Lowes. OK - they brought the units out, put them on the platform we made, we assumed they did what they're suppposed to do & left. We didn't stand there watching because we'd just moved into the house & had plenty to do elsewhere and, hey, how hard can it be? Later that day - excited to see the "bubble show" through that big, beautiful window - I attempted a load. NOTHING. Not to panic - it just was not plugged in. Also, while my husband had it pulled out to plug in, he found that the dryer vent was not attached to the dryer - the wall, yes - not the back of the dryer. Turns out there is sort of a "cone" where you attach to & the hose slid off. (Not sure how he fixed that) It's at this point that we realize that they did not leave us a manual for the washer. We call & they say they'll get us one. In the meantime, we go online to find out what else needs to be done - like LEVELING. My husband does that and finally we're good to go. The story is a lot longer because we have a BIG mix-up with the refrigerator but at some point in there we get the manual - but not before I have to call the store manager a couple of times with questions about error messages (we had a problem with some sediment causing E02 errors - now fixed) for him to look up. SO - in the end, we love the machines, Lowes tried their best to make things right - it was just a series of freaky problems that weren't their fault - and we are happy customers. OH - the platform works like a charm - no vibrations & the additional height is great! Good luck with yours - great design!

This is a rather old thread but I wish to make a comment anyway since every time I search for fire safety-dogs, it comes up as one of the few resources. Also this thread catapulted me into finding a solution! This is it and I couldn't be more excited to have found it!Someone above mentioned a harness made for letting rescue dogs down from a helicopter into an emergency zone. That looked great until I found the following, which is less than half the price at $70. https://www.x-itproducts.com/how-it-works-large-pet-escape-sling/ At this time it's not offered on Amazon so you have to go directly to the X-It website to order. Ours arrived today. My husband and I tested it out a bit. Okay, we didn't throw our dog out the window however easily got our 80 lb. Golden into the sling/harness very very quickly without any struggle from him (and he's a guy who snaps at being brushed - gently). It's just so easy to get the sling on - slip paws into the large holes, pull up and cinch the velcro at the neck. Next we picked him up using the handles - no problem - and again, not an ounce of struggle. He was obviously well supported and comfortable, even off the floor! We were very happy to discover the sling comes with an attached nylon webbing strap that was way longer than it would take to get him down from our 2nd story bedroom. (It's made for a 4 story building.) Best of all, the "strap" has handle loops every so often taking away the danger of it slipping through your hands while letting your dog down. We're seniors yet I feel confident we can do this if necessary! Of course using this is a last resort and it clearly states that in the instructions. But we feel so much better having a 2nd way out of our 2nd story bedroom for our dog, as well as ourselves (via ladder). We're so grateful someone finally thought of large dogs. Thank you X-It!!! We'll be spreading the word to everyone we know who has dogs. And no, we're not paid by the company, nor have we received any free products! We're simply happy to have finally found this solution. But I agree with some of the above comments, the next house we buy will be one story. Until then, we have a plan.

We did it in our old Victorian house for pennies. We turned a closet in the bathroom that was behind the tub (!!!) into a laundry closet with a stackable. Complete DIY job and I would definitely do it again. Our only "problem" was that the pipes up there couldn't handle the flow of water as fast as it came out of the washer. So the draining washer water backed up into the bathtub, which filled with about 6 inches of dirty water during a load until draining out. It never caused the tub to look dirty or left a ring or anything. We just lived with it as a quirk and I absolutely LOVED not having to lug clothes up and down to the yucky old basement via the yucky old non-standard basement stairs. The draining is something to really understand before you start demolishing your setup. We had no problem selling that house--everyone wants convenient laundry access and no one cared about the draining into the tub thing in this Victorian town. The hardest part was getting the stackable up the curving Victorian stairs. My husband and his friend almost toppled and killed themselves doing that. Just make sure you have a disaster plan in place--as for any 2nd floor laundry-- if something breaks or overflows, you don't want water all over going into the ceiling of the floor below. Use the best fittings that last (no plastic), the tray, etc..

Anj_p - thank you for your detailed notes. BR 1 is tiny. Those are bifolds in the closet door to maximize the usability of a reach-in closet. BR 2 is an odd shape, agreed. Originally the architect had the closet on the wall that is shared with the bathroom. I had them move it because there wasn’t enough clearance any where you put the bed (including this note in case you think that was a better placement). I’m a fanatic about symmetry though, and once we moved the closet, it meant the windows were off-centered which is why I had them put built-ins in the jut-out to balance the room. The windows are 4 ft windows though, so I don’t think a bed will block the light... but maybe I’m wrong. BR 3 will have a built-in in the weird corner - I should have noted that in the plans. Master - I agree on the walk. I plan to have another child in this house and I cannot fathom doing this walk 47x in the middle of the night. However, my husband gets up very early (~4:30 am) and says he would like to use the shower in the morning without fear of waking me... Additionally, the kitchen is right below the master bath right now so I think this placement was chosen for easy plumbing. I had tried to swing the master around - put the WIC where the hall bath is and then shift the Master Bath to where all the closets are and my husband hated it... That being said, I wanted to come here to see if a lot of other people share this opinion. I think right now he is comparing my thoughts (novice, never built a home) to those of a professional architect and builder and thinking there is no way I can come up with a preferable layout. He might be right, but I figured it’s definitely worth checking! Thank you for all the other notes as well. I will keep this all in mind.