Instead of a second laundry room, i would recommend instead a shower and toilet. Our kiddos would come in dirty from soccer/baseball/etc and it was so convenient for them to hop right in the shower. Dogs too, easy to bathe them right when they come in

Our previous house had all bedrooms on the second floor and second floor laundry was pretty handy. The rental house we are in now has all bedrooms upstairs and laundry downstairs, through the kitchen, through the mudroom, then into the laundry room. DW wishes for the old house again! We think the laundry chute for the kids upstairs and the downstairs laundry close to our master and to the kitchen will be a perfect compromise.

It's just the two of us now in our 4 bedroom house, and I'd love to have a laundry room on each floor. Right now we have it on the main floor, and when we bought the house that was considered an upgrade from having to go to the basement to do laundry. If you've got the space and can avoid shlepping laundry (whether dirty or clean) from floor to floor, why wouldn't you do that? There's always kitchen/main floor generated laundry, as well as towels and clothes on the bedroom floor. And remembering to stop what you're doing to transfer from washer to dryer, and then, if the clothes aren't as dry as you'd like, that's another round. Seems like a no-brainer to me.

I see it a lot of (I’d even say most) new construction homes where I am. Makes sense even if all the bedrooms are upstairs. You still have kitchen stuff, sports stuff from the kids, animal stuff, etc. that you can do in the downstairs laundry.

We have a 10 year old. While we have a 1st floor master, I don't see the need. You want to run full loads generally so why have a mudroom laundry?

And top of the line appliances are not cheap. Plumbing + electrical + dryer venting adds up.

I know a decent amount of people have 2 but I feel like it is because the bedrooms are split. Like a first floor master and other bedrooms upstairs. Especially with a few kids, this makes a lot more sense. So it is not that I am totally against the idea. Our 10 year old carries his laundry up and down. I can ask him if he would give up that chore or have $5k (very generous number given plumbing + electric + venting + appliances + 20 sqft). I know his answer. He would continue doing it for $1 a week for sure. So 8 years left x $50 = $400. A no brainer from his standpoint - even if we inflate to $2 at age 14.

Remember appliance quality today is absolutely abysmal. Sure - maybe you will have the same number of repairs/replacement but you might have more and certainly not less.

What sports stuff goes in the laundry? Am I missing something - because for us is is shorts, shirts and socks? And they don't get removed in the mudroom (ok socks do - and we have a bin for that in the mudroom).

Who is going to be the first one with three dishwashers?

In the UK you almost never see an upstairs laundry..most washing machines are in the kitchen ..a lot of the bigger new builds have laundry rooms now.

I purchased a second washer and dryer as soon as my son turned eight! I kept catching him putting his clean clothes back into the dirty laundry 😤 So I gave him the honor of doing it all by himself! All four of my kids have always done their own laundry as soon as possible and it is phenomenal!!!

I am laughing with rinq! My "laundry" is a washer/dryer hookup in the garage! Put the laundry on the main floor. No second laundry, what a waste of money. The kids can carry their own clothes up and down. Actually, if they are over 5, they need to wash their own clothes. You might have to help a little at first, but they can do it.

Our house burned down and we moved into a rental with a second floor laundry room. First thing we took out of our plans for our new home. It was loud and we really preferred in the mud room on the first floor. We do have a laundry chute.

David Cary, our outdoor/sports stuff is generally outerwear that may have dirt, mud, silt, snow, saltwater, sawdust, etc. It may include ropes, sleeping bags, and other camping, climbing, paddling, or other gear (which will live in the heated garage and not come inside). If your sports gear is mostly limited to gym clothes then you certainly wouldn't have the same laundry needs that we do.

We are building a ranch. Main floor laundry will be between mine and DH closets. Kids rooms are in walkout basement and there will be a laundry closet down there. With 3 kids who are all suppose to do their own laundry, it will be nice having a second W/D set. Even when kids are gone, it will be nice having a backup set to catch up on laundry or when a W or D is needing serviced. We don’t intend to sell, but I think a 2nd W/D would make a home very desirable.

For those who say that having a 2nd floor laundry is unreasonable, I don’t buy this. It isn’t that costly to move the laundry to the same floor as bedrooms during a build. It also currently helps resale.

I also don’t think having 2 W/D sets in the same space or separate spaces is unreasonable. The 2nd set does not need to cost $3,000. We both work outside the home. I value being able to get housework done quickly rather than spend all weekend waiting on the W/D.

Mark- I'm waiting for someone to have 4 dishwashers as I've seen plenty of homes with 3. 2 in the main house and one in the guesthouse kitchen. Oh, maybe I've seen 4 come to think of it. There was one in the butler pantry, too. I guess these people haven't discovered Chinet and Solo cups-lol...

