Are Dumb Waiters Dumb?

[puntloos]

In our house, we have a constant 'stream' of stuff going up and down our stairs.

- supplies that go up (shampoo, toilet paper, washed laundry) we put on the stairs until someone feels like carrying them up

- stuff that goes down (minor ('clean') rubbish, dirty clothes) same thing, near top of the stairs.

 

Therefore the thought was maybe a dumbwaiter would be a more elegant way of handling this stream of stuff.

 

True? False? Is having a dumbwaiter anywhere near useful in a house with only 2 floors, and maybe a loft?

 

-M

[Bitpipe]

I have the same issue but look on this as part of my fitness regime

 

There may be significant safety issues with a dumb waiter  in a domestic setting - what if a child climbed inside etc?

 

Doubt it would be cheap either.

 

[scottishjohn]

35 minutes ago, puntloos said:

In our house, we have a constant 'stream' of stuff going up and down our stairs.

- supplies that go up (shampoo, toilet paper, washed laundry) we put on the stairs until someone feels like carrying them up

- stuff that goes down (minor ('clean') rubbish, dirty clothes) same thing, near top of the stairs.

 

Therefore the thought was maybe a dumbwaiter would be a more elegant way of handling this stream of stuff.

 

True? False? Is having a dumbwaiter anywhere near useful in a house with only 2 floors, and maybe a loft?

 

-M

If it was designed  so it could be swopped for a lift when you get old   --that might be worth designing in 

 

 just priced up a lift which would take a wheelchair ,assuming you have made the hole   1m x1.3m==£13k,

but maybe worth designing in a space 

Edited December 5, 2019 by scottishjohn

[Mr Punter]

Our dumb waiter serves ground and third floor.  Kitchen is third floor.  Cost was £8k plus VAT stainless steel car and door.

 

In a 2 storey house I would put the washing machine in the same floor as the bedrooms and if pos have an outside drying space there too.  It is a bit silly lugging clothes up and down stairs to clean them.

 

We have bedrooms on levels 1 and 2 and wash machine and inside and outside drying areas on level 2.

[Carrerahill]

1 hour ago, puntloos said:

In our house, we have a constant 'stream' of stuff going up and down our stairs.

- supplies that go up (shampoo, toilet paper, washed laundry) we put on the stairs until someone feels like carrying them up

- stuff that goes down (minor ('clean') rubbish, dirty clothes) same thing, near top of the stairs.

 

Therefore the thought was maybe a dumbwaiter would be a more elegant way of handling this stream of stuff.

 

True? False? Is having a dumbwaiter anywhere near useful in a house with only 2 floors, and maybe a loft?

 

-M

Move your laundry upstairs!

 

I think your situation is fairly typical of a family house.

 

 

[Big Jimbo]

9 minutes ago, Carrerahill said:

Move your laundry upstairs!

 

I think your situation is fairly typical of a family house.

 

 

So many posh new houses that i have been involved with have first floor laundry rooms. Such a good idea, if you have the space.

[ProDave]

3 hours ago, scottishjohn said:

If it was designed  so it could be swopped for a lift when you get old   --that might be worth designing in 

 

 just priced up a lift which would take a wheelchair ,assuming you have made the hole   1m x1.3m==£13k,

but maybe worth designing in a space 

I have designed in my head the concept of a lift that would operate above a staircase.

[puntloos]

38 minutes ago, ProDave said:

I have designed in my head the concept of a lift that would operate above a staircase.

What do you mean by this? A lift that glides diagonally?

[ProDave]

1 hour ago, puntloos said:

What do you mean by this? A lift that glides diagonally?

No a lift car (probably just a skeleton of) that has a floor stepped, to match the steps of the stair, and it drops down onto the bottom 3 steps of the staircase.

 

Yes whacky idea, but would mean a lift could fit anywhere.

[scottishjohn]

heres your cheapest solution -triple one lifts to 2.9m

https://www.bigdug.co.uk/trucks-trolleys-c22/scissor-lift-tables-c753/heavy-duty-scissor-lift-tables-capacity-500kg-to-1250kg-p13484/s18329

not sure how you hide it to look acceptable

[puntloos]

10 minutes ago, ProDave said:

No a lift car (probably just a skeleton of) that has a floor stepped, to match the steps of the stair, and it drops down onto the bottom 3 steps of the staircase.

 

Yes whacky idea, but would mean a lift could fit anywhere.

