Washer/Dryer in basement or buy stackable for 2nd floor?

[SammyeGail]

Our washer and dryer is in fine condition, 13 yrs old but they are Maytag, big name back in those days, lol.

We went by our townhouse yesterday and DH realized they are not going to fit thru the door opening w/o taking down wood trim and moving fridge. He's also afraid with them being older, something break and we have a flooding issue on the 2nd floor that may cause alot of damage, the garage is underneath.

I called it a basement but its really the 1st level of a townhouse, I call it a Florida basement, lol. Their are hook-ups in the garage, DH wants to put the older ones down their for bigger loads and purchase a set on sale from Lowe's for the 2nd floor. They will stack on top of each other, giving us more storage room. Its just a small laundry closet, if we stack he can use the rest of the room for shelving.

I don't know about buying a new set when we don't need one, but I sure don't want to do any laundry in the garage, the living areas are on the 2nd & 3rd floor. Also we've never kept our garage very neat :bag.

I just looked at Lowes.com. the washer I think it is, has alot of mixed reviews. I don't remember the brand, fairly sure it was a Whirlpool.

Now I really don't want a piece of crap thats going to cause problems!

I know I can't convince DH to move our current ones upstairs. If we buy I want a set that has good ratings, and a good deal. Wonder if I'll be doing laundry in the garage until Black Friday :(.

There is a Samsung set, about $300 more that has great reviews. Would you get a new set because your DH is stubborn, its a big investment, kwim? I Would get a huge convenience, but just don't want to spend $$$ on something we already have.

[Pear]

My experience with stacking is that the machines will be noisy. Could you do side-by-sides, possibly front-loading, and them put storage on the upper half.

[amatahrain]

We have a 3 level townhouse. Garage/entry, living, bedrooms. The W/D is on the top floor with the bedrooms. The W/D is provided by the company we rent through and we are now on our 3rd set since moving here. About 6 months after we moved in the washer flooded the 3rd level and seeped through the floor and came out of the ceiling and light fixtures on the 2nd floor. They replaced the ceiling and even though it hasn't flooded in 2 years the dry wall on the ceiling is split at the seams! That was our first washer and it had been used by the previous tenants. Brand new washer #2 died when the washing barrel separated from the machine. Brand new washer #3 thumps loudly and is constantly off balance. My husband won't leave the laundry unattended and we can only do "mini" loads. When we visit my dad and use his washer it's like Christmas doing a regular sized load again! We're moving next month and will have a full sized older washer and a laundry shoot from the master bedroom and the master bathroom. Can.Not.Wait!

Keep the regular washer! It's served you well this long. I'd gladly walk my laundry to the garage if that was an option.

[mackmama]

Without question I would choose the stackable upstairs. I used to have laundry in the garage and hated it.

[crl]

Since you already own them, why not try them in the garage for a couple of weeks? If it bugs you, then get some for upstairs. Personally I prefer upstairs, but my mom prefers basement, so I'd just try it to see.

Catherine

[AnnieW625]

I would just continue to use the ones that you have now. Nothing beats a 10+ yr. old Maytag IMHO. I wish we had one.

[crazydiamond]

we bought units that are front load and stackable (bought kit)- but we have them side by side in basement now. Later if we wish we can bring them up and stack them.

Only problem is that I did not get the higher end model with vibration controls. I like the LG and Samsung Models.

[MoJo]

The last place we lived had them in the garage. . . but they walled it off so it didn't feel like it was the garage. If you were able to do something like that, it wouldn't matter how you kept the actual garage.

I've never had them upstairs, but I will say I much preferred the garage set up over the (real) basement, and even more so with young children.

[new_mommy25]

I would use the ones you have now. Why put yourself out the money when you have a set that works perfectly well? I don't mind doing laundry in the garage but this is coming from years of apartment living (and shared washers!). If you do decide on a stackable consider the Kenmore HE set. We have the washer/dryer stacked in our laundry closet off the kitchen and have been pleased with it.