Who is going to be the first one with three dishwashers?

In one kitchen or in the house total? I will definitely have two in the kitchen and *might* have on in the basement kitchenette if I can convince DH ;)

I would not want laundry near a kids room because of noise. Whatever you end up doing, a laundry sink is very useful. A powder room on the main floor is great with little kids. I do line dry when I can, so main floor laundry makes much more sense than hauling stuff up and down stairs, unless you have a balcony near the laundry.

MrsPete, I love having a utility sink. In fact, my current house came with two! One in the basement, and one in the main floor laundry. For rinsing or shaking prior to putting in the wash, occasional soaking, and of course pouring mop water And rinsing the mop, etc.

For those that have kids do their own laundry don’t they waste water then? I feel like our family of five does laundry 3 times a week but that’s three loads each time tops. If each kid did their own it would be running non stop and so wasteful as not full loads. They bring laundry down, help start it, flip to dryer and fold and put away but all our stuff is together

I have a mud room laundry combo and just love it. It isn't just people with kids who wear grubby clothes in. I laughed at Mrs. Pete's description of streaking though the house, but we have a connecting door to the master bath. If I still had a second story, would also have a laundry room there in a heartbeat. I always hated lugging laundry up and down stairs. Utility sink is great for dumping buckets of dirty water after washing the floor and bathing the dog if he gets into something messy.

Laundry/utility sinks can be used for a million things besides laundry, paint brushes, pet baths, shoes or boots, oversized items like rugs and winter coats, plant pots, tools etc. Right now I have to use our bathtub, the kitchen sink or make a mess with buckets and the like.

How do you manage only 3 loads for 5 people? Aren’t you washing bedsheets, towels and kitchen items weekly?

Three loads every three days! Yes one of the loads is bed sheets, one is towels etc weekly.

That makes sense. When things are in full swing here, doing a load every day ish is fairly normal. Or feeding the washing machine continuously over the course of one day.

tedbixby... I had the opposite thought. Spare W/D in mud room so kids can wash their own grungy stuff without waking or otherwise disturbing parents! Or, ummmm, messing up mom's laundry space.

Presumably, having a second washer/dryer would make the first set last longer. So additional outlay might not be that significant.

AS-My kids are 14,12,9. They do about a load a week themselves, sometimes 2. They tend to be pretty full loads. I also wash DH and my clothes separate. But I still wash full loads. I discovered washing separate by person saved me SOO much time. I hated putting away 5 sets of socks per load, hanging 2-3 shirts each in 5 different closets per load, etc. DH also gets grease and other nastiness on even his nice clothes that he sneaks into the shop with. I don’t need those added chemicals on my or my kids clothing!

Shead-I am so looking forward to 2 dishwashers in the kitchen! We will also do the drawer dishwasher in the basement bar. So that is 3. I bet people put them in their outdoor kitchen, although I won’t.

While I can see the advantages, I'm not sure it is necessary either. The upstairs laundry is a good idea since all of the bedrooms are up there (unless you had a laundry chute to a downstairs laundry room...then I'd just keep the laundry room downstairs completely...although then you'd have to haul it all back upstairs so maybe scratch that). You'll have some laundry from kitchen towels and such but that is an easy load to carry back down the stairs. Basically, if you have the space & money and don't need the space for a different room, then I'd consider it. But, if you'd prefer the space used in a different way, then I'd skip it and keep the single laundry upstairs.

Who is going to have three dishwashers? My SIL. New build on waterfront in a trendy town. She has a dishwasher in her kitchen, a second in the pantry, and a third in the downstairs guest suite equipped with a refrigerator, cook top, oven, and the dishwasher. If guests want eggs and coffee before she's up and moving, they are on their own. There is really a 4th, in a dockside building used for entertaining, city won't allow overnight accommodations in those so no bedroom there, it's a walk across the yard. Just far enough not to be convenient carrying a stack of plates or dirty lasagna pans.

A friend of mine put in two laundry rooms in a one story house and hasn't regretted it. Large house, master at one end, other bedrooms and guest rooms + her husbands hobby shop at the other and she included a full laundry at each end of the house. Their clothes, sheets, towels are washed close to where they are used and stored, all other household and kitchen laundry is not carried through to their private wing.

I would have it if I had younger kids again. Yes, it is convenient and yes a luxury but who cares? People have 5 TVs in a house and no one says that is wasteful or ridiculous. I have 2 dishwashers in my kitchen and love it. Back to laundry, my upstairs laundry room is pretty small so the room is always full of clothes. I swear I cannot get the room completely empty. Right now I am washing bedding from college that is going back so there is a stack. There is a laundry basket in there with various clothes people haven’t claimed....random socks, sweatshirts, etc. not mine so oh well. Another laundry area would be nice with younger kids. I don’t think I would regret doing that, but everyone lives differently.