 

I .. kinda see it. And I assume the actual floor of the lift would be flat, not stepped.. (unless your lift is not designed for wheelchair bound people... ).. but that would leave the challenge of how/where would you put the ramp to get in.. 

[puntloos]

6 minutes ago, scottishjohn said:

heres your cheapest solution -triple one lifts to 2.9m

https://www.bigdug.co.uk/trucks-trolleys-c22/scissor-lift-tables-c753/heavy-duty-scissor-lift-tables-capacity-500kg-to-1250kg-p13484/s18329

not sure how you hide it to look acceptable

[puntloos]

5 hours ago, Mr Punter said:

Our dumb waiter serves ground and third floor.  Kitchen is third floor.  Cost was £8k plus VAT stainless steel car and door.

 

In a 2 storey house I would put the washing machine in the same floor as the bedrooms and if pos have an outside drying space there too.  It is a bit silly lugging clothes up and down stairs to clean them.

 

We have bedrooms on levels 1 and 2 and wash machine and inside and outside drying areas on level 2.

How often do you use your dumbwaiter, and for what? Only laundry? Food? Garbage? Kids?

[puntloos]

6 hours ago, Bitpipe said:

I have the same issue but look on this as part of my fitness regime

 

There may be significant safety issues with a dumb waiter  in a domestic setting - what if a child climbed inside etc?

 

Theoretically (...) it shouldn't be unsafe.. of course lifts of any kind can theoretically malfunction, but in general other than that it might be a bit scarier than the kid imagined while trying it I don't really see a major issue? (not that I would encourage him to do that, but.. you should be able to open from inside etc..)

 

 

[epsilonGreedy]

5 hours ago, Big Jimbo said:

So many posh new houses that i have been involved with have first floor laundry rooms. Such a good idea, if you have the space.

 

 

I like the concept but how do they deal with the potential drumming noise of a washing machine spinning at 1400rpm on a wooden first floor? 

[dpmiller]

don't have a wooden first floor...

[puntloos]

Many ideas seem to be fads though. E.g. having a height difference in your ground floor as a feature, rather than a necessity bcs of the shape of soil etc.. 

 

[ProDave]

Being the poor sod given the task of getting a washing machine upstairs is all I need to convince me an upstairs laundry is a silly idea.

[joe90]

We have a dumb waiter........ME      things get left on the stairs fir me to shift cuz I am tidy ?

[Ferdinand]

Bungalow ?.

 

If you have a dumbwaiter, but no slave, then you have to walk upstairs to unload it anyway.

 

So, staircase and a cruise.

[Roundtuit]

9 hours ago, puntloos said:

In our house, we have a constant 'stream' of stuff going up and down our stairs.

- supplies that go up (shampoo, toilet paper, washed laundry) we put on the stairs until someone feels like carrying them up

- stuff that goes down (minor ('clean') rubbish, dirty clothes) same thing, near top of the stairs.

 

Therefore the thought was maybe a dumbwaiter would be a more elegant way of handling this stream of stuff.

 

True? False? Is having a dumbwaiter anywhere near useful in a house with only 2 floors, and maybe a loft?

 

-M

Realistically, if you have that problem already, the new, more expensive problem will be waiting for someone to feel like loading/unloading the dumb waiter!  Just put up with a load of crap at each end of the stairs (everyone has it ?), count down the years 'till the kids move out and invest the cost in a holiday!

[SteamyTea]

Once the washing has been done, do you then have to carry it downstairs to hang it on the line.

7 hours ago, Roundtuit said:

count down the years 'till the kids move out and invest the cost in a holiday

3 times a year.

[Triassic]

My father, in later life, was head of maintenance at a public school. He once sent to apprentice over to the kitchens, as they had an issue with the Dumb Waiter. On arrival  he asked, which one of you is the Dump Waiter? He never lived it down!

 

 

Edited December 6, 2019 by Triassic

[ProDave]

35 minutes ago, Triassic said:

My father, in later life, was head of maintenance at a public school. He once sent to apprentice over to the kitchens, as they had an issue with the Dumb Waiter. On arrival  he asked, which one of you is the Dump Waiter? He never lived it down!

 

 

That's up there with sending the apprentice to stores for a Long Weight.

[Mr Punter]

Here is ours.  The motor is housed above hence the access door.  As with all lifts they take up a fair amount of space v. their capacity.