DIY & Home Improvement
Related: About this forumSo my washer and dryer are in my "not yet a kitchen" and I don't have anywhere else to put
it unless I:
1) dig out my crawlspace into a basement and put it there
or
2) Enclose (which would most likely mean tear down) my side porch and build a small laundry/mud room off the kitchen.
Before he died, Dad's solution was to build a 20 foot, 2 story extension off the back of the house (a small, two dormer cape cod). I abandoned that, so this is the next option. My attic is unfinished (most capes have two bedrooms and a bath up there...i have some storage and my hot water heater)
Anyway, I have no money and am open for suggestions, lol. Is it less expensive to dig out the basement, or enlose a side porch?
LaydeeBug
(10,291 posts)Warpy
(113,131 posts)I know the beast really well. To make a laundry space, either an upstairs bathroom or one of the bedroom closets would have to be sacrificed. Putting a full dormer on the back of the house might buy enough room for a small laundry area, and this would likely be a lot less expensive than either an addition or a basement dug under the house and would help the resale value better than the latter.
In this case and without an attached garage, I'd just stack the damned things in the kitchen and call it a Euro style kitchen, since that's where most washers are there, at least in apartments.
LaydeeBug
(10,291 posts)to do laundry...but there is no eat in space otherwise.
decisions, decisions
The Velveteen Ocelot
(121,219 posts)1) Excavating for more basement space is very expensive. So I didn't do that.
2) The existing basement is small, with a low ceiling and an awkward stairway, so I decided not to put the washer and dryer down there if I couldn't improve it.
3) I was advised not to put the washer and dryer upstairs because of the expense of all the new plumbing and wiring, plus the fact that if the washer leaked it could ruin the floor plus the ceiling and wall below it (even if you put a water catcher and drain underneath the washer).
So I stacked the washer and dryer in the remodeled kitchen, as is common in Europe. It's worked out just fine and saved me a bunch of money.
You could enclose the side porch, but when I looked into doing something like that I was told the building code required installing 4' footings, which the old porch didn't have and which also would be expensive. Depending on what your layout is and how much space you have in the kitchen, you might just want to leave them there. Stacking them doesn't take up so much room and you'll already have plumbing connections you can attach them to.
LaydeeBug
(10,291 posts)The Velveteen Ocelot
(121,219 posts)It looks like this:
If you walk in and turn around to the right, the washer/dryer are here:
LaydeeBug
(10,291 posts)Kaleva
(38,371 posts)I google searched images of washers and dryers in kitchens and there's many nice set ups.
greymouse
(872 posts)but in not so long ago days, it wasn't unusual to have a washer and dryer on the porch, not enclosed.