If your renovating your home or perhaps building a new one, you should strongly consider placing your laundry room adjacent to the bedrooms on the same floor. It seems that approximately 90% of the laundry is generated on that level. Bed linens and dirty clothes are the most commonly washed items and an occasional throw rug can always be carried upstairs if need be from time to time.
In a two story house, it is especially desirable as many housewives can truly attest too. Climbing up and down stairs carrying heavy clothes baskets can be murder on the back and legs. Placing a laundry room in the basement which builders did for years, is out of the question today.
A five foot by seven foot room is just a large closet but can accommodate both a washer and dryer either side by side or stacked units. This leaves plenty of space for a nice set of wall hung cabinets and a folding table. If you iron clothes, the room can be slightly larger or use a wall mounted ironing board that folds up when not in use. There are also wall mounted irons available today that save space and can be left in a wall holder when not in use.
Although not critical, a window is always desirable but with or without a window an exhaust fan is a must. Excess moisture can cause mildew to form on the walls, causing both a health hazard and mold stains on the painted walls. I use smooth faced mylar paneling which is easy to clean and takes a great deal of abuse over time. The floor needs to something easy to clean as well. Using either twelve inch or twenty-four vinyl tiles makes installing the flooring easy to do and the care of the floor quick and easy as well.
Any laundry installed today should have a plastic drain pan placed under the washing machine. These pans come with a drain outlet that can be connected to a sewer line. In the event of an accidental overflow of the washer, the water is safely sent down the sewer line and not onto the floor surfaces. A sewer trap must be installed as well to prevent any sewer gases from backing into the house. The pans are inexpensive and can save thousand of dollars in water damages.
