I bought the largest capacity front end loaders I could find (LG Tromm) 4 years ago. Mine are stacked. From my research, I learned that most of these machines (even when not stacked) were designed to be used on slab on grade floors. Using them on a second story was often a cause for not just vibration, but actual movement. It can also cause the machine to not operate properly over time in some cases. The reason is that the newer high capacity machines have an RPM that is significantly higher that the top loaders.

Just my 2 cents! HTH!

Amy

This is the 2nd laundry question today, but the first one was asking whether to put it in the basement or in the MBR. I assumed with that post that the MBR was on the first floor (may have been stated directly, I don't remember). Whether it's running down to the basement or up to the 2nd floor, I'd much rather have the laundry room close to where I spend the majority of my awake time, which is in the kitchen or the room where we homeschool. If you don't spend a lot of time upstairs, I would not put it up there. The chute makes it convenient to get laundry down; children make it convenient to get it up. My kids have been folding their own laundry for several years now (they just turned 11) and always put their own clothes away; I often have them also take my pile of folded clothes and/or the baby's pile and put them in the respective rooms. You could make that one of your kids' regular chores.

It would also depend on the kind of W/D you have. Unless you have a very new front loader designed with this in mind, you can't put it on the 2nd floor; the vibration during the spin cycle is too great. It must go on the ground floor.

We did have our laundry room on the main floor and we just moved it upstairs. I'm so much happier having it up there and not having to haul clothes up and down the stairs. A laundry chute might ease it a little, but I'd rather walk up and down empty handed to do a load than have to haul baskets. I got a Samsung front loader to ease the vibration issue, but I also bought the Good Vibrations pads to put under my older front loader. So far, so good.

Generally speaking, it's easiest if the W/D is where the clothes are. You want to reduce the overall travel load.

In your plan and scenario, the laundry chute easily delivers the clothes to the ground floor, saving trips downstairs. You've also made a sound case for laundry processing to take place downstairs, and your layout has more space for the laundry room downstairs, so I don't think you are making a mistake for your house and family.

Our current house has the master suite downstairs and away from the rest of the house, and the rest of the bedrooms upstairs. One luxury for us was to have a W/D in both places, in an upstairs laundry room and off our master. We have the same high RPM front loader in both places, and as long as the floor is properly reinforced and the machine level, there shouldn't be annoying sound. Another difference for us is when we moved into this house 3 years ago, our then 13 YO DS started doing all his own laundry, so none of us run up and down the stairs for laundry.

I would find out the cost for a laundry chute before deciding. I believe folks on the building a home forum have talked about this before as being an astronomical cost these days due to code and having to make it fire proof.

We put our laundry room on the 2nd floor because that is where the most laundry is taken off - so easier to drop off the dirties into the bins. We also have Fisher Paykel top loading washer and dryer which are energy and water efficient models, clean beautifully and also have a very high spin. When set to the high spin (something nuts like 1000 rpms!) you can hear it when in the mudroom (room directly below), but otherwise it's not a problem. My kids have never been bothered by me doing laundry at night. I actually turn off all the beeps - they drive me nuts. I end up having to go upstairs a lot for one reason or another, so going up and down is a non-issue. I usually put a load in first thing in the morning before making my way downstairs. For the rags and kitchen towels that are created I keep a bucket in the pantry and throw them in there. every couple of days I bring the bucket upstairs with me to throw in a load.

I really hate the concept of carrying laundry through a kitchen. In your case, I'd stick it in the mudroom.

For me, it would be on the second floor. Since we both work from home, that's were we are.

I love having our laundry room upstairs. Easy to start in the morning and move along throughout the day when we go up for other things, and doing evening loads is easy, too. We shut the solid-core pocket door and the noise doesn't disturb anyone. (We made sure the washer and dryer back to a short hallway, not someone's bedroom wall.) We may have also insulated the room for extra sound-proofing, but I really can't remember.

I hate having laundry sitting around the main living areas, getting folded or waiting to be hauled to bedrooms. I don't miss that at all.

Hmm, is it safe to say that those who stay at home during the day prefer upstairs and those that are gone all day prefer downstairs?

I don't think home during the day or not would change it for me...Still easy to get laundry going in the morning before heading downstairs, and easy to do some in the evening, too. Still want the clothes near the bedrooms. Still want clothes folded and dealt with upstairs instead of the living/family room. Just my opinion and my preferred way of doing things. Age of kids may make a difference. If there are only little ones, I could see an advantage to being able to tend to laundry in the main area where they can be watched at the same time. I remember folding laundry while doing that, and it's hard to get to another floor in that situation.

