Modifying Larder Unit for stackable W/M + Dryer

[jayc89]

Utility room units arrive tomorrow. We have a 800mm wide larder unit that I plan to modify to accept a stacked washing machine and tumble dryer. All units will be 100mm off the wall, so plenty of space to work with, just need to figure out what modifications need to be made to the unit to;
1) Support the weight of the stack

2) Be deep enough to accept the stack and be able to close the doors

 

To support the weight, I was thinking I could either;
1) Use some 3x2 to build supports under the unit base

2) Make an opening in the unit base and sit the W/C directly on the slab

 

For the depth I was planning on removing the back panel and securing the unit to a couple of lengths of timber secured vertically to the wall behind, the base unit to the side, and the stud wall to the other side.

 

Any other options, recommendations, suggestions, hints, tips or tricks?

[AliG]

We have our washer and dryer in a similar unit.

 

It simply doesn't have a bottom so the washer and dryer sit on the floor. I assume it is braced at the back and attached to the units at either side. It is also a deeper than normal unit. The normal units next to it then sit off the wall. I think in your case with it being 800mm wide, I would attach a vertical sheet of timber inside the carcass that then extended back to the wall and then attach it to the wall. If you can see this from outside I would then attach an end panel that matches the carcass filing the space between the carcass and the wall.

 

Every time I have had to remove the filter because something got stuck in it the area has got absolutely flooded. TBF it might be easier if it was raised off the ground.

 

My advice would be to consider whether you want them in a unit with doors as I find them a bit of a nuisance and have considered removing them.

 

A heat pump dryer should not be run with the door closed as it draws in air from the front.

 

 

[TonyT]

Ensure the kick plate isn’t a continuous length so that the section at the machine can be removed easily.

 

Ensure plenty ventilation around the TD at all times

[jayc89]

3 hours ago, AliG said:

We have our washer and dryer in a similar unit.

 

It simply doesn't have a bottom so the washer and dryer sit on the floor. I assume it is braced at the back and attached to the units at either side. It is also a deeper than normal unit. The normal units next to it then sit off the wall. I think in your case with it being 800mm wide, I would attach a vertical sheet of timber inside the carcass that then extended back to the wall and then attach it to the wall. If you can see this from outside I would then attach an end panel that matches the carcass filing the space between the carcass and the wall.

 

Every time I have had to remove the filter because something got stuck in it the area has got absolutely flooded. TBF it might be easier if it was raised off the ground.

 

My advice would be to consider whether you want them in a unit with doors as I find them a bit of a nuisance and have considered removing them.

 

A heat pump dryer should not be run with the door closed as it draws in air from the front.

 

 

 Without a bottom, which is what our legs attach to, how did you level the tall unit?

[jayc89]

Given the back will slide off, I'm thinking of supporting the bottom panel with some chocks of wood so the washing machine weight is transferred to the floor, slide the back panel out and add some supports for the washing machine's rear feet (which would otherwise hang out the back of the unit).

 

There's a centre shelf which is (dry) secured with dowels that I think I'll need to relocate slightly higher so I can keep it for rigidity but raise it above the tumble dryer. (I did also think about lowering the shelf to just above the washing machine and put the tumbler on the shelf (again somehow supporting the rear legs, as that would mean I don't have to worry about stacking kits, but I have no easy way to support the weight of it that way. 

[AliG]

I had to go and have a look at how it was built as I hadn’t taken much interest previously

 

The sides have an extra 100mm fillet to make them deeper. I can see a slight gap between it and the normal depth carcass but don’t know how they were joined together. There are then simply two 100mm strips across the back at the centre which suggests the fillets must be quite securely attached. The shelf forming the cupboard above the dryer is rigid. If you sit the washing machine on the base won’t this shelf end up very near to the top?

 

The sides sit around 5mm off the floor so there is some room to adjust them.

I Googled raised washing machine and found lots of articles and videos where people have done it.

 

For a situation like yours people made a wooden box the size of the space under the bottom of the carcass and then slid the carcass over it. You could place another strip of carcass material on the back of the box to make a flat platform. You would screw the base of the carcass into the wooden box.

 

They also put the dryer on the shelf as dryers are light and don’t shake. This would provide extra rigidity. 
 

One thing to note from another thread in the forum. Somebody had their washer break and become unstable then fall off the front of a raised platform. They need to be secured to stop this happening.

 

 

 

[jayc89]

19 minutes ago, AliG said:

I had to go and have a look at how it was built as I hadn’t taken much interest previously

 

The sides have an extra 100mm fillet to make them deeper. I can see a slight gap between it and the normal depth carcass but don’t know how they were joined together. There are then simply two 100mm strips across the back at the centre which suggests the fillets must be quite securely attached. The shelf forming the cupboard above the dryer is rigid. If you sit the washing machine on the base won’t this shelf end up very near to the top?

 

The sides sit around 5mm off the floor so there is some room to adjust them.

I Googled raised washing machine and found lots of articles and videos where people have done it.

 

For a situation like yours people made a wooden box the size of the space under the bottom of the carcass and then slid the carcass over it. You could place another strip of carcass material on the back of the box to make a flat platform. You would screw the base of the carcass into the wooden box.

 

They also put the dryer on the shelf as dryers are light and don’t shake. This would provide extra rigidity. 
 

One thing to note from another thread in the forum. Somebody had their washer break and become unstable then fall off the front of a raised platform. They need to be secured to stop this happening.

 

 

 

 

The platform's a good idea, I'll get one built in the morning. 

