Washer/dryer dilemma

mono units are pathetic to rely on for anything other than convenience items like gym clothes. They simply take too long for one load of clothes.

Most buildings will not allow Wet over dry areas- i.e. having your washing machine over someone's bedroom/bedroom closet. Typically you would need to install this in an area in or near a kitchen/bath. Even if the building allows you to install it in your bedroom closet, it's important to know all the risks at this stage before you spend any cash on planning. Problems with washing machine leaks are common enough that it is a legitimate risk to consider.

Brings up the importance of renters insurance. BIG TIME. The risks of a rogue washing machine running amok are a lot worse in a rental building.

A load from start to finish takes something like 4 hours as I recall from the unit I used in London. Maybe they've improved. The idea of doing all my clothes plus sheets and towels this way is unrealistic. And that is if you are single. A couple? Forget it. Send the stuff out for laundering our your life will be waiting for your pants and pillow cases to basically evaporate their way to dryness.

The unit we're buying is a duplex. The closet where we'd put the W/D is above our kitchen and next to our bathroom.

I realize mono units are pathetic, but are ventless dryers any less pathetic? I would hate to spend a lot of money running plumbing and electric for a stacked washer + ventless dryer only to discover it's no better than a mono unit.

Obviously, washer + vented dryer would be best. If that's not possible, I'm trying to determine what's our next best option, all things considered. (Mono unit installed easily; stack with ventless dryer installed with a lot of labor.)

For the money you'll be spending for this project, you'll be able to send your washing out for 20 years.

on the other hand, lad must have gotten a great deal on the price because of the w/d problem right? This discount is just being spent on the project which will in turn enhance the resale value of the apartment.

what is so wrong about just getting a nice Bosch or Miele washer, and the airdry your clothes on a large big rack. It's actually way better for your clothes anyway, since some synthetic fibers can break down and loose springyness over time of you keep drying them. Of course cotton is a different matter, but in general you can't go wrong with airdrying.

If you absolutely refuse to do that: I had a very good experience with a fairly cheap Haier frontloading washer/dryer combo, cost $500 and we hooked it up in the kitchen. At some point the dryer needed the small heating element thingy replaced, but that wasn't so bad.
Washing time was longer, but I felt my laundry was cleaner bc of that. And drying too about 60 mins or so....it got really nice and hot, and worked totally fine.

just my 2 cents....

My friend raves about her huge LG washer/dryer combo. I don't know which model, but it's a few years old so probably not around anymore. Here's their current lineup: http://www.lg.com/us/appliances/washer-dryer-combos/index.jsp ... the two on the right are 4.2 cu ft. for wash capacity, which is quite large ... I'm pretty sure you can only put half that much in if you want to wash/dry though.

I think the full wash/dry takes 2-4 hours depending on settings, etc. but doesn't have the tiny capacity of those Malbers that were popular a bunch of years ago. Don't assume they'll fit under a kitchen counter or in a shallow closet, btw.

"what is so wrong about just getting a nice Bosch or Miele washer, and the airdry your clothes on a large big rack."

Because no one wants wet laundry spread all over their apartment two days out of every week?

***

"I think the full wash/dry takes 2-4 hours depending on settings, etc. but doesn't have the tiny capacity of those Malbers that were popular a bunch of years ago. Don't assume they'll fit under a kitchen counter or in a shallow closet, btw."

The smaller models are designed to fit under the kitchen counter.

And yes, a load can take upwards of 4 hours for a full wash/dry cycle. But all it requires is that you simply adjust your laundry habits; rather than letting your clothes and linens pile up all week for a one-day-a-week "laundry day", you simply launder as you go: bed sheets on Monday. Towels and wash cloths on Tuesday. Shirts on Wednesday. Pants on Thursday. And so on.

But the nice thing is you do it at YOUR convenience, and you never have to worry about dragging all of your laundry down to the laundry room for a task that should take less than two hours, only to find that all the machines are occupied and you have to add at least another hour onto laundry day.

Yeah. I'd love to see how you air dry a set of sheets and 4 pillow cases in an apartment along with 2 bath towels. That oughta be real classy lookin.

In pre-PC times, we called it "ghetto."

In the most bourgeois of European homes it's called normal. And in New York you can always send out the sheets and towels. Everything else dries overnight, anyway.

I guess I was inviting the style-comments with that....well, call me European then...lol

Matt, I DO agree with your comments about doing it at your own convenience...that is the whole point...and I would call the laundry in the basement "ghetto" ;-)

"In the most bourgeois of European homes it's called normal."

And here it's called "ghetto".

Tomato, TomAHto.