Blue has a strong preference for laundry downstairs. When there's a leak on the first floor, it's messy, but when there's a leak on the second floor, it's catastrophic. Insurers know this and some raise premiums for laundry rooms on 2d floor. Blue is finishing a floor tear out & reinstallation caused by a fridge ice line leak on the 1st floor, so Blue is very sensitive to leaks at the moment....

I have my laundry on the second floor. My builder tried to convince me that downstairs was so much better "since you're down here more" but I'm really not. The office and all bedrooms are upstairs, I'm home during the day, my kids are teens who do their own laundry, and the noise doesn't bother any of us at night. I have my machines on a reinforced, tiled floor, with a drain pan under the washer leading to the basement. I used to have machines downstairs and didn't like it.

My mother had a small addition put on to her master bath to closet her W/D. Her living space is all on one main upper level, and she didn't want to go to the finished lower level to do laundry. So it boils down to whatever is most convenient for your lifestyle.

Our master BR and kitchen are on first floor and the two kids rooms are on the second floor. When we moved in, the laundry room was upstairs. I decided to live with it like that for a while before making a decision. In the end, I moved the laundry room downstairs off the kitchen, and I love it. With that being said, our kids are still young and most of the bathing goes on downstairs in our bathroom. Once they are older and bathing in their own bathrooms, I might regret my decision. But for right now, this works for us. I agree with everyone else, I would put it where you spend most of your awake time.

Good luck!

We put a laundry room on our 2nd floor during a bath renovation 2 years ago. We have a 3-story house, with master br on the top floor, and kids' rooms and playroom on the 2nd floor. I love having the laundry room on the 2nd floor. So easy to keep a hamper in the laundry room and just do a load whenever there's enough. We bought Samsung machines that are supposed to have vibration control, but they still vibrate somewhat. I suspect our floor needs to be reinforced. Still, I barely notice the vibration (it's only for a few minutes during an hour-long cycle). It feels like a large bus driving by outside. Well worth the convenience of not hauling laundry up and down the stairs.

We have our laundry on the first floor of a two story house. I love it and wouldn't want it on the second floor because we spend all of our time downstairs. We do all of our laundry during the evenings and for us there's no time to wash, dry, and a fold a load in the morning before going to work. I do bedding on the weekend and for bedding having laundry upstairs would be better but overall I prefer having it downstairs. Our kids are both toddlers. We also have a laundry chute, if we didn't I would rather have the laundry room upstairs. I also enjoy folding the laundry on the couch while watching TV with my husband or the kids vs being holed up alone in the laundry room. We do a lot of laundry. Hope this helps, though I think the only consensus you'll find is to not put it in the basement!

We moved our laundry out of the kitchen 5 months ago, to our second story main bathroom. Was the best decision ever! We have Samsung 448's stacked - anti-vibration so no problem there.

We are not allowed to have a laundry chute due to fire codes in this country.

We fold while watching TV upstairs. I really disliked carrying loads up and down the stairs - and having laundry baskets near the kitchen. Upstairs is so much more convenient.

We just moved into a new home with laundry upstairs. Before that we'd been in homes for 10 years with main level laundry. I thought main level was the best for me since I had bad knees. I tend to limit going up and down, but I'm finding that having an upstairs laundry isn't so bad. I just put in a load and next time I'm upstairs, I'll stick it in the dryer. I don't go up and down that often, but enough to finish laundry during the day.

I agree that basement laundry would be out of the question.

It's worked out better than I expected and I certainly don't miss lugging the dirty clothes down the stairs and the clean clothes up the stairs.

couple of comments.

1. I prefer the laundry to be near the place where the dirty linen is being generated.
2. Does that bath next to the front door have a shower in it? If so, why? You could save some space and put a pantry here.
3. you have 3 bedrooms and one bath upstairs. You might consider adding a 1/2 bath or 3/4 (toilet/shower) in the hall.
4. put a pocket door in the current laundry rather than a swinging door.

I like laundry near the kitchen so I can multitask. I'm almost never upstairs except to sleep. I did see on Holmes on Homes he said he hates upstairs laundry rooms, I think b/c of the vibration issue.

Wow thanks for all the replies, keep them coming! I didn't think everyone would be so divided :) We checked with our municipal inspector and laundry chutes are allowed. To those of you that had laundry room downstairs but no laundry chute, do you think you would still have preferred it upstairs if you had a laundry chute? I can see how bringing the laundry down and then back up would be a pain but this is what I picture in my head if we were doing two loads of laundry one evening after work:

1. Go up put load 1 in washer
2. Go back down
3. Go back up to put load 1 in dryer, load 2 in washer
4. Down again
5. Up again, fold load 2, put load 1 in dryer
6. Down again
7. Up again, fold load 2
8. Down again

Whereas with the chute and laundry downstairs, we would just have to bring the laundry up once, when we go to bed. With our setup having the laundry chute empty into a wall cabinet there would be no clutter or piles of laundry anywhere and we would have our sorting baskets underneath the cabinet so when take it out its easy to divy up. We definitely wouldn't be doing laundry before work :)

Weedmeister:

2. The bathroom near the front door has a shower, if either of our parents or aunts and uncles develop mobility issues we will convert the unspecified/office room into a guest bedroom so they can stay with us without ever needing to navigate the staircase.

