Getting a Washer/Dryer down a narrow staircase
smed...@watt.ccs.tuns.ca
"laundry room" in the basement. The problem is that there is only about 24
inches of clearance (width) in the stairs to the basement. I can see five
alternatives, in order of preference:
1) Find a way to get a normal washer/dryer down the stairs (perhaps by
disassembling and then reassembling).
2) Find a washer and dryer that will fit down the stairs easily. I know
there are such things as "apartment sized" washers and dryers, but are they
reasonable? Can you actually do a normal sized load of laundry?
3) There is a window to the basement that is roughly 27"x27". We might be
able to have this enlarged to make it big enough to slide in a washer and
dryer.
4) Install an outside staircase with a normal sized door.
5) Give up in despair.
Can anyone think of any options I have missed? If anyone has tried any of
these (other than 5) can you offer any helpful suggestions?
Please respond via e-mail and I will summarise if there is interest.
Trevor J. Smedley
sme...@tuns.ca
William Taylor
|> My wife and I recently purchased a 75-80 year old house and would like to put a
|> "laundry room" in the basement. The problem is that there is only about 24
|> inches of clearance (width) in the stairs to the basement. I can see five
|> alternatives, in order of preference:
Cut a hole in the floor and make trap door or just a removable section.
Buddy Taylor tay...@dg-rtp.dg.com
Data General Corporation Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
James Roche
>In article <1991Nov13...@watt.ccs.tuns.ca>, smed...@watt.ccs.tuns.ca writes:
>|> My wife and I recently purchased a 75-80 year old house and would like to put a
>|> "laundry room" in the basement. The problem is that there is only about 24
>|> inches of clearance (width) in the stairs to the basement. I can see five
>|> alternatives, in order of preference:
>
>Cut a hole in the floor and make trap door or just a removable section.
If the house is built using standard construction practices then the
floor joists are 16 in. on center. This leaves about 14.5 in. between
the joists. Since the joists are structural you can't just cut through
one without installing some headers to transfer the load to the neighboring
joists.
Jim Roche
ro...@cs.rochester.edu
--
Jim Roche
ro...@cs.rochester.edu
University of Rochester Computer Science Department Rochester, NY 14627
Gordon Moon
> In article <1991Nov13...@watt.ccs.tuns.ca>, smed...@watt.ccs.tuns.ca writes:
> |> My wife and I recently purchased a 75-80 year old house and would like to put a
> |> "laundry room" in the basement. The problem is that there is only about 24
> |> inches of clearance (width) in the stairs to the basement. I can see five
> |> alternatives, in order of preference:
>
> Cut a hole in the floor and make trap door or just a removable section.
>
The floor joists will proably get in the way, in which case one
of the joists will need to be cut to make an opening large enough
for the machines. A similar problem would no doubt occur when making
an existing window larger. I seem to remember "This old house" doing
something like this and one of the first things they did was
remove the load from the joist to be cut with some large jacks,
before cutting it. They then built a frame around the opening
which transferred the load to the adjacant joists and around the
trap door opening.
I wouldn't try this unless I was fairly certain I knew what I was
doing, but it looked easy enough on TV. (I think it was TOH, but
I'm not sure anymore.)
John Eaton
>Cut a hole in the floor and make trap door or just a removable section.
First of all the average do it yourself mover has enough problems getting
a washer/dryer down the stairs using a dolly. You don't want to see what
would happen if they had to break out the ropes and riggings.
Secondly you must always consider possible liability when doing anything
that might be considered unusual to your home. Twenty years from now some
kids playing in the house might fall through that trap door and the next
thing you know you will be hit with a 1 million dollar lawsuit.
John Eaton
!hp-vcd!johne
Len DePalma
How about looking at this problem from a different angle? Instead of
putting the washer/dryer down in the basement, why not leave them
on the 1st floor - or maybe even move them up to the second floor
if that's where the majority of bedrooms are (and assuming they
will fit up your steps)!
Many new home designs employ the above, and once you get over the
change (most traditionalists probably would hate this!) it makes
a lot of sense. IE: why drag your clothes up and down the stairs
every two weeks for laundry?
Anyway, that's my suggestion.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
LE...@BNR.CA Any opinions expressed above are mine.
Dick Lucas
are smaller capacity. As far as disassembly of any washer and/or dryer, they
are based on a welded box structure. Usually all you can take off are the
obvious parts such as the door or the back or the top. Seems to me that the
standard width of a washer is 24 inches. Not sure about the depth, but it
may make sense to go your local appliance store with a tape measure. By
removing some of the window framing, you may be able to slide it in through
there.
Steven Bellovin
} How about looking at this problem from a different angle? Instead of
} putting the washer/dryer down in the basement, why not leave them
} on the 1st floor - or maybe even move them up to the second floor
} if that's where the majority of bedrooms are (and assuming they
} will fit up your steps)!
}
} Many new home designs employ the above, and once you get over the
} change (most traditionalists probably would hate this!) it makes
} a lot of sense. IE: why drag your clothes up and down the stairs
} every two weeks for laundry?
Because every now and then, the lint trap pops off the drain hose and
clogs the drain. And then the laundry basin overflows. And I'd
rather such things were confined to the basement... Incidentally, if I
don't use a lint trap the sink clogs much more often.
Btw, please note that I'm *not* speaking hypothetically..
Jacques Guy
I hoover just about everything before I dump it into the wash.
Learnt that from a British book on good house-keeping for the
single male, aptly titled "SUPERPIG", by one William Rushton
(he looks the part, too).
Chris Lewis
|In article <1991Nov18....@bmerh2.bnr.ca>, le...@bmerh174.BNR.CA (Len DePalma) writes:
|} How about looking at this problem from a different angle? Instead of
|} putting the washer/dryer down in the basement, why not leave them
|} on the 1st floor - or maybe even move them up to the second floor
|} if that's where the majority of bedrooms are (and assuming they
|} will fit up your steps)!
|Because every now and then, the lint trap pops off the drain hose and
|clogs the drain. And then the laundry basin overflows. And I'd
|rather such things were confined to the basement... Incidentally, if I
|don't use a lint trap the sink clogs much more often.
|Btw, please note that I'm *not* speaking hypothetically..
Neither am I... :-(
On the one hand, if, as I hear is common in the USA, the washer and tub
is surrounded by a tray connected to a drain, most of these objections go away.
On the other hand, that would not help you if you have a supply
hose rupture, or stupidly pointed the suds saver hose somewhere
other than the tub.
[I leave it as an exercise to the reader which of the previous two
scenarios happened to me.... :-} twice. :-{]
[And at the previous house, the washer was over top of a completely
drywalled basement 8^O. Fortunately, remedial action saved the day]
--
Chris Lewis; cle...@ferret.ocunix.on.ca; Phone: Canada 613 832-0541
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