Seize the opportunity

The introduction of an additional laundry room on the second floor within any home is a tricky prospect at the best of times and requires careful planning prior to execution.

Although a laundry room was not a priority during an elaborate kitchen remodel I handled, an opportunity presented itself to tackle the endeavour.

While the walls were being stripped down to studs on the main floor, a useful corridor via which to run rough plumbing and electrical from the basement to the second level was too good for the homeowners to pass up.

This particular kitchen remodel a couple years ago was a huge project. The area of the dining room into the old kitchen was roughly 700 square feet in size, and involved removing a dividing wall, introducing two new kitchen picture windows and a side coffee bar with sink beyond the centre island with the main sink area.

As the shell of the kitchen was being stripped and prepped for the impending changes, the home’s underlying structure revealed a tandem exterior wall-framing from the original build.

The outer framework consists of two-by-six framed studs, filled with insulation and sealed with vapour barrier, while a secondary inner framework revealed a two-by-four stud wall directly adjacent, rendering the outer walls to a girth of nine full inches before drywall.

While the main exterior wall was bare to the inner two-by-four studs, the homeowners had indicated they would like to assess the possibility of introducing a second laundry room on the upper floor, within an oversized closet and storage area that happens to sit directly above the main kitchen renovation (more or less).

After mapping the exact location of the upper room in relation to the kitchen, the large closet sits roughly one foot into the kitchen, beyond the proposed corner pantry location, just clearing the window area along that exterior wall.

As such, the rough plumbing could indeed be routed from the upper closet, through the two-by-four studded interior wall framework and down into the basement for stack tie-in. Also, the hot and cold water feeds could essentially follow the same path, and tie into the respective feeds along the basement ceiling.

As for the electrical requirements, the house was fortunately pre-wired with two separate 200-amp services, one of which could easily support the additional 30-amp dryer plug required. The closet was already wired with a standard 15-amp plug, which would satisfy the washer.

Beyond the drain, water and electrical services needed, a new four-inch dryer duct would also be required to vent the out through the exterior wall.

Tied together nicely

With the plan is place, the two-inch ABS was routed from the upper two-by-four studded wall within the closet down through the two-by-four studded wall on the main floor and into the basement, which, after a slight 45-degree deviation, tied in beautifully with the existing stack.

The water feeds (colour-coded blue and red for ease of identification) were then routed back up toward the same location within the oversized closet. The terminating feeds, as well as the ABS, were then mapped to a combo insert, which cleanly reveals the washer drainpipe and water shut-off valves.

The new dryer plug was also mounted within the two-by-four exterior framework at a convenient location for the stackable dryer. A four-inch hole was introduced through the wall, with a dryer-vent cover mounted on the exterior wall, onto which the flexible dryer vent ducting was attached.

Due to the nature of water and potential for mishaps, a washing-machine pan was also included in the design layout. The washer is positioned atop the pan, which is essentially a safety measure for leaks, where the glorified low-profile tub or basin catches any water before it causes major damage on the second floor and through to the main and basement levels.

The pan drain was plumbed much like the drain of a walk-in shower, and includes a trap which was introduced within the joist cavity just below the second-level sub-floor. This trap was then mapped and tied into the main two-inch drain which descends into the basement, tying into the main stack.

With all services installed, the washer was then placed atop the pan, the water feeds connected using the supplied hoses and the drain from the washer fed into the ABS drainpipe.

After being plugged in, the washer was tested by running a full cycle.

Next, the dryer was hoisted atop the washer and plugged into the new 30-amp plug. The flexible dryer ducting was connected to the main vent outlet, and it too was tested by running a complete cycle.

Both units functioned without any issues, completing the second-floor laundry room installation.

The prospect of adding such a large task to an already congested kitchen remodel seemed daunting at the time. However, it probed to be the right moment, as the walls were stripped down, providing the best opportunity to introduce a second-floor laundry space without having to (at a later date) attempt to configure such an addition.

On its own, the laundry intro would have been extremely invasive and would have required undoing what had just been achieved during the kitchen remodel.

Essentially, once the walls were bare, there was no other choice — the laundry upgrade needed to be done at that time or it would never have been feasible. And oh boy, were the homeowners thrilled to have their new second-floor laundry room, which has proved to be extremely convenient as this re-purposed, oversized closet-turned-laundry-facility just happens to be adjacent to all the bedrooms in the home.

RenoBoss.Inc@outlook.com