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The building we live in is actually very nice with a small back yard and good neighbors. But there are no laundry hook ups and no Laundry room for the tenants use. We had been using the facilities in the next building but the owner decided to cut us off and the Laundromats here are awful. Half the machines are always broken, kids are left to scream and yell as they knock over baskets and the prices are high.
So, I began to research my options.
1. a stacked unit that uses 110 volt and put it on the patio. Electricity was available but it would mean using all cold water and the Gray water would have to be drained into a container and hauled into the bathtub for disposal. Yikes! way too much hassle.
2. A vent-less, washer/dryer combo it would work but is expensive and the portability kit is an after market add on that could void the warranty. ( the manufacturer has not responded to my queries on the warranty ) Also it would take 4 - 5 hours to wash/dry a single load. That is a long time to have the sink tied up and be tripping over the unit and the Landlord will not allow us to remove the dishwasher and install the unit in it's place.
3. a portable washer that hooks to the kitchen sink and a separate dryer. Sears has the washer and a small 110 volt electric dryer that will work. But the dryer will take several hours to dry a small load.
4. Use the portable washer and install a standard gas dryer on the patio by tapping into the furnace gas line. This will enable me to dry wash loads of laundry at a time. And I can add a clothesline for use in good weather.
We opted for the last #4. We had to buy a wall vent so we could cut it and put the gas line through it without damaging the existing vent (which will be stored safely away until we move so it can be restored when needed.)
Why would anyone build an apartment building without any laundry facility? Each unit has a garage and they could have easily added 220 volt power, water and drainage when they were building so each unit would have hookups. I would have been willing to pay more in rent for this convenience! I would even give up the small dining area off the kitchen for a laundry room.
Well, wish us luck. We will be hooking everything up this next week end and if everything goes according to plan I will be Laundromat free very soon!
We have been using the new washer and dryer for about 6 weeks and I must say it is one of those things that you don't realize the importance of until you lose them! The freedom to do laundry in my own home and without the worries of the laundromat seems disproportionately thrilling in the over all scheme of things. But thrilling it is!
The little roll up to the sink and hook in washer we got at Sears has been doing a great job washing everything and is surprisingly quiet. Since I do mostly cold water wash it has made very little impact on our utility bills and the gas dryer seems to be three times more efficient than the ones at the laundromat. No more hauling baskets in and out, no more worry about what was left in the tub that will stain my clothes, No more putting up with machines taking my money and stopping halfway through the wash. No more families of 15 using every machine while you wait to get to one as their unruly mob whoops and yells and runs around stepping on you and knocking you down... No more!
Yep, I am thrilled with the ability to do laundry at home. It is a chore I took for granted all those years living in houses with laundry rooms and the largest obstacle I encountered in adapting to apartment living.
I'm in an apartment without a washer and dryer and the complex laundry room is acres away. What I usually end up doing is packing all my clothes to the Laundromat once a week.
As the old saying goes "keep it nice, wear it twice". Of course this doesn't go for all your clothes, but chances I should consider if there's any way I can cut down on the amount of clothes I am washing. When I worked full time and came home from work, I would always change into a t shirt and shorts to lounge around the house, and since I was only wearing them for a few hours, I would wear them several evenings in a row.
Yes, I agree that most of my clothes can be worn twice and that did help. but having my own washing machine made life so much easier! The portable washer does a great job and can handle everything except my heavy quilts and DH's sleeping bag sp now I only have to go to the laundramat when I need the huge industrial size machine. Because we don't pay for water, the machine saved me enough money to pay for itself in a year and I can run a load anytime of the day or night without waiting for the neighbors to finish or having rude people letting their little darlings knock me down playing races with the laundramat carts.
I just moved to a new apartment with 12 units and there is only one washer and one dryer for all the tenants. It's really frustrating because every time I want to go do laundry I have to wait and wait and keep checking. And forget trying to do laundry on a Sunday... I have to pick obscure times during the week. At least its really cheap... only a $1 per machine. The next place I live is definitely going to have a washer and dryer in the unit though!
BBQontheGrill, I know just what you mean. I had to wait until 2 or 3 in the morning to get a machine in the middle of the week and even then they were full most of the time if they were working at all.
We have moved to a house now with laundry hook ups and I am still using my portable washer. The thing is still chugging out load after load for me and I love it. The freedom to wash a load at my convienience is great and the money not spent in a laundramat more than pays for the slightly higher utilitiy bills.
On all those home selling/buying shows on HGTV they keep saying that a nice bathroom and kitchen are the most important selling points in a home sale but for me it is the laundry!
I remember our first rental that had a washer and dryer. They were practically doll-sized, but it was so convenient to not drag everything to a laundromat.. I hung a lot of stuff on the line to save on utilities, because the dryer wasn't very efficient.
Zany, I'm with ya on the laundry room. In this house, the laundry area was something like 9 x 22, which also included a half-bath. We split the space into two rooms and created a separate bathroom with a shower, and a 9x12 laundry room, with a tub sink, 6 feet of cabinets and counterspace, a built-in ironing board and room for my sewing machine. We don't always use the space wisely (we clutter it up from time to time), but it sure is wonderful to have a spacious laundry room! I would consider it a good selling point if I were looking to buy the house!
I would have just found the closest laundry service and taken my laundry to them a few times a month. Back when I did this, I think I paid about 50 cents a lb...though it is probably a dollar or more now - still, it was worth it. I'd pick up my laundry, immaculately folded or on hangers, ironed, starched, the whole 9 yards. And I didn't have to spend half a day in a laundramat or invest in any machines while I was renting.
Oh, and when I did live in an apartment that had laundry facilities, you had to stay with your laundry the whole time or things would be stolen.
haha I live by that "keep it nice, wear it twice" and I actually have my own washer in dryer I am just too lazy to wash it every single time I wear it haha
