[Froschcm]

in a 3-story townhome, would you rather have your washer and dryer upstairs with your bedrooms if they were to be placed in the back of your master walk-in closet or in the basement in an unfinished space under the stairs?

 

[chandler48]

If you have the design options, put it where most of your clothes are. Why would you want to go down 3 floors with a basket of clothes to do laundry and go back up stairs with the same loaded basket of clean clothes?

True, the noise factor is less in the basement, but think "convenience".

 

[Nut'n'Done]

I agree ^^^^ if at all possible. Would save you from having to put an elevator in your 3 story home come retirement years. Re-sale value may help as well.

 

[chandler48]

Speaking of resale, if it is new construction, have the facilities in BOTH most used floor and basement, just don't use the basement locations. New owners may have different likes.

 

[Fix'n it]

if you put it up high, MAKE SURE you have a "good" drain pan system for the washer.

 

[Froschcm]

Speaking of resale, if it is new construction, have the facilities in BOTH most used floor and basement, just don't use the basement locations. New owners may have different likes.

Thanks, it’s a remodel in this case. Photo on the bottom is the existing laundry, sketch is of potential new location in conjunction with a master bath remodel project.

 

[Klop]

And try to place it on an exterior wall to vent the dryer better and easier.

 

[CaptTom]

I put my washer and dryer into an unused 2nd floor space under the slope of the roof. At the time I'd never heard of anyone else doing this, and thought it was probably considered "wrong." But it was really the only option.

I've never regretted it. One thing we had to do was get in the habit of turning off the water supply to the washer after every load. We're so used to it now that we're more likely to forget to turn it on before starting the washer than to forget to close it. I had a relative experience a burst washing machine hose once and never want that to happen on the second floor!

 

[Nut'n'Done]

^^^^^ For that reason, I don't like rubber hoses anymore. I rigged up some PEX lines for mine, since its on the 3 floor of a 5 level backsplit.

 

[wigginsr181]

Most convenient location on a outside wall, if possible, so the vent pipe can be short.

 

[manutd]

Basement. If it floods the damage is limited.

 

[Chris616]

That closet design is too small for a full-size washer and dryer (typical width 2 x 27” = 54”). You’d have to build the clothes racks and pocket door after the units are installed, and dismantling the same would be required for future replacement. You’ll lose more than half of the closet space in the room.

The sketch shows a front door on the washer, unlike the photo, so maybe you’re planning a change. Our current front loader is our first experience with that style. It spins at very high speed to dry the clothes as much as possible and the vibration is noticeable in the floor. Ours is an unusually thick floor on closely spaced joists so the vibration isn’t a problem, but that wouldn’t be the case for many installations. The manufacturer recommends installing on concrete.

Have you considered the difficulty of running new wiring/gas/water to the third floor location and how to duct the dryer exhaust to outside?

Since you asked our opinions, I’d say that if you’re younger stick with the machines downstairs where they are less trouble and you get more closet space. If you’re old enough to be retired and don’t need that much closet space anyway, lose the difficulty of moving laundry and downstairs by installing in the closet.

 

[Half-fast eddie]

Proposed location won’t work, unless its a stacked apartment size W&D. Most units are 30” wide … you show a 24” door. And getting them to fit in that tight space will be a b!itch, you need a couple of inches of extra clearance. And think about who is going to have to squeeze in there behind the dryer to connect the exhaust hose, which will cause the dryer to be 6” off the back wall.

Your sketch is totally unrealistic.