3. Upstairs there are four bedroom not three and two baths not one :) The master bath would have a garden tub and full size shower, the kids/guest bathroom would have a regular tub/shower combo.

4. Why pocket door vs swinging?

A pocket door gets the door out of the way. It's not so important in the OP's plan, since that door can stay open back against the wall. However, there still be more space in the walkway without it or having to move out of the way for a door swing. We have a pocket door to our walk-in pantry and love it.

All the houses I've lived in havehad basement laundry rooms. If I didn't have to schlep my laundry up and down all those stairs (I live in a 4-level split), I wouldn't get any exercise at all!

The leak thing is a significant factor in this house. There is nothing wrong with my 19yo Maytag pair, but the trees in my backyard regularly work their roots into my drain lines and slow down the outflow. Having some water overflow wash over my cement floors into the nearby floor drain is hardly a disaster, as it usually takes me awhile to get around to calling out the RotoRooter guy.

Also, I don't worry about concealing the mess of several piles of wash "organized" on my LR floor.

I would prefer a laundry room on the mainfloor for the convenience as that is where I spend my day and when the boys come in from football practice I like to dump everything when they walk in rather than carry it through the house. Also I would be concerned if there was a leak, would there be less damage downstairs. Laundry would be carried down once and brought back folded once, the other way would have to keep going upstairs to change out multiple loads.

Thanks, I'll definitely keep the pocket door in mind, I guess I've always wanted a swinging Cosby Show style door but never had the opporunity before :) But you're right, a pocket door might make more sense

Hmm. Where I used to live the laundry was upstairs and it sure was convenient, till the hoses burst one day and the downstairs ceiling fell down.

There would still be considerable risk of damage on a main floor though. But with a water line shut off valve so you only turn the water on when using the washing machine, a catch pan with a built in drain, stainless steel reinforced no-burst hoses, etc.. does all of this still not eliminate the risk of flooding? Here's what I'm talking about:

http://www.rd.com/19624/article19624.html

I thought I was the only one who loved having the laundry in the basement until I finally got to cooksnsews' comment. I have had my laundry in all three places - first floor, second floor, and now the basement. I LOVE it in the basement. I thought I would have loved it on the first floor when I designed my first house but I do a ton of laundry almost everyday and it drove me crazy that I would have sorted piles waiting to be washed or folded clean clothes waiting to be put away. My laundry was in the 1/2 bath so that probably wouldn't be an issue for you since you have a designated laundry room. When I designed my second house I put a large laundry room on the second floor near the bedrooms but between a guest bath and closet so noise was never an issue. The washer was in a pan with a drain to the main waste pipe so I never worried about flooding. I loved my laundry room but not the fact that it was on the second floor. I am now living in an old 1930s house with the laundry in the basement and love it. The mess is out of sight and I have a huge utility sink next to the washer that I use constantly. I found it a pain to run upstairs to switch out laundry all the time. For some reason it felt like so much more of an effort to go upstairs than it is to run downstairs.

One suggestion I would make wherever you decide to put it is to have a utility sink in the laundry room even if it is off the kitchen. When I had the laundry room in the 1/2 bath I always had some hand washable soaking in the sink (not attractive to guests) so I put the sink in my second floor laundry and it was the best decision I made. We used that sink for everything from bathing puppies to washing sporting equipment.

I think if you are deciding between a first or second floor the first floor laundry is the way to go based on all the points you mentioned.

We have a chute to the basement laundry. Don't think I would change it even if I could. Reasons--the stink from dirty clothes (esp. if you have teenagers who play hockey &/or have stinky feet) stays in the basement. I can sort into piles on the floor & not care about how it looks. Floods aren't a disaster--whether it's a clogged sewer line, water hose connections, broken water hose or a leaky washing machine pump. Things that don't go in the dryer can be hung over in the workshop area to dry--very convenient. And I hang a lot of stuff to save on energy costs--like jeans, rugs, sheets, etc. In the summer, I line dry outdoors so I look at the trip outdoors as getting the clothes half way upstairs!

qwibbled, you've gotten tons of great responses but I thought I would add mine anyway. : )

I have had the laundry room on both the main floor as well as the 'bedroom' floor in past houses. For this remodel, I relocated an expanded laundry/mudroom on the main floor, near the main family entrance to the house.

