Laundry Chute thoughts?

[PeteTheSwede]

Hi all

 

As part of a major renovation I'm thinking about including a laundry chute from the airing cupboard on the first floor into the ceiling of the utility room directly below. At this point the chute will empty into a laundry basket sitting on a worktop in the Utility.

 

I've been looking at these guys https://www.laundrychutes.co.uk/smartchutelaundrychute.htm#datasmartchute

 

The smart chute is a 25cm diameter flexible tube, and for £600 inc VAT they give you 2m of it, with a stainless steel to make the bit that sticks into the ceiling of the utility room a bit more attractive, and a 30 min fire rated door. The door isn't particularly attractive but it doesn't matter to me as it will be inside the airing cupboard. The chute needs to be boxed in in 9mm plasterboard for fire protection, up to 1m above the floor (to avoid small children climbing in) and can go through a 27cm hole in the floor.

 

This currently seems doable but would be grateful if anyone had experience of this kind of thing and might point out something I've not considered. There's not much discussion on here about laundry chutes.

 

Thanks in advance

 

Peter

[Tennentslager]

I'd go for a twin set up... darks and lights.

Top loader machine from USA...?

Or maybe a staffer and a room under the eves or in the basement.

Seriously, put the utility room on the first floor. 

Put the chute from the kids balcony to the paddling pool, this also can be used as a fire escape in winter.

And, that site you linked to...I reckon it's not smooth on the inside and bra straps will snag leading to the need for rodents or rodding access points with many bendy bamboo poles stored in bespoke cabinets nearby...just saying

[Mr Punter]

Looks to me that you will lose a fair bit of space in the airing cupboard and the room below.  You still need to get the stuff to the airing cupboard and then carry it back up to the bedrooms. Unless the stairs are a very long way this seems fairly pointless.

[PeteTheSwede]

The dirty washing currently gets lobbed down the stairs, and sits in a pile at the bottom. This way it can get thrown directly into a wash basket in the utility room... The airing cupboard is close to the bedrooms upstairs so is easy to get to.

 

You obviously do sacrifice space in the airing cupboard, but that's only a 30cm square box in the airing cupboard, and still leaves enough of space i think. As for the utility room, I don't think it will take any more room than a pile of dirty washing would anyway.

[newhome]

Why not have a washing machine upstairs? My house is set up for a washing machine and dryer upstairs as well as down. I don't have one upstairs as there is only me here so it seems too extravagant but if there was a family living here it would be ideal. 

 

 

[PeteTheSwede]

Washing machine and tumble dryer only fit in the utility sadly - no room upstairs. We are trying to contain clothes drying to the utility (using ceiling mounted drying rack).

 

P

[Onoff]

I do know roughly in what direction the laundry bin is to throw clothes at. I think we have a washing machine too somewhere...

 

A fairy brings the over stuffed linen bin downstairs occasionally...

[nod]

9 hours ago, PeteTheSwede said:

The dirty washing currently gets lobbed down the stairs, and sits in a pile at the bottom. This way it can get thrown directly into a wash basket in the utility room... The airing cupboard is close to the bedrooms upstairs so is easy to get to.

 

You obviously do sacrifice space in the airing cupboard, but that's only a 30cm square box in the airing cupboard, and still leaves enough of space i think. As for the utility room, I don't think it will take any more room than a pile of dirty washing would anyway.

 

If you have teenagers and put a chute in their rooms, they will still leave their dirty laundry under their beds 

[Triassic]

It’s all down to training, run a re-education program, if each individual places their laundry in the laundry room it gets washed, if an individual places their laundry under their bed, on the floor, at the bottom of the stairs it gets ignored.

[newhome]

1 hour ago, Triassic said:

if an individual places their laundry under their bed, on the floor, at the bottom of the stairs it gets ignored.

 

Can see you don’t have teenagers lol although my brother’s kids aren’t too bad. 2 washing baskets in the kids’ bathroom, one darks, one lights and my SIL walks the baskets down the stairs when needed.

 

I can see a flaw with the ‘emptying into chute to be caught by basket beneath’ approach. Someone is bound to move the basket and shove something on the worktop in its place. 

 

 

[jack]

We thought long and hard about something like this for our house (my wife was very much in favour), but I just didn't see the benefit. I think I was right in the end: the one we were thinking about would have gone in the main bathroom, but frankly, our children manage to leave a trail of clothes throughout the entire house over the course of a day. 

