I need a reliable family laundry on 2nd floor--old house

16 years ago

Hi there. We want to move our laundry to the 2nd floor to free up space for a pantry on the ground floor. We have 3 kids and do 1000 loads a week, LOL. Seriously, prolly 10-12. We have Maytag TL w/d that are 8 years old and have been totally reliable; not sure of the model numbers but the washer is "heavy duty, super capacity." The upstairs location is a linen closet and so we would have to do stackable. I was planning on investigating Maytag since we have liked them; I don't want 100 cycles or fancy electronic controls.

Our house is 100 years old and I don't know what the floor is like in the closet...should we open it up to see and possibly reinforce? I would also use a pan and/or water alarm and/or whatever other precautions were available.

Also, the W/D would not be on an outside wall--can we vent straight up through 3rd floor to the roof (along with adjacent master bath plumbing vent)?

As you can see I am at the beginning of this process and I apologize for my ignorance. I am starting to read the posts here like crazy to educate myself but if this whole project is a bad idea I want to figure out sooner rather than later!!

thank you!!

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Comments (6)

plumbly22
16 years ago
I can comment on the venting... my laundry is on the second floor and originally vented into the third floor which was a walk up attic (unheated but well insulated) we had venting problems with the original builder installed venting which went straight up to the roof... the dryer service guy took one look at said, well that is what is wrong with your dryer... the venting can NOT go through unheated space for any distance.... we re-routed the venting so it went up and out a side dormer wall putting about 12 inches of ducting in the third floor joist area and then had absolutely no dryer problems again...

do not duct up through unheated space for much if any distance....
hollylh
Original Author
16 years ago
thanks, plumbly22--I could go up through a finished attic but could also go through the adjacent bath to an outside wall. It would be less than 10 ft. I think so maybe that is the better option.

I am still wondering about floor/support issues, and also what stackable FL brands people like for heavy-duty family use. Reading posts it seems like Kenmore is good and also LG but it also seems a few people have had big probs with Kenmore and odor/mold...yuck!! I will keep reading but would REALLY like advice about the floor issue, and also venting plumbing. Thanks!
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jerrod6
16 years ago
In a 100 year old house I would not be putting any type of front loader on the second floor. Maybe a top loader but not a front loader unless you had the entire floor support reworked.
plumbly22
16 years ago
hollylh...

I can't comment on brand as you want stacking and I have Bosch which does not stack (unless you go with the "smaller" European models.... but I can comment on second floor a bit... mine are one the second floor as I pointed out before, middle of the house, in a closet in a bathroom... they face each other with about 4 feet between their fronts.... basically they are surrounded by walls on all 3 sides...

My house is almost 18 years old, so it's typical northeast US 2x4 construction, circa 1990....

We have negligible vibration problems. Once in a while if I really stuff the load in the machine (too many clothes!) then I will get some vibration when the washer goes into its top spin mode... otherwise, you don't know they are running...

100 year old house, I'm not sure what the construction was like.... IF you're not sure, it would most likely be best to open up the floor and look at how it is done and then decide if you need to redo the area.... or possibly go with one of the smaller machine sets... part of the vibration issue has to do with the weight and the the size of the load getting flung around... smaller machines are not quite as heavy and can't hold as much wet clothes... therefore less momentum to cause vibration... My late FIL had a one piece unit, washer (FL) on bottom and dryer on top... I think Fridgedaire??? but I don't remember any more... but he had this on the first floor of a 100+ year old house with no problems... It certainly wasn't "mega" capacity...

otherwise, you may need to revisit "stacking"... stacking and pedestals both will add to the "sway" of the washer...
hollylh
Original Author
16 years ago
plumbly22--thank you for the info--I am hesitant to get machines with smaller capacities than I have now, since we wash so much...but obviously have to do more research about this. Jerrod6: what sort of support do I need? Yes this house is 100 yrs old but it's pretty solid...however I don't know anything about what's hidden under the floors. On another thread someone suggested a piece of 3/4 plywood cut to fit the floor to reduce vibration. Is your concern vibration? Or the whole floor falling in?! How would we shore it up?
housekeeping
16 years ago
Holly,

Can you weigh a typical load now? People are often surprised when they take the trouble do this; the "smaller" FLs will easily process 11 lbs of dry wash. If you need a slightly larger machine, there are ones that go as high as 13 lbs, and then finally, there are the super big ones that do a good deal more.

At first blush, the bigger the laod the better, but in practice because of sorting for colors and temps and cycles most pople don't actually assemble extremely bigs loads, even for the humongous machines.

Weigh your stuff by steppng on a scale with a full basket with typical load in it, then weigh yourself with an empty basket. That will help you zero in on how big a machine you need.

Molly~

I need a reliable family laundry on 2nd floor--old house

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I need a reliable family laundry on 2nd floor--old house

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