Laundry room in basement?

From my experience, people seem to frown upon this. Is it just because you have to deal with stairs, or is there another reason why people find this undesirable? My "laundry room" is super small, so my plan is to relocate the machines to the basement and create a spacious laundry room down there, and make my current laundry room a mud room. Any input is appreciated! TIA!

Laundry room in basement?

My laundry room is in the basement. No negatives for me. I do laundry a couple times a week.

Laundry room in basement?

Mine is in the basement too. It's a bit of a PITA going up and down the stairs with laundry baskets but not that big of a deal.

Laundry room in basement?

Ours is off our kitchen right now, but we plan on moving it to the basement when we re-do our kitchen so we can expand the size of the kitchen

Re: Laundry room in basement?

Ours is in the basement and I prefer it that way. We have been to a few open houses and if I see a washer/dryer in the kitchen or 1st floor where the basement has room for it, I find it to be a real turn off.

Re: Laundry room in basement?

I thought it was smart to have it on the 2nd floor however my sister "kinda" doesn't like it cause everybody will be on the 1st floor and she has to go to the 2nd floor to change loads, etc.. You can exchange 2nd floor for basements as its the same thing.

Now sometimes it works great because the kids may be playing on the 2nd floor so no back and forth etc...

The thought is why bring it down to bring it back up so having it on the floor where the bedrooms are make sense. My house its in the basement and it is what it is.

Re: Laundry room in basement?

I don't really even like basements but ours is nicely finished with a really spacious laundry room...

Re: Laundry room in basement?

I don't think it would be a deal-breaker for anyone. We just went to contract on a home that has the laundry in the basement. And if the room you have currently is very small then relocating it and making a nice space downstairs might even be more desirable than the situation you currently have. I think another issue is the "niceness" of the basement... Like, if it is a finished basement for an area that is somewhat finished, clean, and looks good I think people take to that better. If it is an old, dark, damp, dungeon of a basement unfinished I think sometimes people feel like they are going into a cave to do laundry KWIM? But it sounds like you are going to create a very nice space so I don't see anyone being turned off by it, honestly.

Re: Laundry room in basement?

Most older homes I sell (and by older, I mean, non new construction) have laundry rooms in the basement, if they have a basement.

It's only newer construction that have them upstairs, usually on the second level by the bedrooms. That can have it's own issues (in terms of leaks, etc.) so you really have to make sure everything is properly drained and all of that.

I think it's personal preference, but I've never heard of people being against basement laundry rooms. Some homes I have sold have been capes where the laundry has been in one of the downstairs bedrooms instead of the basement, and all of my buyers said they'd move it to the basement. And some smaller homes or Levitts have it in the kitchen or main floor bath, and people tend to not like that. Most people seem to want or expect the laundry in the basement, unless it's a new construction.

Personally, I have a split and mine is down in the basement, and I am fine with it. Don't know where else I would put it. I really wouldn't want to take up any living space or bedroom space with it.

Laundry room in basement?

In my apartment I had a stackable in what used to be a hallway closet. At first I loved the idea, but then it was kind of a pain b/c there was no where to keep hampers and stuff.
In my house we have a laundry room in the basement and it's a fairly large room. I like that better.
So for me, I would prefer a larger laundry room in a basement, then a tight space upstairs.

Laundry room in basement?

Ours is in the basement and I prefer it.

Re: Laundry room in basement?

Thanks everyone. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing a major downfall of having a laundry room in the basement. My basement is finished, so I think I'm making the right move. Thanks again!

Message edited 4/17/2013 11:49:47 AM.

Re: Laundry room in basement?

My washer is in the basement, and growing up my parents' was in the basement as well, so I have no issue with this. I only have a ranch, so I am not going down 2 flights of stairs.

Laundry room in basement?

In the house we are buying the washer and dryer is in the closet of our master bath/walk in closet and I actually would've preferred the basement bc I feel I would get more room but everyone says I would crazy to move them downstairs so we will see lol

Re: Laundry room in basement?

ours in in the basement. My biggest complaint is the stairs.

Re: Laundry room in basement?

I think you're making the right move. I'd much rather have a mud room and a spacious laundry room, even if it's downstairs.

My laundry is downstairs in a finished basement and since we are down there everyday already, it's no problem for me to throw a load in and carry it back up.

Re: Laundry room in basement?

Our laundry room is in the basement...maybe it's just us, but we don't mind the stairs.

Re: Laundry room in basement?

Ours is in the basement. It's a little annoying going up and down the stairs, but I'm perfectly fine with it.

Re: Laundry room in basement?

We have always had our washer & dryer in the basement. It is a finished basement with a kitchen & bathroom. The reason I prefer to have it in the basment is that I like to line dry a few items that I do no like to put in the dryer.

Re: Laundry room in basement?

My mom has hers in the basement, no issues.

I'm hoping one day I can move ours to our second floor so I don't have to bring baskets up and down the stairs. That would be lovely.

Re: Laundry room in basement?

We have an unfinished basement and our laundry is down there. Only issue is that the entire basement flooded with Sandy, so we lost our washer/dryer.

I got new appliances though.

Because of this, I probably would never buy a house with a basement again, let alone anywhere near the water but that's probably a separate thread!

I don't mind going up and down the stairs (do laundry daily).

Re: Laundry room in basement?

No issues with basement. I would rather have more living spade upstairs. What if your laundry machine leaks? Mine does and since its in the basement it doesn't matter too much!

Re: Laundry room in basement?

In our old house it used to be in the basement, but now in our new house it is upstairs on the second floor...and LOVE it!!!!!

Message edited 4/18/2013 9:47:24 AM.

Re: Laundry room in basement?

When we did the reno on our house, I asked DW if she wanted the laundry room on the 2nd floor, but she preferred keeping it in the basement.

Re: Laundry room in basement?

We have a split level as well and our laundry is in the basement. I only notice with new construction it is on the 2nd floor.