AIBU - washing machine in bathroom -tedious post

[Rosevi]

We have a massive bathroom which I think we could put our washing machine in. Husband is mortified at the suggestion. When I lived in London it was a common sight in studio flats and I think it makes sense. I have no objections to it being in the kitchen but for me it would make more sense to have dirty clothes in the bathroom than near a food preparation area. Does anyone out there have a washing machine in their bathroom?
AIBU to think that this is no big deal?

I think it's very common throughout Europe to have them in the bathroom.

I often wonder why I am carrying clothes from the furthest possible point in my house to the utility room

There are rubber mats you can get to absorb vibration too.

Just bear the following in mind, though:

"UK regulations permit the installation of a washing machine in a bathroom so long as stringent local authority regulations are adhered to. To comply with these protocols, the bathroom must be large enough to place the washing machine a minimum of 3m away from the nearest edge of the bath or shower."

If you're okay with that, go ahead.

Dunno Baroness
Except my bathroom is floorboards over a space. My kitchen (and basement, and most people's garages, and utilities) have concrete floors.
Washing machines are very, very, very heavy, and move about a bit on a fast spin.

Sadly, the building regulations will probably scupper it, as while the OP's bathroom is large, its probably not that large.

Which is a shame, because she sounds ideally placed to put it in the downstairs bathroom. I wouldn't want a washing machine upstairs because I line dry for 8/9 months of the year, so would still have to bring washing downstairs most of the time.

Apparently Eiropeans think we're weird for having our washing machines in the kitchen/utility room I've lived in Germany and every place I stayed in there had the washing machine in the bathroom.

That should say Europeans, obviously

Dutch houses even have concrete floors upstairs. They're so solid that small children can jump off bunk beds. Repeatedly.

Mine is in my bathroom. It has been in all places I live. I think it is normal here (Norway). Can't think of anyone I know who doesn't have it in their bathroom (whose houses I have visited and remember).

We used to in a previous flat. Had washing machine and dryer stacked: DH drilled a hole in the wall and fed the wires through to a socket on the landing. Building regulations never had anything to do with it. It worked really well actually, particulaly in the muddy run, strip off straight into the shower scenario.

It I go for an over the bath shower I can just about get 3m but it would look odd. I’ll check building regs with the local council just in case. Liz70, thanks for picking that up.

We have a small utility area at the back of our house so it can go there, I am reluctant as the best views from the house are from there and I had visions of a budget sun room!

may be a good idea to speak to a 'qualified' electrician as I thought that electrical appliances in a bathroom were illegal.
Something to do with wet hands and easy flow of current making it a deadly combination.

Apart from making sure your electricity socket is safe, seems perfectly reasonable to me. If DH doesn't like it, maybe he could build a little cupboard round it, so he doesn't have to look at it.

Mine is in the bathroom (Paris), in Berlin I had an enormous laundry room in the basement where I could hang washing from an airer and also keep the ironing board permanently up so ironing just one shirt was a matter of moments - how I miss that room. Benefit of machine in bathroom is dirty clothes go straight in laundry basket and then in machine - so easy (it’s actually plumbed into a cupboard so I can keep laundry basket, washing powder etc all neatly tucked away and out of sight).

Mine is in the bathroom, I greatly prefer it there.

I can't stand having my washing machine in the kitchen. I'd much rather have it in the bathroom.

Building regs: are we saying here that contents insurance would be null and void in the event of an accident, or that the British aren't allowed washing machines in their bathrooms because the government says no? Despite the rest of Europe doing it and still being alive and insured....... Just pondering.

Why are we 'not allowed' appliances in the bathroom in the UK, but they are commonplace elsewhere in Europe?

Isn't the risk of 'wet hands' in a kitchen just the same as in a bathroom?

There are no washing police checking up on you though.

It’s a bit surprised as I’m pretty sure our upstairs shower is electric. Also surprised that each council must employ someone to regulate this level of civil disobedience. Who knew!

We removed the bath from our large bathroom, leaving just a shower sink and loo (have a smaller bathroom on the top floor which has a bath and shower) and replaced with a floor to ceiling cupboard, have the washing machine in on the bottom and a shelf with the tumble dryer on the top. That only takes up one third of the space so leaves us with a massive cupboard which is so useful.

As long as the socket is in zone 3 (60cm from bath or sink taps) there's no problem.

The reason most bathrooms don't have sockets is because they're too small so don't have anywhere far enough from the bath or sink.

Yeah, you could build a cupboard for it in the bathroom. We've put ours into a cupboard we built next to the bathroom, but not in it. Upstairs washing machines are so much better than in the kitchen.

Do it! I'm putting mine in the garage shortly and getting a dishwasher in its place. I'm very excited. My Italian relatives have their washing machine in the bathroom for as long as I can remember with no problems, just on the opposite side to the bath

I think it makes sense to have the washing machine upstairs where your dirty cloths are and then its easier to sort them once they are clean. However I don't think I could deal with it in my bathroom but couldn't give you a reason as to why.