Home Improvement

Anyone have recommendations for compact Washer/Dryer? Our ancient Asko went a few weekends ago and our upstairs laundry room can only support compact sizing due to wiring. (Only a single Power connection for appliances). Will need to get some cabinetry redone which will take time so have some time to sit and make a choice. Due to the size of the room I'm not looking to consider adding a new power outlet to support full sized washer/dryer. Will get that put into the basement down the road.

Leaning towards Get Bosch Compact in MA | Compact Washers WAW285H2UC

Also spoke with 3 General Contractors last Friday. Had a few that I ended up deciding not to work with as they wouldn't handle portions of the renovation. It's like... you are GC you handle finding someone to put the garage door up.

Will be providing me with estimates finally on

- Garage Renovation (teardown to cinderblock and rebuild all wood and roof)
- Gut renovation of Three bedrooms on second floor

2/3 GC were highly against replacing the windows that I have. Both tend to deal with older houses and recommended rehabbing the windows instead of replacing. Will have to see what the extra cost is. Was already looking at dumping ~1.1-1.2k in per window so if its a couple hundred more and I can get an insert to add additional insulation in the winter I may do it. (Window Inserts - Interior Soundproofing Storm Windows | Indow)

I have a good sense of which of the contractors I will go with already (recommendation from neighbor who had similar work done on their house so I've seen the quality) so I'm just hoping they will consider it and provide a competitive estimate (They don't need to be the cheapest).

Vinen said:

upstairs laundry room can only support compact sizing due to wiring. (Only a single Power connection for appliances). Will need to get some cabinetry redone which will take time so have some time to sit and make a choice. Due to the size of the room I'm not looking to consider adding a new power outlet to support full sized washer/dryer. Will get that put into the basement down the road

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Not sure on your living situation, but if this a permanent home you might want to consider rewiring. Also not sure if your upstairs laundry is 2nd story or ground level. A basement laundry room is going to suck when your knees and whatnot start to age. Going up and down stairs with laundry baskets is asking for trouble. Just something to think about.

Drakain said:

Not sure on your living situation, but if this a permanent home you might want to consider rewiring. Also not sure if your upstairs laundry is 2nd story or ground level. A basement laundry room is going to suck when your knees and whatnot start to age. Going up and down stairs with laundry baskets is asking for trouble. Just something to think about.

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Upstairs laundry is second floor (three story house + finished basement).

May consider converting a built-in that on the 2nd floor to a spot for full sized appliances. Closet style configuration. It's original and not in great shape. Will involve running water through the ceiling or floor to a different section of house.

Lanx said:

don't you have a growing family? a compact/W&D ain't gonna do jack.

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Which is why I want to add a full-sized into a different location. We can't fit a full-sized into the current spot.

Lanx said:

so you've moved in already and want a compact w/d as your temp solution? and somehow figure our what to give up for a closet w/d?

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House had a couple who had no plans/couldn't have kids in it prior. They had compact Washer/Dryer installed in a smallish room off the Master Bedroom. We are knew this when we purchased (just didn't expect washer to croak this quickly). Just getting the cabinetry redone here to get new compact fit in for the short-term.

Long-term we are getting a full-sized installed into another location. This looks like either the 2nd floor or basement. 2nd floor is more difficult as it will involve running a waterline to a new area of the house and a proper electric circuit. This hallway is not part of our first phase of renovations.

House is ~4000sqft so we have a lot to work with. Just need to do it at the right phase of our planned renovations.

Anyhow. We have a laundromat 2 minutes from our house walking that has served as a good stopgap in the meanwhile.

Lanx said:

While Drakain touched on the basement bad cuz of walking w/ bad knees and age, i find it best cuz the laundry and sound is out of the way, just so loud on a floor you live on. I'd go w/ the basement, i'd rather my current closet w/d be in the basement, even tho it's fully finished and carpeted, if i could choose, to get away from the noise.

sounds like you need that stop gap soon, heh. Even laundry 2mins away, however convenient is annoying, when you just want to drop and forget.

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Doing Laundry is oddly relaxing. I leave the house for 2 hours on Saturday/Sunday to get it done. One of the few times I get to myself right now that i have a 1 year old.

I have laundry on the main floor. I have it next to the kitchen, separated by a hallway. Shares a wall with the family room. I did substantial sound insulation, and I can't hear the laundry running anywhere but in the laundry room. I don't want it on the second floor. When I'm doing laundry is during the day, when I'm on the main floor, not on the second story.

lurkingdirk said:

I have laundry on the main floor. I have it next to the kitchen, separated by a hallway. Shares a wall with the family room. I did substantial sound insulation, and I can't hear the laundry running anywhere but in the laundry room. I don't want it on the second floor. When I'm doing laundry is during the day, when I'm on the main floor, not on the second story.

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Thats another option for us that may be easier to do. We have a closet at the bottom of our stairs we can reconfigure for this as well. Right now its just random storage.

If you can find the space, make a whole laundry room. I have 12 linear feet of counter space in the laundry room, and it's awesome to fold/sort/whatever on. It also serves well for kids' science projects. Also, a utility sink is a must.

lurkingdirk said:

If you can find the space, make a whole laundry room. I have 12 linear feet of counter space in the laundry room, and it's awesome to fold/sort/whatever on. It also serves well for kids' science projects. Also, a utility sink is a must.

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Not really an option without changing the character of the house. We don't have plants to do that.

1890s Victorian.

Bloody Victorians were so inconsiderate.

a c i d.f l y said:

Planning to redo my floors in my living room, kitchen, stairs, and master bedroom (leaving carpet upstairs alone). Was going to run laminate wood planks throughout the living room and kitchen, but was informed it's a bad idea to run wood, laminate or natural, in the kitchen. Moisture gonna fuck it up.

Now I'm looking at ceramic wood planks. They're cheaper (the ones I'm looking at). But then you've got grout to deal with. Which probably isn't actually a big deal, compared to scratches and water vulnerability. Biggest issue is just good luck selling my wife on "cold tile". Hermmm.

Bedroom will be some fluffy carpet.

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Who told you that? I've had wood floors in all my Kitchens for the past 15 years... never had an issue.

First estimate in
~80K USD for gutting 3 bedrooms to the stud and installing 14 windows. (NOTE: Windows are 1K USD each). Waiting for 2 more to come in before I make my choice. This is the estimate from the guy that I plan on going unless the other two come back drastically different.