Like someone else mentioned, it's perfect for dropping muddy/sweaty/wet clothes upon entrance to the house (we live in the country). I can't imagine if we had to carry that stuff through the house to get it to an upstairs laundry room!

Also, I fire through 6-8 loads of laundry in a single day on 'wash day' at our house. My kids (12 and 14) haul theirs down from their rooms, as do my dh and I. It all can get sorted, washed/dried and folded in quick succession because I spend my days on the mainfloor of the house, not upstairs. The baskets are ready to be carried back up at the end of the day, which is no big deal for us.

In our other home, with the upstairs laundry, I would neglect to go upstairs to check on the washer and dryer because I was busy with other projects downstairs. And to get the same amount of laundry done as I do now, I would have had to make 8+ trips up and down the stairs. Now it just takes two.

For our family, the main floor laundry really works.

Please put the laundry on the second floor .I had the laundry on the first floor next to my kitchen of course because that is where it is suppose to go Per house designer. I had it redone 5 years later and moved it upstairs. Best thing we did. Love it!!!!!!The laundry is actually off my master closet. We built out into the space above the garage. No more carrying baskets, nobody sees the mess,clothes come out the dryer, go on a hanger and away they go!!!!Old laundry is now a mud room.

To wash, dry and fold one load of laundry you need to go up and down the stairs six times. Eight times for two loads. With a chute the laundry is already downstairs so 1 or 2 loads you only have to bring it back up, one trip. I just don't see how the math adds up unless you tend to spend large amounts of time on the second floor?

I think you've got it right, qwibbled. First floor makes so much sense for your family. I agree with one suggestion that it should be off the family entry area of the house so that you can dump dirty clothes/sporting equip there with out carrying it through the kitchen (if possible). Definitely put in the utility sink whatever location you decide... it's priceless!

I think I do too, unless we spent a lot of time upstairs it just doesn't make any sense to have it upstairs. We'd be forever going up and down the stairs since we'll likely spend all our time downstairs. Throw in the vibration factor and the added risk of flood damage and it just seems like a no brainer for us to keep it on the main floor. Unfortunately with our layout there's really no other place to put it besides off the kitchen but we could always keep a hamper or something in the garage 'mudroom', the utility sink would also be in the garage. There's always the kitchen sink?

A 2nd floor laundry would be so convenient, but a leak would be a very destructive and expensive. Those crappy leak pans they sell for washers are pretty worthless. They can usually only handle a small slow leak, not a massive leak such as a hose breaking. The only way I'd put a laundry upstairs is to make the laundry room floor similar to a shower floor. Kerdi underlayment for waterproofing, tile floor, a floor drain and a low curb (1" is probably plenty) in the doorway to keep a leak in the laundry room.

Thanks everyone

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.

For our family it works having it on the 2nd floor. Our kids are 9 and 12 and they do all the laundry and fold all their clothes. In our bedroom we have 3 giant colored bags and my DH and I sort as we throw. On laundry day the kids get their dirty clothes, sort them into the appropriate bag and take them to the W/D. One bag might be 2 or 3 loads. Much easier for them if it's all on the same floor. My daughter would have a hard time with the stairs and a basket. They've been doing this for 1 or 2 years now. Stackables wouldn't work for them either since my daughter couldn't reach all the controls. When the buzzer goes off they go back to rotate (or I have to tell them to rotate - they seem to block out that buzzer). All the dry clothes get thrown on our king bed and the 4 of us fold later in the day or evening. Laundry is much easier and quicker since the kids got older. If I have anything delicate I keep it separate and don't have the kids wash it.

I have had each option. Each has its pros and cons.

When my kids were tiny I loved the laundry room near the
kitchen. I could keep an eye or ear on the kids while
tossing in a load. It was wonderful. And the laundry room
on the first floor off the pool entrance was fab.
Wet kids coming in and wet towels stayed in the laundry
area. Muddy dogs and messy playground kiddies always
kept the mud in the mud room off the laundry room.

There are days I wish the laundry room were upstairs,
I could hide the laundry I have not gotten to. I can
have clean sheets right out of the dryer and there
would be no staging areas . The dirty pile, the clean
pile, the to be folde pile, the to be put away pile...
Then Spring arrives.
Every spring I am so thankful we have the laundry off the
garage entance. The muddy paws, Lacrosse equipment, dirty
wet baseball stuff, grass clippings, the giant sink I have
in the laundry room for gardening, the pool towels,
the......

Thats when I realize keeping the laundry room downstairs
has been wise for how our family functions. There are
days I would like it upstairs.

I guess I didn't help you. : ) sorry, I am so terrible
with choices.
~boxer