The big question for me is when are most of the UES post war coops going to let people install the units. I just cannot stand the idea of a basement laundry room, as it forces you to plan on doing laundry as opposed to throwing dirty towels and clothes into the machine, allows you to leave and go to work, dinner, the gym, the park, a movie, etc and coming back and putting the clothes into the dryer. I did it in the past with the basement LR but now I just won't do it that way. I have found apts and buildings that I loved but since they didn't allow W/D I just couldn't pull the trigger. Makes me think that it was just second class and stupid. Yes its cheaper to send it out, but that to me is a another step.

Sending laundry out can be a huge hassle if you live in a non-doorman building and are typically not home during the local cleaners' weekday hours. I could deal with a basement laundry room if I loved an apartment otherwise, but no laundry whatsoever is a dealbreaker. I can't imagine having to plan my work schedule or my weekend travel schedule around pickups and dropoffs at the cleaners.

Whatever it ends up costing, some kind of in-unit laundry -- even if it's only good for underwear and gym clothes -- is a convenience I'm willing to pay for.

alanhart, thanks for the recommendation on the LG combo unit! It looks like it will fit under the counter, too....

"Makes me think that it was just second class and stupid."
Isn't having a "utility", the one that takes 4 hour to do its job at that, just second class? Just so suburban?
I might be wrong but I never understood this fixation on doing laundry inside your apartment.
Living in Manhattan, where all your services (superior to your little w/d), are just around the corner... Isn't it the luxury of living in the city?

P.S.: the only real problem is having a misfortune to live in the same building as Matt does.

rather "... with Matt."

I have a Bosch washer and ventless dryer. It works very well, the drying time varies but I have no issue with it overall. I was unsure that it would be satisfactory, in fact the ventless dryer does not fry your clothes as much so it has an advantage. If you are doing laundry in your home remember to do smaller loads more often. I would buy the same washer dryer again in my next home

I bought a LG combo unit a few months ago and I am happy with the product. The dry cycle, because it is ventless can take 3 hours, but if you don't mind this then I would look into it.

if the only work you are doing is putting in the w/d, then the costs are astronomical if the building requires you to file plans. You'll have to get permits, do plumbing and electrical, open up and close walls, tile, put in a leak shutoff sensor, etc. I could easily see this end up costing 10k. On the other hand, if putting in a single unit just requires a little modification of your cabinetry and plugging it in, then why not try it and see how it goes? Worst case is you hate it, and then re-sell it on Craigslist for a 50% loss.
The nice thing about the single units is that you can put the load in at night before you go to bed, and them when you wake up it is done. You don't have to worry about being around or awake to move the load from the washer to the dryer. For a single person or a couple it is reasonable, especially a working couple where your weekday suits/dresses/shirts mostly go to the dry-cleaners anyway, and you are really talking about underwear/socks/t-shirts and towels/sheets.

i love the "all-in-one" units. had a haier that fell apart into small pieces within 3 yrs. the warranty company just gave me the money for a new one.

bought a malber that worked very well. it had faster wash cycles (45 min vs 70 min) and the dryer was similar. it had a few small hickups, but that's why i got an extended warranty. the main repair for Malber is in queens and Mike is amazing. he knows the machines inside and out. comes on time and fixes the problem within 1/2 hour. he always has all of the typical parts with him. in the past 2 yrs the capacity has gone up to almost match the LGs.

before i bought the malber, i did research on the LGs. they do come highly recommended. the problem is that their main repair center is in chicago. if the ny repair guy does not have the specific part, it can take a few weeks to a few months to get it from chicago or china. i waited for one part for my haier for 3 months. not pleasant to say the least.

just remember, extended warranty is a requirement with these machines.

very true; I have a 5 year warranty.

I agree about extended warranty. My general rule is that very mechanical things need the warranty, while very electronic things don't. On many major appliances, though, there's a very expensive motherboard-type control that seems prone to self-destruction and is very expensive ... thus double the need for extended warranty.

I'd like to add to printer's "overnight" laundry suggestion that you can usually delay the start time, so you can avoid having the dry cycle finish at 3AM and and sit and re-wrinkle until you wake up, or get home from work, or whatever. Too bad the combos don't starch and fold.

Buy a quality product and forget the warranty, because you won't need it.

"Buy a quality product and forget the warranty, because you won't need it."

The problem is, even the "quality" all-in-one units have yet to be perfected, and are prone to breakdowns.

"I might be wrong but I never understood this fixation on doing laundry inside your apartment.
Living in Manhattan, where all your services (superior to your little w/d), are just around the corner... Isn't it the luxury of living in the city?"

There is nothing "luxurious" about having to either lug your laundry down the street and spend your free time sharing washers with strangers ... nor having to coordinate your schedule with the laundry pick-up and delivery guy (usually you have to give them a window of four hours if you don't live in a doorman building).

PMG-can you please let know what brand makes a quality all-in-one unit..... good luck

I'm with everyone that's recommended sending your laundry out if your only option is an all-in-one unit. The mechanics of having one machine wash and dry your clothes in my mind doesn't make sense. I would say washing and hang drying would be preferable. But in NYC why do that when you can send the clothes out?