[ProDave]

Bedrooms are the place for a laundry basket, one per bedroom, that is where you get undressed.  Having then to carry your clothes to another place to put them down the chute would then just be a PITA.

[Declan52]

Sounds like a great idea but wouldn't work in my house. With  any doubt I would come home and find my youngest wedged in it.

[Hecateh]

I'm putting my washer and dryer in my bathroom/dressing room.

[MikeSharp01]

5 minutes ago, Hecateh said:

'm putting my washer and dryer in my bathroom/dressing room.

Is that upstairs? If so I would worry that the low frequency & high amplitude vibrations from all but a perfectly balanced load are going to get everywhere in the house. Has anybody done the upstairs laundry thing in a timber framed house and if so how did it go?

[ProDave]

10 minutes ago, Hecateh said:

I'm putting my washer and dryer in my bathroom/dressing room.

Best of luck with that. I take it you personally will not be carrying the washer up the stairs?

[Hecateh]

3 minutes ago, MikeSharp01 said:

Is that upstairs? If so I would worry that the low frequency & high amplitude vibrations from all but a perfectly balanced load are going to get everywhere in the house. Has anybody done the upstairs laundry thing in a timber framed house and if so how did it go?

It is upstairs - not too worried about the noise, there's only me so I can always do the washing when I'm out if it's noisy, certainly do it during the day as I'm retired.

 

1 minute ago, ProDave said:

Best of luck with that. I take it you personally will not be carrying the washer up the stairs?

 

As my house is split level it's either 6 stairs up to the bedroom or 8 stairs down to the lounge LOL

[MrMagic]

It's quite common to have the washer/dryer upstairs or on the middle floor in US houses (more common than over here anyway)... stayed in a few airbnbs that had this.

 

If you live in a multistory 'house' it kind of makes sense - why cart it all the way downstairs only to bring it back up. Given the opportunity to do this I'd certainly give it some serious thought. I also like the laundry chute idea although £600 for that hose seems a little bit pricey.

 

Perhaps look at a fire hatch from Jupiter blue and some aircon/HVAC duct or just make your own by boxing in?

[Mr Punter]

1 hour ago, MikeSharp01 said:

Is that upstairs? If so I would worry that the low frequency & high amplitude vibrations from all but a perfectly balanced load are going to get everywhere in the house. Has anybody done the upstairs laundry thing in a timber framed house and if so how did it go?

 

We have a washing machine on the second floor, bedrooms on the first and second.  House is timber framed from first floor up but the floors are well spec'd. No real bother from vibration.

[Ferdinand]

I agree with the keep-it-all-together principle.

 

Occam would then perhaps imply washing machine and dryer in upstairs "utility", and have a drying facility in the bathroom or an ensuite perhaps in a large shower cubicle.

 

Ferdinand

[PeteTheSwede]

Thanks for the all the comments. The other half is keen on having all washing machines/dirty washing piled up in one room, and the only place we have space for that is the Utility room downstairs.

 

On 08/10/2018 at 09:55, MrMagic said:

... I also like the laundry chute idea although £600 for that hose seems a little bit pricey.

 

Perhaps look at a fire hatch from Jupiter blue and some aircon/HVAC duct or just make your own by boxing in?

 

Now that I think I  am going to be able to do a straight vertical drop, I think you're right. The tube is more useful if you need to kink around corners and avoid snagging. A simple square plasterboard box with a fire proof access panel on the top will probably do. That's the kind of door the smartchute guys supply anyway.

[PeterW]

If you make your own you can drop it into a custom cupboard and split the chute into dark / light and also have boxes at the bottom. I can’t see how this could cost less than £100 to do as you could use a standard fire door on the top and also fit intumescent or smoke seals around the edges. 

[Ferdinand]

Sorry to pull this thread out of history, but @PeteTheSwede did ask for  thoughts.

 

My thought is why spend 5-10k on a laundry chute when you can just hoick it all over the banisters?

 

I just hoicked  the last lot of Christmas bedlinen over the banisters and it is now being washed.

 

(Perhaps to do with delivery direct to the laundry room?)

Edited February 14, 2020 by Ferdinand

[iansr]

@PeteTheSwede  Can I ask how you implemented this in the end?

[SteamyTea]

On 07/10/2018 at 23:00, Tennentslager said:

reckon it's not smooth on the inside and bra straps will snag

Got visions of a young Barbara Windsor now.

 

 

 

Edited November 21, 2021 by SteamyTea