Mine is in the basement. So glad I moved it there.

My children were in every sport from the time they were little thru high school. I needed the folding room, the hanging room, the shut the door I am not doing laundry today room.

My husband just loves getting dirty! Comes home from work and decides he needs to be under a car, cutting the lawn, etc. Stains, stains, stains that need to soak a day or two before washing.

Oh! did I mention the smell. lol

The bonus was the the storage for all my extras. Wrapping paper, entertaining supplies, etc. I even added an extra fridge and turned it on just for the holidays.

Ideally, two laundry rooms would have been perfect. One apt. size stackable near the bedrooms for towels and sheets, fast wash of delicates. Childrens accidents, sickness.

If you put the laundry in the basement you might need to get a pump that pumps out the wastewater to the sewer. These pumps make noise, add expense, and require ongoing maintenance.

Bil - the laundry is already in the basement so all plumbing is there. plumbing would only need to be changed if we took it upstairs.

eta - It is interesting you say that though. We have a couple pumps in the basement, the sump and likely an ejection like you are talking about The sump pump has needed replaced and makes noise but so far at least the ejection pump is prettty unnoticeable and maintenance free. Hope it stays that way! I didn’t realize they required much maintenance.

Thanks for the comments so far. That gives me some things to think about!

While a good idea, I am not going to go with two laundry Iocations, it is either or. As I mentioned this isn’t my forever house and while I don’t mind spending some money I am not willing to pay to do both.

As for our laundry habits, I do most laundry during the day on weekends as I work full time. I do run the occasional load at bedtime if we realize someone needs something for the next day, or spin clothes in the dryer ealy in the am if something needs to be dried or de-wrinkled, but mostly it is during the day.

the more I think about it the more I think I might miss the extra space. Right now I haul baskets of laundry downstairs and they sit there while I work through the loads. Upstairs I couldn’t do that because I wouldn’t want them sitting in the hallway, I would have to sort them in a bedroom and take a load at a time to the washer. Not a big deal though I guess. I do typically fold and hang things in the laundry room because it seems easier to just do it as I am taking it out of the dryer, except towels, they get dumped in a basket for the kids to fold and put away. I will have to spend some time thinking about what I would prefer And how big a deal it would be to change habits.

My biggest concern (that I didn’t think about before) with taking it upstairs, other than space, is noise. We are in a split level of sorts (tri level) so the “upstairs” is only a half story up from the living/dining/kitchen area. The space for the washer and dryer is at the top of the stairs and it would be a closet, not a separate room, so I wonder how much noise would carry down the small flight, across the foyer and into the living room (which is our main living space). That is something to think about.

Thinkdesignlive- I guess that is an idea, leave the basement one unfinished and add the upstairs. i don’t want to spend $ on both but I guess I could just leave the one in the unfinished space and add the other. I will give that some thought. The idea of a big laundry room nicely done is really appealing too though!

A big well-lit, well-organized space sounds like it would meet your laundry needs in this split level house. Budget a bit extra to make it really sleek, colorful, and efficient rather than just okay. Hanging clothes rods and a place to put drying racks, perhaps with a ceiling fan to speed drying.

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You could do a mud/storage/dog bath in the basement and the general laundry upstairs. I like having the laundry close to the bedrooms--no carting heavy baskets up the stairs and a shorter distance for putting clothes away. Just make sure that if you convert an upstairs closet, that you install a waterproof membrane under the stacked washer dryer in the event of a leak. Re: the noise, a little added insulation in the walls could help muffle the sound.

Let me start by admitting I hate to do laundry. Hate it. I've had both an upstairs laundry closet and a large basement laundry room. I prefer having a designated space with folding table vs folding on a bed. Not crazy about the two sets of stairs getting clean laundry from laundry room to dressers though. If my knees were not a consideration I would go with the larger space in the basement. I would make it beautiful (see the many pics on this website). Dog bath would be awesome!! TV, art on walls, make the laundry room a room you don't dread going into. Good luck!

I have laundry in the basement-- have a laundry chute direct to the laundry.

I have never wanted a laundry on the second floor but have wished that I had it on the main floor sometimes.

Advantage to basement--usually have a lot of room (I don't).

We can get really dirty sometimes, with gardening and landscaping projects. Can shuck the dirties in the garage or back entryway and drop down the laundry chute there (or in a bucket in the garage)...vs having to deal with them upstairs (where we have carpet).

I wash clothes once a week. Smelly dirty laundry is in the basement; not stinking up the bedrooms.

I have a clothesline strung in the unfinished part of the basement for drying rugs, mattress pads, sheets, jeans, etc. during the winter/ rainy days. As well as drip dry items that don't go in the dryer. The clothes line is also handy for hanging wet or damp dirty items to dry (like bath towels & kitchen towels) before they go into the dirty clothes hamper.

I fold & sort items as I unload the dryer. Towel stack to the linen closet, DS's clothes in one stack, etc. Usually cart the basket to the main floor and someone else will haul it on upstairs.

Have had three laundries that were in enclosed back porches and one just adjacent to the garage when I lived in the south. That arrangement worked really good and would be my preferred location for a laundry.

Would not want W/D in a closet if it can be avoided. I use my laundry sink a lot as well as having the washer drain hose empty into the sink. (With a lint sock to keep lint and dog hair out of the sewer line--septic leach field if that's your situation.)

You adapt to wherever the laundry is. Pros & cons to wherever it is. Main thing is that a home laundry beats the heck out of having to go to the laundromat! We've probably all had to do that at some time in our lives.