Laundry Rooms Going Upscale?

Maybe not upscale, but Americans certainly are dumping more and more money into their laundry rooms, particularly in new construction. Working in the biz for a builder-distributor of appliances, and dealing with a lot of new construction, this is something I saw a lot.

Laundry facilities used to be relegated to the basement, usually in some dark corner where the spiders tended to make their homes. Over the last few years, they have been pulled from the basement and placed either on the main floor, or more commonly on the upper floor, near the bedrooms. This made sense, since you would not have to lug baskets of laundry up and down a flight or two of stairs.

Laundry rooms are also becoming larger, with homeowners installing premium cabinetry and countertops. It is not uncommon to find the same design integrated into the laundry room as the kitchen!

Moving the laundry room to the upper levels, particularly on the second floor, does create the potential for problems. Should a hose on the washing machine break, it can lead to thousands of dollars in damage. Floor drainage should be planned if you are putting the washer on an upper level. Also, many people spending their hard-earned dollars on deluxe laundry rooms are usually purchasing the hardware to go in them, such as high-efficiency front load washers. These machines can cause a lot of vibration if not installed correctly on a reinforced surface, so watch out there.