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Original poster

do I need a sink in the laundry room?

60 replies

eternalrenovation · 08/09/2021 14:43

So I'm renovating my forever home and I'm not sure if I need a sink in the laundry room.

In the attached floorplan the laundry room is a dedicated room highlighted in blue. You access it by going under the stairs from the hallway, past the WC.

It measures 2.6 x 1.5m and has one tall cabinet for a water cylinder, then a worktop of 1.9m above a washer and a dryer. I could put in a small sink too but it would cost worktop and storage space.

The WC sink is 2m away from the laundry room, the large kitchen sink is 8m away, and having three sinks on the ground floor seems a bit excessive. I figured I could use the WC sink to fill buckets to mop floors etc.

I'm putting in a new washer and dryer, presumably modern machines mean the old days of soaking stains are less common?

I've spent a few hours looking into this and most people seem to go for a sink but when space is tight I think I could live without one. Having said that I don't have kids now but perhaps my mind would change in the future ... any help gratefully received :)

do I need a sink in the laundry room?
OP posts:
Twizbe · 08/09/2021 14:46

Short answer is yes.

We have a sink in our utility room and it's much closer to the kitchen than yours.

We use it for washing up mostly, but I also use it for hand washing delicates, spot treating stains and really grubby washing jobs.

purplecorkheart · 08/09/2021 14:46

Is the WC sink big enough to fit a bucket. I have similar set up and most say that I use the sink in the utility regularly and would not be without it.

cheeseismydownfall · 08/09/2021 14:46

Personally I would want a sink. It isn't just laundry that needs soaking, its all kinds of stuff that I wouldn't want to use the kitchen sink for. And a cloakroom basin is unlikely to be large enough for anything other than handwashing etc (and needs to remain available for that purpose).

I get where you are coming from because I actually don't use the sink in our laundry room very frequently. But when I do I'm glad it is there.

oneglassandpuzzled · 08/09/2021 14:48

Our utility room is being replaced at the moment and I really miss the sink in it although we have a kitchen sink and downstairs WC. Can't wait to get it up and running again.

SW1amp · 08/09/2021 14:48

We put one in our space-stretched utility room, and wouldn’t be without it

Muddy boots, soaking stains and drying delicates - all happens more than we had realised

Dinosauraddict · 08/09/2021 14:53

We have a sink in our utility room. It was there when we bought new house so didn't opt for it. Don't use it all that much but it is useful - there's a compartment on our new fancy tumble dryer that you have to tip water out of once a week, useful to fill dog water bowl from etc. Could definitely live without it, but it's a nice to have.

Anordinarymum · 08/09/2021 14:53

I had a utility room without a sink and it was fine, but if you have the chance to install one now I would do it. So handy for so many jobs

Gettingonabitnow · 08/09/2021 14:54

No - I’m patiently waiting until I can rip out the one in the house I’ve moved into! Total waste of space. X

steppemum · 08/09/2021 14:54

hmm,
the sink in WC is normally just a bsin for hand washing.
Sink in kitchen is for food
sink in utility is for - floor washing, paint brushes, football boots, pet bowls, muddy wellies, vomit, laundry etc etc

So I LOVE having a proper 'dirty sink' in my utility room. I owuldn't consider the WC sink to be an alternative.

Our utility is actully so small there is no room for a sink, so I put one in the back of the garage. Very glad we did.

QuestionableMouse · 08/09/2021 14:57

A sink is really nice to have. If you get a Belfast type one, there are covers/racks that fit over so you can still use the space.

My current house only has a kitchen and I hate using the kitchen sink to do dirty jobs on top of normal kitchen jobs!

IM0GEN · 08/09/2021 15:02

@steppemum

hmm, the sink in WC is normally just a bsin for hand washing. Sink in kitchen is for food sink in utility is for - floor washing, paint brushes, football boots, pet bowls, muddy wellies, vomit, laundry etc etc

So I LOVE having a proper 'dirty sink' in my utility room. I owuldn't consider the WC sink to be an alternative.

Our utility is actully so small there is no room for a sink, so I put one in the back of the garage. Very glad we did.

This.

You can stack your WM and TD , that will leave you with 1.3m of worktop . Plenty room for a large DEEP sink.

HoppyHop · 08/09/2021 15:02

Have you considered knocking the wall down in between the utility & the WC, making it one room, therefore only requiring one sink? We never would have thought of this but had it in a rental and I would definitely do it if I was in a situation similar to you. (I realise this isn't the question you asked Hmm)

NapoleonOzmolysis · 08/09/2021 15:03

We used to have a WC with sink off of the utility that had a kitchen sink in it (off the kitchen that had a kitchen sink in it) and when we redid the utility I had the WC sink replaced with a kitchen sink and gained the worktop space in the utility itself.

RitaFires · 08/09/2021 15:09

My laundry room was done by a previous owner and there's no sink or obvious place to put one without having to move electrics which I don't really want to do. It means there's no good place to soak things or handwash anything. I do think having a sink would be more convenient, I have to use the outside tap for manky jobs.

Bancha · 08/09/2021 15:14

If you don’t have kids yet then you don’t know how much soaking you will need to do! I nearly didn’t put a sink in my laundry room but after being told I was mad went for a Belfast sink and I genuinely use it every day - muddy shoes/boots, soaking stained baby clothes, DIY, filling buckets, etc etc. Really wouldn’t be without it now. If you get a sink, make sure it’s a big one, a WC sink won’t do the same job at all.

DilysPhyllis · 08/09/2021 15:16

3 kids, 1 dog, we have a utility without a sink and it didn't occur to me to have a sink when we had it built as part of the extension. Muddy boots and wellies never come into the house, they stay in the garage out front to dry out and then mud scraped off outside, I wouldn't be washing them in a sink indoors even if I had one. I couldn't tell you the last time I soaked an item of clothing, possibly when they were babies my memory is a bit hazy! Even then it would be in a bucket.

I suppose consider what you would use it for and whether it's worth sacrificing the worktop space. Worktop space is more important to me so I wouldn't sacrifice it.

WhatAWasteOfOranges · 08/09/2021 16:50

I take it you’ll be getting a heat pump dryer? The water from these will need to be emptied after every cycle so would be handy for that

LittleOverWhelmed · 08/09/2021 17:22

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

ShingleBeach · 08/09/2021 17:41

Yes, but get one that you can fit a board over to use as worktop when not being used.

minipie · 08/09/2021 17:54

Can you make the loo smaller and the utility bigger? The loo looks huge

Avanacho · 08/09/2021 17:57

I wouldn’t be without mine- soaking stained clothes, filling:draining mop bucket, rinsing wellies and Sandy flip flops, swimwear…

cushioncovers · 08/09/2021 18:04

Yes I would want a sink

MovingSchmoving · 08/09/2021 18:05

What @steppemum said.
The wc sink is not a sink it’s a hand basin really.
The kitchen sink you don’t want full of crap (sometimes literally in a house with pets or small DC).
I have almost exact same dimensions as you in our utility and we have a sink in the middle of the 1.9m run and there’s still plenty of space either side for folded laundry etc.

AmberRoseGold · 08/09/2021 18:08

We have a utility box room with no sink and it is super frustrating. Can’t soak stains or wash out dirty stuff. Redesigning and will have both sink in laundry room and in mud room if I can make it work.

PragmaticWench · 08/09/2021 18:10

For those mentioning heat pump dryers needing to be emptied, you can easily plumb them into the drain under a sink so no more emptying of the drawer.