Having a washing machine upstairs

[Murtette]

Has anyone got a washing machine upstairs rather than downstairs? If so, what are the pros & cons? To me, the pro seems to be that its where the washing is produced and the clean clothes are put away but it will still have to be taken up and down the stairs to get to the washing line and of course there's the noise factor. I do a load of washing most nights - would the spin cycle wake us all up? In the house we're about to move into, there's a washing machine size cupboard upstairs and moving it up there would free up some room in the kitchen for an extra cupboard.

Thanks!

We used to have one in a house I worked in - along with a tumble drier. Super sensible with young kids as you could bung sheets, clothes etc all in there and whack them in the machine afterwards. There was also a big table for folding/storing clothes on. Go for it!

(For those eco warriers who think this is heinously un-green, yes it is, but since the rest of the house was a sustainable living fantasy with fish farm, kitchen garden, logging forest, bee keeping etc. I reckon it was okay).

It makes total sense to have your washing machine upstairs. However, my folks put their's upstairs in a cupboard in quite a large bathroom with the dryer on top of it). Thing is it directly above the kitchen and makes the whole ceiling shake when it is on the spin cycle. The extractor above the hob shakes terribly. It hasn't really worked out well at all. That said, if the builder is good (which theirs wasn't!) - there should be some way around the problem, so this doesn't happen!! They worked it out - I'll need to ask them and post again later!

you've got the pros and cons in your OP
hugely helpful having it where you produce the laundry. you need to have it in a place where there is enough room to deal with the laundry though. buy a quiet one.

(ps we had one on the 2nd floor outside the kids room in a house we rented ages ago - it was fine and they never woke up)

I also looked round a house once that had a chute from the kids bathroom straight into a laundry basket in the utility room

now THAT was cool!

We have our tumble drier upstairs for the pure reason that there was nowhere else to put it, but it does make sense - we can fold and sort all the laundry on our bed, which is lovely and easy.

Would the washing machine be in a bathroom? Makes perfect sense to me. DH's family are from a country where washing machines all go in bathrooms, and are all very baffled by ours being in the kitchen!

In central/eastern Europe the normal place to have a washing machine is in the bathroom. Which is a much more sensible place to have it than in the kitchen, tbh.

We have ours in a tiny room next to the bathroom that used to be a separate loo but is now a mini utility room/laundry room. I have a drying rack in there too, as the room also houses the boiler so warms up quite nicely. I can dry pretty much a whole washload on the rack overnight.

the weight of it would worry me, also the fact that they can go wrong and leak water everywhere - easier to deal with if on ground floor

Ah but southeastastra - think of all the washing machines in blocks of flats! That argument doesn't really apply.

If you lived in a flat or bungalow you'd have it on the same floor as you are sleeping on. But one floor of a two-storey house is likely to be smaller, granted.

Leaking is a good point - I think it's different in a flat, surely? Are the floors not thicker between flats than they are between storeys of a house? (I have no idea btw, I'm just assuming) - but then baths can cause havoc if you leave them running and most people have them upstairs.

In my dream house I would have my laundry room upstairs (I emphasise dream here) - can't see the point in bringing washing downstairs to go back upstairs. But then why would I care because my laundry lady would be doing it anyway!!

Washing machine spinning on a suspended timber floor is like an aircraft taking off.

Mine could be heard the other side of the world. Literally. Was two rooms away on international call and friend shrieked "What the bloody hell's that?!"

I hadn't thought about the amount of noise coming through the floorboards. I used to live on the ground floor of a Victorian property and even though it had been purpose built as an upstairs/downstairs flat, so had better insulation between the floors than a conversion, the noise of the washing machine on spin was dreadful - the people who lived in the upstairs flat thought it was a helicopter hovering overhead when they came down for a drink one evening having left the machine on. So annoying. I'd spent the day planning my laundry room (well, cupboard) and how much better my life was going to be with it.

If you're really keen, you could investigate some sort of mechanically isolated platform which doesn't transmit vibration to the floorboards. Bet someone somewhere's done it, but also bet it cost.

My husband is driving me mad after reading on here that it would be great to have the washing machine and drier upstairs. Now that we are finishing to renovate our ensuite bathroom he wants to put the two machines in there in place of the shower. What do you think?

I love having mine upstairs and there's no problem with noise or vibration. I check the washing machine is not set on the highest spin on the rare occasions I put something on at 60 degrees and I think there's some sort of pad underneath it which wasn't expensive. I also have a sink, heated airer and the ironing board set up in there

Ours is in a cupboard upstairs and it makes my life so much easier! And as long as te cupboard has a fort it should be fine noise wise. We also have a condenser tumble drier on top of the washing machine and that isn’t too loud either with door shut

Ours is upstairs - not by choice but there was a laundry room when we moved in.

It works well for us in terms of being close to washing basket on landing and for putting clothes away. I'm a big fan of line drying and it's not really made that amy more tricky tbh.

The brand of machine can be an issue - when we moved we had a Bosch which apparently are noisy spinners and it did sound like a helicopter landing sometimes! Since getting an AEG last year it's much quieter downstairs. Noise upstairs never been an issue.

Hi
I have just had my washing machine and tumble dryer moved upstairs. It is lovely as l don't have all the clothes hanging around downstairs. But we did get off to a bad start, there was a problem with the connection at the back and it started leaking through the ceiling below. I am worried about the vibrations and weight, so I have probably caused myself unnecessary stress, but clothes all over the house was driving me insane. Its early days though so I am sure I'll calm down.

Our washing machine is upstairs in what was the airing cupboard in the bathroom. The boiler is in there too and I have a built in hanging rack too. Wash basket in bathroom, so all very convenient. Don't see the argument against upstairs as regards hanging clothes outside as either way you have to return clothes to upstairs!
With a very small kitchen, I honestly don't know how it would fit in there and as people say it can be noisy on spin so why would I want that in my living space?

You can buy vibration absorbing cups or mats online to help manage the noise etc.

It's a very good idea. It's quaintly 'English' to have a washing machine in the kitchen and not everyone has a house with a laundry room.

I'd quite like that too.