Where do you do your laundry? Do you have a washer and dryer in your home? Where do you fold your laundry?

It’s not that I love to do laundry. I don’t like it at all – especially the folding and putting away – BUT I DO ALOT! In our previous home, we had the washer and dryer hidden away in the basement of our country ranch/bungalow. It was tucked away from prying eyes. I could fold laundry downstairs in front of the kid’s TV, or bring laundry upstairs to fold and put away. Messy overflowing laundry baskets were my little secret.

It’s popular these days to have a washer and dryer near the bedrooms. It’s a really good idea, and I totally get it. In our current century home, we have a narrow upstairs laundry room. It’s hard to move around in, the dryer door opens into the wall, and it has wire shelving units above that seem like a good idea, but I tend to fill them with old blankets and things that I don’t need. IF YOU PUT UP A SHELF I WILL FILL IT (It’s kind of like “If you build it he will come” from Field of Dreams……)

I love the sturdy full size washer and dryer. They are not those beautiful front opening matchy colour coordinated machines. These are big solid white whales of laundry processing that last forever (Knock on wood). Real people need real laundry equipment.

I tend to bring all my dry laundry downstairs to the dining room to fold, then I take it back upstairs to put away. Is that normal?

The laundry room appears to be an old bathroom, with an old toilet flange, a sink rough-in and a bath/shower drain. I thought, wouldn’t it be better to have a second bathroom upstairs, and put the laundry elsewhere? – But then, where should the laundry go?

I had the brilliant idea of moving the laundry across the hall to the much larger main bathroom. It had a sink and toilet, a shower and a separate older jet bathtub. The jet bathtub took up a lot of space. It also was yellowed, installed strangely, didn’t drain properly and had nasty things come out of the jets. The jet tub needed to go. We only ever used it to wash Max! He accidentally stood on the jet buttons a few times and scared himself.

There was more hair in those Jet Tub jets than on my husband’s head…ouch! (I say that with love).

So in my brilliance, I thought we could put in a stackable full size washer/dryer and a clawfoot bathtub in the space where the current jet tub was installed. There was room after all. I thought that a 60 inch tub and a 30 inch stackable system would fit very well in my 100 plus inches of space. I started to size up tubs and washer/dryers, while my husband removed the tub.

The jet tub was installed in a built in framed “surround”.

My husband removed the tub (easier said than done), detached all the plumbing and wiring, had to cut away some subfloor and walls, and then with the help of one of our boys, carted the tub down the stairs and off to the dump.

We brought in three plumbers to quote and plan our two bathroom and laundry renovation.

Plumber 1: “Well you could put a washer/dryer and tub in the big bathroom, but the drain is only 1.5 inch and it wouldn’t be legal, and the vent is all wrong, and the old laundry room would probably work as a bathroom.” – but he just was too busy and seemed uncomfortable with the work.

Plumber 2: “You couldn’t put both a washer/dryer and a tub in the big bathroom, so just put the laundry in. The other bathroom is too narrow to be a bathroom, and do you really want a shower near a window? I need to rent a skyjack to install the dryer duct, because I don’t like ladders………“

Plumber 3: “I’ll install a tub, the second bathroom will work fine, just order the tub, shower, etc. and I’ll plumb it all. Put the washer and dryer in the basement and I’ll hook them up.“

AND SO, despite the benefit of having an upstairs laundry room, we decided that it would be nicer to have a new bathroom upstairs, and that we would put a new tub in the big bathroom. AND of course we picked Plumber 3.

My beautiful big white washer and dryer were carried downstairs and installed. They went down the main staircase, around the house and out the side door, and down three outdoor sets of stairs and in through the basement door.

We had been cleaning out the basement dungeon, (I mean workshop), which is really pretty good for an 1890s home. There was already a duct hole through the basement window. We ordered some new duct pieces online, and my husband cut himself pretty badly on the duct elbows. No stitches were required!

We waited all day for the scheduled electrician to come and install a 220volt dryer plug. He was a no show and we have rescheduled for next week. The washing machine is plumbed in and ready to roll! I have washed two loads of laundry and hung the wet laundry all around the house.

I have a new empty bathroom project to begin, and a clawfoot tub is on order.

I’m not sure how things will go, but it will all come out in the wash! The big washer and dryer in the basement may not be everyone’s dream – but it’s exactly what I want, and that’s what it’s all about isn’t it?

P.S. Max is happy to be rid of the old jet tub.