Laundry Room Design Issues

Okay - you probably never thought there might be design issues concerning a laundry room in your home, did you?

But there really are several things that should be on your check list for an efficient laundry room.

• Is it big enough?  Will it hold your washer & dryer?
• Is the door big enough to get them in there?  If not - can you easily take the door off it's hinges?
• Will you be buying a new washer and dryer for this home?
• If so, did you include it in your budget?
• Do you need a Deep Sink or work sink in this room?  This might be needed if you do a lot of hobby work in your garage or other room. 
• Do you wash a lot of clothing by hand in a sink and let it dry by hanging?  Then a deep sink may be a good investment.  Remember, this type of hand washing usually saved on dry cleaning bills.
• If you do want to hang things up to dry is there a place to attach a rack or line to dry clothing?  One way to do this is with hooks on opposite walls and a bunge cord with clips.
• Are there cabinets or shelves in the room to store your cleaning products?

Dryer Vent Problems

Where does the dryer vent go out of the house?  The best situation is if it exhausts straight out to an exterior house wall from the laundry room.  The shorter the vent piping the better.  If it has to make several turns before it goes out, or if it goes up two stories you will have problems with lint accumulating in the vent piping and getting the lint clogged if it goes up.

This leads to your dryer not drying clothing efficiently, you'll end up drying your clothes more than one cycle and a higher electric bill!

Washer and Dryer Hook Ups

Look in the wall at the connections.  Are they placed correctly with the water for the washer and the dryer vent piping on the correct right and left side for your appliances?

I moved into a new home and found that the hook ups were installed backwards for how the new washer and dryer pairs I had just bought were setup.  You used to be able to switch the ways that the doors swing on these appliances, but I've found that you cannot do that on the new high efficiency washers and dryers which both open in the front.  The piping and hoses in the back of my appliances now have to be crossed and needed to be longer in order to have the washer door open to the left and the dryer door open to the right.

As with all of our recommendations - be sure to measure the space and your appliances & make good budget decisions!