Parties interested in taking part in the bathrooms/laundry discussion can join us after the general meeting Tuesday 2/7. The current scope is locating and installing the washer/dryer but will inevitably include other bath related objectives.
Linked is a cursory parts list I’ve put together. Note it will change and has some personal wish list stuff.
Respond to this post if:
You are interested in being on the ad hoc committee. Committee members will have tasks to complete once the physical work begins.
If you have design ideas or concerns related to the bathrooms/laundry. Be brief. Keep in mind the dryer exhaust has a maximum length of 25’ and is reduced if there are bends. Also, the exhaust is supposed to be 3’ from operable windows/doors (this is for residential - don’t know about commercial).
I will propose to the group a 2’ shelf spanning the south wall which will provide storage space and a laundry drying rack underneath. That’s what the electric conduit is for. I put one in my house and it works really well. It’s part of my wish list.
Thanks to Kevin McLeod for putting together the attached rendering of 2 potential sites for the washer/dryer. Feel free to discuss in this thread. After, we’ll vote on location from the two exhibited in Kevin’s drawing. LaundryLocations.pdf (87.0 KB)
What are the pros/cons of each location? How difficult with the plumbing especially the drains be for each configuration? Will the exhaust for the dryer be more difficult in either approach? I, personally, don’t care where they are located but ease of installation is important.
There is more work to install the scenario external to the bathroom. I’m willing to put in the extra work to put it in an optimum place. The most obvious benefit is someone doing laundry would not prevent someone else from using the bathroom.
Take note that in the external configuration, the plumbing will essentially come straight out the wall to service the new laundry/tubs.
As a side note, we discovered the bathroom has drains in the floor that have been plugged. Is is conceivable they could be uncovered for a future mop station or the like.
Some inputs on Washer Dryer Plumbing.
Pro - Washer Dryer outside the bathroom.
There is a floor drain in the existing bathroom, tucked in by the hot water heater. It is possible to run the washer drain line into that drain. It does require a hole in the wall by the hot water tank, but it would make the drain line plumbing shorter and somewhat lower in cost.
Branching water feed lines off the supplies for the scrub sink would shorten the supply lines meaning somewhat lower costs.
Con - W/D outside the bathroom
The W/D and scrub sink make the aisle and access to the restrooms feel tight. The ad hoc kitchen storage shelves make access to the new bathroom tight.
The dryer exhaust will be longer and need to exit through the plywood filler above the bathroom window. Other wall exits are possible, but the runs are longer and requires cutting a hole through concrete.
There is no provision for a laundry basket or soap storage by the W/D. ( it’s a crappy laundry location because of restroom access needs.)
If it is not already in the plans I would like to recommend a mop sink somewhere in all of this. We really need to have a solution for cleaning the bathrooms and kitchen that does not require lifting a heavy mop bucket up to above waist level. I have wanted to do a deep clean of the kitchen floor but it is beyond my physical limitations.
Provisioning for a mop sink was discussed. There are multiple plugged drains in the south bathroom in front of the south wall. The theory is if the laundry is moved out of the south bathroom it will free up room in the south bathroom for a proper mop closet and also mop sink.
Velzy - It was mentioned that the plywood over the window covers glass. We were planning to bore a few ~4" holes through the cinderblock exterior wall for laundry and other vents.
Let’s meet after the Tuesday 2/21 meeting to tape off the proposed location exterior to the bathroom and discuss.
I’ve closed the laundry location poll. The laundry will be going in-between and outside the bathrooms. When I opened the form up to those outside the hive13 domain I required their first and last names. Poll results:
