does anyone have a basement utility room?

[cocopops]

we are thinking of converting basement into a utility room. WE have a smallish window at the front of the room and I was thinking of putting in a condensing tumble dryer (we also have our boiler down there at mo).

A friend said her tumble dryer still causes a lot of condensation in her (above ground) utility room and I wondered if it was wise to shove a tumble dryer down there?

any tips welcome!

we have one, it's not perfect

we have a condenser and it does cause condensation, largely because of the heat of the drying and the natural coldness of the walls

you have to have really good ventilation, and also we have a dehumidifier

and sometimes mildew grows and we have to clean it off

but there was nowhere else to put it and I barely use the dryer, I line dry or dry on an airer unless I'm really strapped

We have one, but our whole flat is a basement, so it's not quite the same. There's no radiator in there though, and I don't find the condensation a problem.

My sister has a basement utility room in her house in Amsterdam. She has a condenser tumble drier but no water outlet, so has to carry the water drawer upstairs to her kitchen to empty it - this is a real bore.

Also she finds that taking her washing down two flights of stairs to wash it, then up two stairs again to dry it (because even if she tumbles some of it, she can't hang anything out to dry in the basement), then down one floor to iron it, then back up one floor to put it all away, a huge pain.

Can you not install your washer/drier in a column in an upstairs bathroom?

mm, that's what I was concerned about. I have a washing machine at the mo in my kitchen and vented t-d in a family room but i am planning to remove the vented one as we need the space and also if we go open plan in due course I dont' want a noisy washing machine in that area.

Our bathrooms are too small to house a wm/tb i'm afraid.....

capuccino- is your basement tanked? I wasplanning to get ours tanked (made waterproof) and new plasterboard walls put on- this is what they do with basements that are going to be used for living space. I wonder if that will make a difference...

coco yes it is

it was a nightmare, a complete nightmare, and it cost us a fortune

we converted our cellar to a utility room with loo.
Have a condensor boiler but have never had any problems wit h condensation.
OUr cellar is completely underground - used to be the coal cellar. The walls and floor were tanked to prevent damp getting in. Fans from the cellar vent out under the front step. The fans are heat activated, so when it gets too warm they click on.

It is fantastic.

I wonder whether the fact that the basement is only part basemnet (i.e. has a window) might make a difference in your case.

We have the washing machine down there. Installed a saniflow pump that basically pumps out the loo, basin and washing machine waste up to ground level and the foul drainage.

We have our condensing dryer and washing machine in our basement. It's mostly underground with a small window at the top of the wall at the far end of the room to the dryer. The heating thing is there too (I say thing because I don't know what it's called in English. It's boiler-like but not exactly a boiler). We leave the window permanently open - here is a metal grille on it.

Works fine, no condensation, nice and warm because of the boiler-thing, good ventilation from the window.

Cappuccino - do you mind me asking why it was a nightmare and how much it cost?

We need more space and were going to move but because of the current property/mortgage situation are now considering converting our cellars.

yes i do
we have a condenser dryer - NO moisture its fine

previous ownner had a vented dryer and hole piped

our quote for tanking is £7k and that doesn't inlcude electrics- I reckon we'll spend around £10k in all to get everything done

We rent a house in Brussels and have the washing machine and tumble drier in the cellar. We have a condensing drier, and dh has set it up so it drains into a bucket which I then take out through the garage and chuck on the garden.

I also have an IKEA drying rack there that I can get things dry on. We have a small window for ventilation, so there's never been a problem with condensation.

we have had a cellar tanked and will again

fabulous

it was 17k ish for two utility rooms a corridor and a living room to include electrics and heating

worth every penny

Chacun - how was it tanked? Was it done by them coating the walls and floor or was it a membrane system? The membranes seem prohibitively expensive but I'm concerned that just waterproofing may eventually fail.

We had a membrane in our cellar as part of the tanking.

OUr cellar isn't massive. About 2m wide by about 8m long. We have a large cupboard with a pump in (which gives us a pressurised hot and cold water system, to boost the mains pressure - necessary because we wanted a skin stripping shower in the loft extension) and various things like tools and stuff.

Then a worksurface run with belfast sink and washing machine and dryer (condensor). Then under the stairs which have a quarter turn, is a loo, storage space under stairs and a saniflo macerator which allows us to pump waste (from loo, washing machine and basin) to sewer level.

The cost all in was about £12 000 including tanking, pump, saniflo, loo, new staircase, flooring and decorating (and vents and so on). The best money we've spent IMO because the kitchen is free of washing now, we have an additional loo, and it's something we've created from nothing, unlike the cosmetic stuff we've had done round the house.

oooh, pooka, I like the sound of what you've done.

the price we were quoted includes the membrace. I also have a pump in the basement at the moment and apressured OzO system down there (huge thing) which sounds like yours.

I would love to have a kitchen free of washing!

membrane, rather

It is brill - and our pump is also bloody enormous (but does a great job).

I honestly think that all the other things we've done including new kitchen, bathrooms and loft and so on are nothing to the cellar. Makes me sound like a real sad case, but I love being able to chuck all the messy stuff down there, including hats, coats, gloves, scarves, washing, bulk buys of loo roll and washing powder, prams and stuff. Makes the rest of the house seem much less cluttered.

I'm a bit late to this thread but are you able to tell me who did your cellar utility room conversion, Pooka? Sounds like they did a good job.