Hi guys. Elections are boring. Help me think through installing a washer/dryer plus cabinets upstairs. Issues that I can think of:
Noise
Humidity
Avoiding water damage
Anything else? It will be in a large upper room (15x30) where there appears to have been a sink previously installed.
Regarding noise, I’ve heard that top-loader is better than front loader.
Regarding water damage–I’m envisioning vinyl flooring over our wooden floor. There would be a baseplate in front of the vinyl to get the vinyl to come up a couple of inches in the front, and a drainpipe out the side of the house. Couple of issues:
The sidewalk underneath slopes towards the house right now. We know we need to fix it, but haven’t felt like throwing a couple grand at it. Isn’t it better though to have a wet foundation than a wet first floor?
I’m assuming that we’ll need to remove the washer/dryer to service it, so the front baseboard will need to be able to be removed and the vinyl folded down. Will the vinyl flooring crack if it’s folded back and forth? Is there a better way to do this? Someone suggested tile, but I’m worried if I end up with a water hose break that it will need a lip to contain the water and if I make a lip, then I can’t remove the washer/dryer for fixing.
Regarding venting. I think we discussed a while ago in another thread to just get a regular dryer rather than a ventless one. The dryer would vent out the wall. But it might mean that the washer water supply is behind the dryer. the plumber seemed to think this would be a problem but i’m not sure why. Electric dryer so no need to have a vent for the gas combustion.
I also want cabinets next to it. Recommendations? Should I enclose the washer/dryer? Pros: looks better especially if guests stay in the room, Cons: reserves moisture.
Do you need a full size machine? otherwise get a combo washer/dryer. convenient, uses 110V so you don’t need to redo wiring, and much easier installation.
I am not a big fan of installing washer / dryers in upper floors (did it in my rentals and get noise complaints all the time). Servicing is a pain as well.
the primary servicing issue is weight. Usually it’s (yours truly) who does a first take at problems before we call a professional in and I can’t move big machines (not young anymore).
Also i don’t like the stackable you showed (we have used it before), they get the job done, but you need to run 220V. The combo unit i sent the link to doesn’t need 220V and takes the same volume of clothes, on the other hand, it’s more expensive and because of the cold water drying technology they use, takes longer to dry clothes. We have used both types of washer / dryers with the stackables first and the the combo units recently. (we also used full size washer / dryers). quality is roughly the same (we had about the same number of failures for each type)
I guess I’d already assumed we’d have to run 220VAC. Right now, there is an outlet and above the outlet is a lamp, so I was hoping that it would be easy for an electrician to drag 220VAC through the wall/attic. (Biggest issue in the attic is that there was an attack spider up there in March–I haven’t looked recently. Hoping it’s dead.)
I’ll look again at the all-in-one you showed. That seems to be quite sizable.
