Would I like a laundry lift? Heck yeah!!! I have some knee issues - carrying things up and down steps is not the easiest thing for me. Also, I think about it in terms of as I get older, it's going to be more difficult for me taking things up and down - a lift for those things would be amazing.

As far as giving up the space, I guess it depends on what all you are planning on putting in your pantry and where those things will go with the space being used for the lift. Finally, is it worth grabbing or is it possible to grab additional space from a surrounding area to enlarge the pantry? I do wonder if it might be a little tight to navigate, particularly if you have the lift put in.

It just sounds so awesome, but I don't know anyone that has a feature like that in their house.

I can't grab space from anywhere else. The pantry is sandwiched between the garage wall and a sliding glass door. I've already opened the floor plans to look...lol

Would it be a dumb waiter basically?

My first thought was probably not, but then thinking about being able to send groceries and other supplies as well as clean and soiled laundry both up and down between all three floors sounded more and more worth the space.

Yeah, I think for me (I also, like andreak, have some mobility issues) that would be a no-brainer YES!!

If you do get it, please let GW know how you like it.
Sandra

I have seen one or two houses with a small elevator and I've always been envious of those.

So, flevy, I guess the question still remains as to how full you expect your pantry to be. Can you live with giving up that space? For me, I think the answer is yes.

And, though it wouldn't be as convenient, could any of the things that may be displaced from living in the pantry go down to the basement via lift? Perhaps you were planning on some lesser-used items staying in the pantry, but they wouldn't need to?

I'm not sure if this is your "forever" home, but if it is, I believe that particularly as you advance in age, having that lift will become more and more convenient for you. Will it be just large enough for laundry or could it be a tight, one person elevator? Even if only for laundry, etc. it's much easier to only have to worry about getting yourself up the steps as opposed to yourself with an armful of items.

I would prefer an upstairs laundry, actually. Downstairs laundry locations are a holdover from when most women didn't work outside the home. Today, most do, and the best location for a laundry is close to where the dirty clothes are generated---the bedrooms.

And many fire codes prohibit dumbwaiters/laundry chutes as a fire route through the home. The steps you have to go through to fireproof such a setup can be pretty darn expensive. You do have a sprinkler system designed for this home, though, right? Then the metal chase, etc. might not actually add that much more expense over what the sprinkler system already added.

I would want a laundry are in the main living space first, and if not possible this elevator or at least a laundry chute would be next on the list.

24 sq inches is pretty small (6x4inches or 8x3inches). What do you get from Costco that would benefit from that small space? Or perhaps you mean 24 inches square (2ftx2ft)?

If I had to have the laundry in the basement, I'd do it in a hearbeat. Especially if it can make a stop in the pantry.

I'd use it way more for transporting food from the larder to the pantry than I would for clothing.

I'll echo Live Wire Oak on the cost. A friend kept the dumbwaiter shaft in her 1800s house and fitted it with a modern electric dumbwaiter. The dumbwaiter itself wasn't overly expensive, but the fireproofing was. Total cost was $11,000. She has said that were she to renovate again, that would be one of the first frills she'd eliminate.

You need to think about convenience for your lifestyle. Are you doing multiple loads of laundry three times a week, so laundry is a constant marathon of stairclimbing? Or is it once a week, three loads and done? How about your pantry - do you use that for kitchen overflow and find yourself visiting it a couple of times a day, or is it infrequently when you need a roll of paper towels or an extra-large can of beans?

I don't mind my laundry in the basement because it's a once-a-week chore. I'm in and out of my kitchen pantry all day, so I'd favor pantry space in my kitchen.

Thanks for everyone advice. Let me see if I can answer some questions.

The laundry got moved to the basement to make room for the pantry. I tried to get it upstairs but unless I was willing to do stackable in a hall closet, there just isn't room upstairs.

In our county, all new builds and renos over 50% have to have a sprinkler system installed by code. No CoO without it.

I currently have 2 small kids. Laundry is an all day chore on Mondays. I probably do 8-10 loads on Monday and then I'm done for the week. During the Sumer it's worse since the kids swim 2x per day and they go through towels like mad.

I go through a roll of paper towels about every 2 days. I'm always running to the basement for a replacement roll. The nice thing about the pantry was that I was at least hoping to keep on of the big packs close by.

The lift would in essence be a dumb waiter and it would be 2ft x 2 ft.

If I don't get the lift, DH agreed to a laundry chute by I still have to carry the laundry back upstairs.

I think it's interesting that the person who installed one said that would be one of the first frills to go. To me that says a lot about its true usefulness. And this isn't our forever home, we're here for 16 more years. When the last kid leaves for college, we're selling this place and moving to a one level condo in Fla.

If I had a good-sized pantry, I think I'd give up some pantry space for a laundry lift. But I have a small kitchen without much pantry space, so I'm used to it.

I'm 65 and I definitely would op for a laundry lift in your situation. This may not be your forever home but there are a lot of us baby boomers out there. A laundry lift might help with resale.

Actually, no one here who replied has one...one person said that their friend had one and wouldn't redo it for what it cost. How much is it going to cost you to do it?

I mentioned about being in a few houses that had one. One of them was a friend's parent. They ADORED theirs. Seriously. Wouldn't have been without it.

With the number of loads of laundry you do and so on, I think there could be a reasonable argument for having one. Of course, ideal is to have the W&D where the clothes get dirty. But, if this can't happen, then this sounds like a good alternative.

16 more years there - that's a pretty good amount of time to be in a home. Worth investing in what you want and will make your life easier. That's 6,656 round trips for laundry alone (8 loads per week) over the course of 16 years.

And I don't know if this is a goal of yours, but since you mentioned the number of paper towels you use, if you could get everyone on board to use hand towels rather than paper towels, you'd have another load of laundry per week, but not need to worry about a space for those paper towels in the pantry!

Just a laundry chute, I don't see as being nearly as functional. Better than nothing though.

Andreak100...... That's some depressing math! Maybe I can hope that the kids will be able to do their own laundry by the time they are 12 and we can knock some loads off. Although in 10 years, DH has nev done a load of laundry. So I guess I'm stuck doing at least laundry for 2 for many many more years.

I'll have to look more into the cost on Monday. Lots of things to think about. The first one that comes to mind is if the house has enough spare amps to handle such a thing. I ate up a lot of the electrical slots with my kitchen appliances.