Having 5 TVs in a house is wasteful and ridiculous.

(had to say it)

One downstairs will eventually come in useful ( as you get older) but if you are still young, have the option there to put one in later. Most of family members usually put there laundry upstairs in baskets anyway. I have one downstairs but we have extended members of the family living with us so they use the laundry room all the time, I found myself in opposite situation, I had to make a place upstairs. Works out good for me anyway!

I’d do two in a heartbeat. Love having laundry on same floor as bedrooms, but also having one in mud room would be fantastic.

I think we may possibly have had nearly 5 TVs once because we inherited 2 from close relatives. Just saw a massive theatre tv out on the curb... wonder if someone took it..

Tiny house=zero or 1 tiny TV, McMansion = 1 per room, anything in between = whatever the husband can talk the wife into.

Ha ha re TVs. Hopefully the point was taken as intended. A luxury to one person is not to another; make a house that you love to live in. Some people value TVs, some other things. But I haven’t encountered a discussion where someone says, “should I put a third tv in my house?” And people comment that it is wasteful and why do you need that?! Give me anything that helps my house run efficiently any day of the week! Let us know what you decide!

I totally agree this is all personal. The interesting thing with this post is the OP was asking for personal opinions. It stated the builder was trying to convince them to add the second set.

It sounds like this is a really personal decision. I can’t see us ever getting a second set but clearly many others use two sets often. In fact I just bought an outdoor drying rack to use our current set up less! Hubby squashed my dreams of an actual clothesline but I’ll still set it up on the porch :)

In thinking more about the OP, could you add a closet in the mudroom that is plumbed for a washer/dryer stack but that can also just be used as a closet? That way, you wouldn't necessarily have to purchase an additional washer and dryer right away but you have the potential for 2nd laundry should you ever decide that it would help your household run more efficiently. In the meantime, you'd have an extra closet (and who ever complains about those?!?) An apartment size stack wouldn't take up a lot of room but would be handy for dishtowels from the kitchen.

If you have the space, why not? And yes, just use it as a closet if you are not convinced...Running lines now, rather than later, is cheaper....I have always wanted an upstairs laundry, but could not work it into space...and all the years the kids were swimmers, great to have machines in mud room for the endless towels....and when I come in from gardening, or beloved comes in from wood shop....and yes, there is some minor streaking involved. But most folk where something under the dirtiest layer..,.

I just remembered I once designed a summer home that had a washer and dryer on the entry level (mainly for towels) and a laundry room on the main level (second floor) with two washers and two dryers. The house is on Lake Michigan, four bedrooms on the third floor, and a bunk room in the first floor. Only one dishwasher, two if you count the husband.

Our old house had a laundry area in the garage. We liked it because it was isolated and less noisy that way. We had a stackable and it consumed little space. When we remodeled we decided to put one in the home somewhat close to the bedrooms with enough space for a non-stackable laundry, simply because most of the new homes have it inside. But we retained the laundry area in the garage. If we decide not to use the laundry area in the garage, we simply use that as garage space. Alternately if we don't use the laundry room near the bedrooms we plan to use it as a common walk in closet. Doesn't hurt to have two laundry rooms in our case, but as far as usage goes, one laundry room is plenty.

With 2 sets it means you can have 2 loads going on at the same time. Sounds to me a good way to save time.

I don’t get 2nd floor laundry. If I’m downstairs most of the day, I don’t want to keep running upstairs to switch loads. It’s not hard to have everyone bring their laundry downstairs once a week and separate it, and then take it up themselves. But if I had the room for double, I’d do them in the same room, downstairs.

Tvs cost $300 instead of $2000.. They also take up inches rather than feet. So 5 TVs is probably a bit much for the average household of 2.4, but probably not for a big house and/or lots of occupants.

Here I am sitting in a house with 4 TVs and 1 laundry room. It is a 5 bedroom rental at the beach so the 4 TVs is pretty expected. In fact, we had 5 but removed one.

Our family of 3 does about 3 loads per week - kid, darks, lights. Generally a 2nd room seems like an unnecessary luxury but bigger family maybe a different situation. But for the OP, they are getting encouraged by an outsider (builder) to do it and all their bedrooms are upstairs. To me, it seems unwise unless they have other unique needs for it - like sporting equipment that gets laundered that lives in the garage. I don't think that situation is common but I could be wrong.

