reinforcing a floor for washer/dryer

16 years ago

Hi--I would like to move our laundry room to a second floor linen closet--our house is Victorian/Colonial Revival, outside Boston, built 1910. I posted over on the Laundry forum and one person said he would not put a stackable frontloading w/d (what we'd have to get)on the 2nd floor of an old house...I am presuming he was concerned about vibration but never heard any more. Assuming we proceed, how should we reinforce the floor, if at all? What should we look for if we open up the floor? (This is not DIY but I want to be somewhat knowledgeable before we get a professional in here.) Do you think I should just worry about vibration, or could there be structural issues? It's the latter I am really worried about. Our house is pretty solid but I don't know what the vibrations of a stacked w/d could do.

Thank you so much!

Featured Answer

kimkitchy

16 years ago

Holly,
We have a 1913 bungalow and have been working on it for years. Whenever we have had structural questions, we've asked a structural engineer to come in and give us an opinion. For a few hundred dollars, it gave us either peace of mind or helped us avoid a future problem. I know someone on one of these forums put a stackable upstairs, but I can't remember where I read it now. We put a stackable in a custom cabinet in the kitchen (next to a bathroom door) because we had no other place we could possibly fit it. It looks like a pantry cabinet! Anyway, the dealer we bought the machines from (actually my DH's employer) puts stackables in closets all the time at a resort area. He advised us that we needed a really solid base built on the floor. The GC for our kitchen job built a box of some sort in the bottom of the space about 2 inches off the floor. When we put the machines in DH and I had a heck of a time getting them level (which is the biggest issue in limiting vibration). Finally we got them level, but there is still some washer vibration. Particularly when we run a small load. Large loads, not so much. There are two spin speeds on ours and we always leave it on the lower one. I was really worried about the remaining vibration right after install, it is not bad, but still. DH kind of put my fears to rest by reminding me of all the regular washers that have been in our house over it's 94 years that probably jigged and wiggled and walked around due to vibration! It's been set up for over a year and no plaster cracks or problems at all.

We don't have a drain and if you can't put one in, there is some electronic device called a flow or flood restricter that you can put on the washer hoses to shut the water off if it ever starts to flood.

We were able to vent it easily through an outside wall. You definitely want to think about how you'd vent it.

All that said, I love our set up. It is really space efficient, convenient and conserves water. If this is what you really think will work best for you, don't give up on the idea until you've thoroughly checked it all out.
-Kim

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Comments (6)

premier
16 years ago
That is a big job. You are going to be busting open your plaster walls. How are you planning on venting the dryer? Or running the new plumbing? You have to determine if the small floor area in this linen closet will be able to support the weight. FLs typically weigh over 200 lbs. You should also check out your town's zoning requirements. People typically have a drain in the bottom of the floor in case of leaks. You really need a contractor to look at your house. There can be so many variables. And you should be concerned about excessive vibrations with stacked W/d on a second floor. That is a very common problem.
hollylh
Original Author
16 years ago
Venting and plumbing are not a problem; the closet backs up to a newish master bath and is less than 10 ft. from an exterior wall. No one I know in our neighborhood with a 2nd-floor laundry has a drain, but you're right, I should check zoning just to be sure. I am mainly concerned about the floor and structural issues. How do I determine if the floor is strong enough to take it? Has anyone else done a similar project in an older house??

Premier, do you have a second-floor laundry and/or a stackable FL? Any issues?
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macavity, you're welcome! It's easy to find a tac shop in your area, just Google. I found one within less than 7 miles of my house. Most will carry the stall mats for cridders. Save the leftovers, as you never know when you might need a piece of good rubber! If it is possible for you, you can also wedge a piece or two of rubber between your washer and whatever it's next to near the top of the washer for even more vibration protection of off balanced loads. I was able to do that on the right side of my washer as it is near a cabinet. There's too much space between my w/d to do it on the left side of the washer. Even on the one side it helps for less vibration if my load isn't perfectly balanced. I got that idea from seeing some guy use those swimming noodles wedged between his w/d and wall. Here's the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y91onCb7nSc&NR=1 Also, don't know if your w/d will go side by side but if so I would have the entire area reinforced and lay one big piece underneath both units. My house is 30+ years and there's a raised platform with a drain for just the washer, so I could not do that without ripping the tile platform out to make it level. As for finishing off the bare plywood reinforcement, we just left the plywood without tiling/etc, and cut the mat to completely cover the area, and had quarter-round placed to finish the edges. The mat was cut so that it comes right up to the quarter-round, completely covering the plywood. We can see the mat and although it's by no means a design statement, ... the look doesn't bother us. I guess you could say it has that "industrial" look. :) Keep in mind that if you cut the rubber so it doesn't show at all to be hidden underneath the units, it might be difficult to place the washer and dryer (especially the heavy washer) perfectly on the mat so that the feet are not falling off the edge of the rubber. Those washers are heavy! Our installers had a difficult enough time getting the washer placed,...I don't see how they could have placed it on a piece of rubber that was cut even to the exact size of the washer, let alone a slightly smaller piece that wouldn't show. I hope I'm making sense here....:) Good luck to you!
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rosesr4me
16 years ago
I put a stackable w/d (front loader) in my first floor bathroom closet. The house foundation (1930's) is pier construction, so a crawl space exists under the house. The floor of the closet is the original pine floors directly over the wood subfloor planks. No reinforcements. It has been in for 10 years with no problems. And I have never had any problems with the vibration, especially since it spins at 1500 rpms. It is so convenient in the bathroom closet, I couldn't think of installing it somewhere else! Re: the drain....I have worried about this. I need to look into the float/flood sensor.
brickeyee
16 years ago
How much does the stack actually weigh?
While modern homes are designed to 30 pounds per square foot live load PLUS a 10 pound per square foot dead load, older houses can be hit or miss.
A structural engineer can check spans and joist height and see what the place was designed to.

A typical footprint s about 2.5 feet x 2.5 feet.
At 30 pounds/ft^2 you can support ~188 pounds of stuff.
If the load is near the end of the span an engineer can run the actual load numbers and see if the structure can support the weight.
In almost all cases it is not a problem.
hollylh
Original Author
16 years ago
Hi--thank you for these responses and info--I'm sorry I have been gone for a while--I wish I got the emails of followups (I checked the box!). We have now got an architect involved for some other work we are doing so I am assuming we can get a structural engineer thru her. We will definitelyt do this, it's just a question of when. AS soon as we had the idea it seemed the laundry basket got heavier every time we carried it up and down the stairs! Holly

reinforcing a floor for washer/dryer

kimkitchy

Comments (6)

premier

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reinforcing a floor for washer/dryer

kimkitchy

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