I don't, but two of my sons do. One lives in an ancient house and had his installed in a big closet near the bathroom. His are front loading machines. The other lives in a five-y-o two-story they had built; his laundry room was always part of the plan. He has standard Kenmore machines- top loading washer. Both have washtubs in the rooms.

I've been in both houses many times when laundry was being done (they each have a few kids) and never heard a sound from either. Both washers sit in big rubber tubs made for the purpose, neither has ever had a leak.

In the 41 years I've had washers in my basements, I've never had a leak or a hose break, either, but I know it happens sometimes. I can always hear the water running to my washer, and if the house is quiet I can hear it spin. I hear the dryer, also. I'd LOVE to have my machines upstairs. Since that's where the dirty clothes are, it makes sense to have the machines there if you have room. My kids and their wives are delighted that they do. Makes doing laundry much easier.

after watching "holms on homes" series, while i always thought they'd be nice, you really should have seen his show...first is possible hose failure. flooding going down into the main living spaces. he also didn't like the lack of proper floor joist. so he ripped this family's out...on this old house they did one, but had all sort of extra precautions...the machines sat in an overflow pan, and had some sort of safety hose, and the pan had a direct drain.

i don't know that stackables would have the same spin (and the worst is the heavy load cycle) as a single machine. i can't have a thing on top, if it running...everything is on the floor..but we installed not a pro...that might make a difference...if i'm doing a reg load it's much better, and not loud...

DS and DDIL have a second floor laundry with a top loader. When they bought the house they replaced the hoses with super duper ones. They like having it up there, but they do not have a pan with a drain under it and worry about that. Be sure to look into pans with drains.
We have a front loader, and it does vibrate, BUT, our floors move. When we had tile people out here they said that we could not have tile and if we had them put it in they would not warranty it. They went in the crawl space and said that the problem was that the floor joists are not of a size that they need to be. And that we could sandwich the floor joists with wood to strengthen the floor, before installing tile.
We went with vinyl, way easier than messing with joists!
I keep some things on top of my washer and during the spin cycle they sometimes fall off.
So, think about pans, drains and floors.
Kathy G in MI

Yes, I do and they just moved my laundry room two or three years ago from downstairs to my big closet in my bathroom. I love it as almost all laundry is from the upper floor. About all I have from the kitchen are the usual stuff so it isn't that much or that heavy. I have a top loading washer. Of course it is all new plumbing and electrical. The washer sets in an over flow pan. I really would be uspset to have to carry laundry up and down the stairs again like I used to have to do.

Sue

I forgot that my oldest dtr lives in a fifth floor apt and she has hers (stacked) in a closet. No leaks in 10 years. And none in any of the other apartments that she's heard of, either, and she's the condo assoc president. She knows everything that happens in that building.

I don't know where you could look for statistics on the matter. There are horror stories everywhere - including dishwashers that leak, toilets, refrigerators, etc., but I'd still be willing to take the chance on one in my upstairs if I had the room.

Thanks for all the advice. Yes, it seems true that leaks don't happen often, but the internet is still full of horror stories of hoses breaking and coming home to a house full of water and $$$$$ of damage. I am not usually a jumpy person, but I swear I've had nightmares about this issue this week. As mentioned, I bought the high quality hoses (to replace the plastic hoses the units come with) and now I'm researching whether or not the stacked units should 1) sit in a drain pan of some type (does this cause even more vibration?; and 2) whether I should also have one of those flood-stop sensor detectors installed. My eyes are rolling at this point from information overload on matters I really don't know much about. While I was going to have Lowe's install the machines, I HAVE come to the conclusion that I need to bite the bullet and call the plumber to do the job.

A number of new homes have the laundry upstairs. Personally I can't see the benefit.
You still have to climb the stairs to switch the clothes over, and fold. Yes it's handy to put them away, but you'd be down in the kitchen, livingroom or someplace while the laundry is working, so you'll be climbing upstairs.
To me, that's no better than having them in the basement.
Give me the main floor laundryroom anyday.

I don't go up until I am ready to go, and sometimes I am upstairs anyway. If you have a bad back or knees all that carrying laundry is very hard on you. I don't have a living room downstairs. All that is downstairs is kitchen, dining room, family room and half bath. As you get older you do what you can to make your work easier. It isn't the stairs so much as the lifting and carrying.

Sue

The up-down thing isn't an issue for me since I live on a one floor only condo: I have the entire second floor of a three unit condo in a 100 year old converted mansion. What would be extremely up and down is putting the laundry in the basement two (narrow) flights below. It is a godsend to have laundry possible on the second floor!!

my friends put in a vinyl floor and it goes 4 inches or so up the wall... no wood molding. That would also help with any small leakage . they love having it up on the second floor

No, I don't have a second story laundry, but then again I have a one level home.