7 tv's, 2 dishwashers. To be fair 3 of the tv's and one dishwasher are in the basement bar area (it's a large 25 ft. bar / finished basement ). I still would love a 2nd laundry room and we are only 3 people. We easily have two loads of laundry a day. My son plays high school football, it is a year-round sport. He also has gym class. My husband and I exercise daily. I'm a marathon runner. There's a lot of laundry and towels!

Do it!! Laundry on 2nd floor is great for clothes and sheets and bath towels. What about dish towels, car washing and garage/out door rags, etc. plus - someone gets super muddy... would be really nice to have a set by the mudroom. We have a ranch and our main laundry is off mudroom. My son comes home from playing in the snow SOAKING wet. We can throw gear directly in the wash or dryer without tracking water anywhere. Do it!! You won’t regret it :)

With 2 sets it means you can have 2 loads going on at the same time. Sounds to me a good way to save time.

Or get a wash machine that can do a load inside 30 minutes. (Still resenting how "high efficiency" refers to the machine, not the person using the garsh-darn thing!)

My original laundry room is in the basement. We did an addition and part of that was a mudroom with laundry on the first floor. I like having two laundry rooms! The basement one has been used for stinky/muddy football and basketball uniforms when my son was in sports, camping items like sleeping bags and smoky smelling blankets, dog bed and towels, and cleaning rags - some things that given a choice, I'd prefer not washing in the same machine as my clothes or kitchen towels. It has also come in handy after family camping trips or other vacations when we have several loads to do at once with bulky items like beach towels. Is it a necessity? No. But we had the opportunity and it has been handy.

If clothes dryers came with a TV screen, you could put one in each room.

I am laughing since I dream of even having *one* laundry room... ;) But generally, with elementary-aged kids, I think one laundry room is sufficient, but I would much rather have it on the first floor in a mud room setting than upstairs with bedrooms. If you're committed to the one upstairs, then I'd consider at least designing a mudroom that could accommodate a washer/dryer (plumbing, floor plan, etc.)--and conversely, designing the upstairs laundry room in a way that it would convert nicely in the future to a closet or half bath if you or a future owner wanted to do that. Our washer/dryer set is admittedly a decade old, but they were top of the line then and they are still loud and still vibrate somewhat. I would not want them near the bedrooms. If you do think you want two laundry rooms, I'd consider doing stackable compact machines upstairs and then larger capacity machines that could handle things like sleeping bags or dog beds downstairs. We are switching to the stackable when we replace our machines in order to move them inside, and I will really miss--and have gotten good use out of--the capacity of our current machines (although won't miss the trek outside to do laundry!!)

At a house walk, I was “hostess” in a master suite. (hmm, that sounds like not what it was’. To kill time, I counted the TV sets in the suite: 7. Seven. In the master suite. But I didn’t see a washing machine.

For those that have kids do their own laundry don’t they waste water then?

Maybe, but it's a learning experience for them, so worthwhile.

While I can see the advantages, I'm not sure it is necessary either.

Oh, of course it's not necessary. I think even the people who advocate for the idea don't think it's a necessity.

Back to laundry, my upstairs laundry room is pretty small so the room is always full of clothes.

I don't think size of the room is always the issue -- a small but well designed room can be more functional than a larger space.

For what it's worth, my pantry /laundry room is pretty big -- about 15x7 -- but it's a horribly designed space. You have to walk through the kitchen to reach it, and it has a useless exterior door. The space could've been laid out so much better. And it's so far from the bedrooms that "folded loads" end up left on top of the machines -- then College Girl comes and pulls an item out of the middle, and they topple over.

I don't really want a bigger laundry room, but I do wish I had a space for "waiting loads" and a location closer to the bedrooms so it wouldn't feel like such a chore to carry finished loads literally the length of the house.

We easily have two loads of laundry a day.

This'll change for you -- eventually. I only have one kid at home now, and she's only home part-time. My husband is retired, so he doesn't wear business clothes /re-uses jeans for several days. In the summer when I don't work, my laundry is downright easy!

Something to look forward to in retirement.

I'd consider doing stackable compact machines upstairs and then larger capacity machines that could handle things like sleeping bags or dog beds downstairs.

I'm definitely going to downsize our machines when they need replacing. 10-12 years ago I bought large front-loaders, and I appreciated the large loads they could hold -- but, oh, they are space hogs. Large items -- sleeping bags and dog beds, as you mentioned -- don't get washed all that often. If I have to take them to a laundry mat or a cleaner, it would be okay.

I counted the TV sets in the suite: 7. Seven. In the master suite.

Seven? How can that possibly be? I'm trying to imagine where they could go: One in the bed chamber, one for the tub, one for a sitting area ... this is like a train wreck. I have to know! Surely no one watches TV in the closet?