girls (esp in past years) take hampers to room and who knows what they do then? Not my problem). There is room in the laundry to fold there, so I might do some towels there, but otherwise I don't, since I would then have to just stack stuff in hamper and bring back and dig out again. So, I prefer my current system to an off-the kitchen system in which I'd haul stuff upstairs or fold stuff on the sofa. I don't have a mudroom and wish I did. I think that definitely influences laundry gameplans, since then you have other advantages of the mudroom and how your organize the flow of clothes and stuff. If one or more family members have to deal with dirty work clothes/uniforms, or maybe just active kids and sports stuff, that can be an advantage if you are organizing the clothes and shoes off upon entry. I guess you have to put on a robe or something to come trouping through the living room after stripping? But for those who have less frequent "toxic" clothes, you could just have a drop-off hamper at the entry point. I think it's less universal than kitchen design, which while still very personal, has the somewhat universal issues of work triangles and door-openings and things for the basic layout, and then moves on to more preference-based issues for how and where you eat, do homework, watch TV.