[TonyT]

Wouldn’t you just sit the washing machine on the floor and stack the TD, just like a normal integrated appliance?

[jayc89]

7 hours ago, TonyT said:

Wouldn’t you just sit the washing machine on the floor and stack the TD, just like a normal integrated appliance?

 

How would you typically do that? The unit's legs are on the base of the unit, which I need to 1) level the unit and 2) attach the plinth to, so I can't cut that for the W/M to sit on the floor. Sitting it on the floor would be far easier. 

[joe90]

I would never sit a washing machine on a cupboard base supported by plastic legs, IMO it will shake itself to bits quite quickly, sat on the floor will be far better so no kick plate, unless, you build a very solid structure to support the base of the unit directly to the floor taking the strain off the plastic legs. Perhaps i am OCD but i would not sit the dryer on the W/M but build a solid shelf (I used a length of worktop in mine) so the W/M can be slid out separately and give more air around the units.

[jayc89]

1 minute ago, joe90 said:

I would never sit a washing machine on a cupboard base supported by plastic legs, IMO it will shake itself to bits quite quickly, sat on the floor will be far better so no kick plate, unless, you build a very solid structure to support the base of the unit directly to the floor taking the strain off the plastic legs. Perhaps i am OCD but i would not sit the dryer on the W/M but build a solid shelf (I used a length of worktop in mine) so the W/M can be slid out separately and give more air around the units.

 

Certainly don't intent to sit the W/M on the plastic legs alone. Either build supports under the unit base to take the weight, or sit the W/M directly on the floor, but if I did the latter, I couldn't use the legs to raise and level the unit so would need to chock it up on wood, or similar and then figure out a way to attach the plinth across it. (As it's also the last unit in the row)

[joe90]

Certainly (I fitted kitchens fir quite a few years and have come across these problems fir customers. )the advantage of the W/M. Going in the cupboard (on the supported base) is the units will look better as doors and kickboard are consistent with surrounding kitchen cupboards (it won’t be obvious the machines are in there ). Washing machines are heavy (lump of concrete to steady rocking movement) and so I would use 6 x 2 or similar timber in a square under the base directly under the legs of the W/M . Driers are much lighter, however I would connect the sides of the cupboard in several places back to the wall to steady the whole thing especially if you are removing the back panel which is also there to keep the whole cupboard square . Ah, you mention this is the end of a run, is that against a wall? This would be good if it is as it will give much more support 👍

[jayc89]

2 minutes ago, joe90 said:

Certainly (I fitted kitchens fir quite a few years and have come across these problems fir customers. )the advantage of the W/M. Going in the cupboard (on the supported base) is the units will look better as doors and kickboard are consistent with surrounding kitchen cupboards (it won’t be obvious the machines are in there ). Washing machines are heavy (lump of concrete to steady rocking movement) and so I would use 6 x 2 or similar timber in a square under the base directly under the legs of the W/M . Driers are much lighter, however I would connect the sides of the cupboard in several places back to the wall to steady the whole thing especially if you are removing the back panel which is also there to keep the whole cupboard square . Ah, you mention this is the end of a run, is that against a wall? This would be good if it is as it will give much more support 👍

Yeah, something like this;

 

 

with a returning wall to the left of the tall unit, so I could secure the unit side to that too. The base units will stand-off the back wall by 100mm to allow for the W/M depth (using adjustable angle brackets to secure them to a length of 3x2 run across the rear wall which will also support the back of the worktop).

 

I have some 6x2 offcuts from joists I ran a couple of weeks back, so could use those packed out to ~ 167mm height I need (150mm plinth + 17mm for tiles to get back up to FFL)

 

[joe90]

Looks good, 👍

[jayc89]

Slowly getting there

[TonyT]

Best to fit 2 single sockets for washing machine/TD. To prevent overloading of the double socket…

[jayc89]

12 minutes ago, TonyT said:

Best to fit 2 single sockets for washing machine/TD. To prevent overloading of the double socket…

 

There's another single socket under one of the single base units (as we originally planned to have W/M and dryer either side of the sink, and which is why there's a chrome double socket at the back of what's now the tall unit - which I'll swap for a cheapo one before finishing off), so I'll run an extension lead across to the tall unit now instead. 

[jayc89]

Got to the point of fitting the larder unit's doors today. The right hand side doors are all 2mm lower than the left. Double checked the sides and top are all level, which they are. No amount of adjusting the hinges is working without the doors them rubbing on the end panels. At a bit of a loss as to why the doors are so out of whack. WTF am I doing wrong?

[joe90]

20 minutes ago, jayc89 said:

WTF am I doing wrong?

Firstly check the cabinet is square (especially if you have removed the back panel) the fixing screws fir the hinges allows up and down movement (oval holes) which might make up that 2mm, other than that a photo or diagram might help us.

[jayc89]

1 minute ago, joe90 said:

Firstly check the cabinet is square (especially if you have removed the back panel) the fixing screws fir the hinges allows up and down movement (oval holes) which might make up that 2mm, other than that a photo or diagram might help us.

 

Sides are plumb, top is level, although I didn't measure the diagonals.  I'll take a pic tomorrow, I've banned myself from the room for the rest of the night!

[joe90]

1 hour ago, jayc89 said:

I've banned myself from the room for the rest of the night!

Good idea, clear mind in the morning 👍

[jayc89]

Rookie mistake. I forgot that the verticals needed to be plumb on two axis, and the right hand side panel was leaning into the room by a couple of mill. Jacked that up and Bob’s your uncle!