When you’re on the hunt for your next home, you might see houses with laundry rooms on the main floor and others with a washer and dryer in the basement. Each setup has pros and cons.
Benefits of Having a Laundry Room on the Main Level
Having the washer and dryer located near the kitchen and living room can be convenient, especially for a family with children. You’ll be able to hear when a cycle ends and take care of laundry while your kids are playing or doing their homework.
With a laundry room on the main floor, it will be easy to start a load. If your kids get dirty while playing outside or you make a mess in the kitchen, you’ll be able to toss soiled items right into the washer.
Carrying laundry down a flight of steps and then back up can be challenging, especially for someone who has trouble navigating stairs due to age or a physical disability. If a member of your family won’t be able to safely use a basement laundry room, look for a house with a laundry room on the main level.
Even if everyone in your family is relatively young and healthy, mobility might be an issue in the future. If you’re looking for a house where you can live after you retire, it will be a good idea to buy a property with a laundry room on the main floor so you’ll be able to comfortably age in place.
Advantages of Having a Laundry Room in the Basement
Some people like being able to hear the washer or dryer, but for others, it’s an unwelcome distraction. If you work from home and you need as much peace and quiet as possible, having a laundry room near your home office can make it difficult to concentrate. A house with a downstairs laundry room will be a better choice for you.
A laundry room on the main level takes up space that can’t be used for cooking, eating, or socializing. When the laundry room is in the basement, the entire ground floor can be used as living space.
Laundry rooms on the main level tend to be small so they take up as little square footage as possible. That’s not an issue when the laundry room is in the basement. If you buy a house with a downstairs laundry room, you’ll have more space for folding and ironing clothes.
If a laundry room is on the main floor and the washer leaks, flooding can damage or destroy furniture, carpet and electronics. If the laundry room is in the basement and it floods, the living area will be spared.
Figure out What’s Right for Your Family
Both upstairs and downstairs laundry rooms have advantages and disadvantages. Consider your family’s lifestyle and each person’s physical abilities to figure out which home design will work better for you.