"I'm with everyone that's recommended sending your laundry out if your only option is an all-in-one unit. The mechanics of having one machine wash and dry your clothes in my mind doesn't make sense. I would say washing and hang drying would be preferable. But in NYC why do that when you can send the clothes out?"

Because this becomes a logistical nightmare when you don't have a doorman, and have to arrange to be home during a broad window of time for both pick-up and delivery.

Matt - don't you prefer going down to the river with a washboard and a bar of soap? These newfangled W/D's are way too confusing and mechanical - they're just a fad, like touch-tone telephones.

I kind of like doing laundry. It forces me to stay home and putter around instead of going to work, the laundry room is quiet on the weekend, and one batch in the two double-load machines gets it all done for several weeks. Takes about half an hour for washer, same for dryer, same for shlepping and folding. Sheets and towels go out.

Matt, since when is pick up and delivery required to send your laundry out? Walk your clothes. It's good exercise.

printer, if conventional appliance companies aren't making combo w/d units, that should tell you something. I have nothing against conventional w/d's. My ASKO stackable w/d has been working perfectly for nearly twelve years without a single service call.

PMG, that should tell you that most Americans live in mega-huge houses with room for two (or more) mega-huge laundry appliances, and easy venting to the exterior.

And anyway how do you know your ASKOs are working perfectly if you walk your clothes?

"Matt, since when is pick up and delivery required to send your laundry out? Walk your clothes. It's good exercise."

I didn't say it's not good exercise. I said it wasn't "luxurious" to do so. Nor is it convenient. And depending on how far away the "service" is, it can be a downright pain in the ass.

We call it "schlepping", and let me tell you, having to do it EVERY SINGLE WEEK, in the rain, sleet, and snow, gets old REALLY fast.

"we call it "schlepping"" Matt, is that the royal we?

Alan, I walk my dress shirts and dry cleaning to the cleaners. I launder my underwear and towels in house, everything else gets laundered in the basement. Why limit yourself if you have options?

> For the money you'll be spending for this project, you'll be able to send your washing out for 20
> years.

I'm with Matt. Its not cheap, and its a pain in the ass. You either need a doorman, or you have to be home those hours. I used to work well past the hours the local one was open. If you forget something you need, not good.

It was just a lot of mental effort.

Now that I have a W/D (separate), I don't know if I can ever go back.

"I'm with Matt. Its not cheap, and its a pain in the ass. You either need a doorman, or you have to be home those hours."

And back in the days when I tried out the laundry service, making a point to be home for a ridiculous 4-hour window, I realized that I could have just done the damn laundry myself in half the time, at half the cost -- and done a better job of it, to boot.

But you're still trading one pain in the ass for another pain in the ass.

"Regular" Americans (non-New Yorkers) have no idea how good they have it being able to do their own laundry in their own machines in their own homes at their leisure. Only in New York can you drop a MILLION DOLLARS for a home and still have these laundry issues that outside of New York City are issues for only the poorest of Americans.

Actually, in those nice middle-class suburban neighborhoods, circa 2010, many opt to go to laundromats and get a ton of laundry done all at once, often in washers that are big enough to put their Hummers in.

If there is NO central laundry, my guess is a LOT of people in the building have installed them. What have most of them done?

The combo units are really bad (as everyone has pointed out). I had one and it would take 4-6 hours to do a few gym things. 4-6 to do two towels. two towels was the largest load and i rarely did more then one. If you know that are you are using it to supplement another form of doing laundry it's ok.
But it's not like, oh i am out of socks let me do a quick load... everything is hours and hours!! and in some cases the clothing never dries and they do end up hanging it.

30yrs, we guessed the same, and we guessed wrong. I think only one or maybe two other units have laundry. A few others apparently had old mono units but removed them during renovations. The building has a lot of people who are home during the day, so it's not as big of an issue for them as for us. Everyone told us how fun the local laundromat is.... Uh, I think we'll take a pass. :-)

Unfortunately, I think printer was right about the cost. It looks like we're going to have to retile the entire shower wall if we want to move it upstairs. That mono unit is looking better and better. Though my latest analysis of the kitchen floorplan leads me to think we could potentially also fit an under-counter ventless dryer in a way that wouldn't look bad.....

RE2009, what brand did you have, so I can avoid it?

lad, i am sorry as i don't remember the brand. it was a rental overseas. but i have know a few people to have the mono in the states, different brands all the same problem.

I think I just saw some new retail establishment that I don't remember seeing before walking up 6th ave. Some kind of "eco wash" (and I don't think "eco" was for "economy".

For an "off the wall" idea: how about a stacking washer dryer where the refrigerator is and 2 under counter refridges (one fridge, one freezer)?

30yrs, more like http://tinyurl.com/2vjsgtj