Some renovation questions- flooring, laundry and??

[SnuggleBuggles]

We are adding a bathroom, making a new laundry room and reconfiguring some of our basement (doors, stairs, storage).

1. I figured we'd do Luxury Vinyl flooring since it's a basement and would be easy to maintain and wouldn't need to worry about potential water (only every few years do we get a slight trickle on a crazy storm). I know environmentally I could make better choices but let's put that aside for now. What other flooring options would you consider? And, floating vs glue down? My contractor says floating, the flooring store says glue down. I'm more inclined to trust my contractor but I admit to still being confused. The one floor would be something like this Luxury Vinyl Plank https://www.lowes.com/pd/Mohawk-7-Pi...ank/1000560687 (open to any other brand recs- I have a local flooring store we usually use but that Lowe's link is easy). This is the glue down one https://www.karndean.com/en/floors/d...ng-ranges/opus

2. Does anyone have a laundry set that finishes their cycles close in timing? Or am I hoping for something that doesn't exist? Right now my dryer is on it's last legs and takes forever. It'd be so nice to just keep things moving along.

3. Are there any tips you'd put out to consider? This won't be a primary bathroom at all, just one to use as a powder room most of the time and shower for guests. The devil is in the details and I don't want to miss something.

The contractor has worked for us before and has done good work.

[AnnieW625]

We don’t have vinyl plank flooring but my grandma had Pergo in her old kitchen and she loved it (I think she has full hardwood now); my in-laws also live in a dusty high desert area and have Pergo in their entire house and love it because it is so easy to clean. We put in hardwood like tile in our kitchen and bath and love it. We have Arizona Tile and I am not sure if it is regional but it was very reasonably priced. I love how easy it is to clean and the grout hasn’t been bothersome to clean either. The rest of our house is hardwood though so it fit the look we were going for.

We have an Electrolux base model gas dryer and the dry cycle we use most (mixed load with medium heat) finishes in 51 minutes (but it also auto adjusts if the load isn’t super full), but if it is really full we add another 15-25 minutes. We have a Speed Queen washer and I believe the full normal or permanent press cycle is about 40 minutes. We have been very happy with both. If we move into a house that only allows for a stackable set I would buy a front loading Electrolux, but I really love my Speed Queen. The Speed Queen front loafers are super pricey though so we may not even consider one.
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[SnuggleBuggles]

We don’t have vinyl plank flooring but my grandma had Pergo in her old kitchen and she loved it (I think she has full hardwood now); my in-laws also live in a dusty high desert area and have Pergo in their entire house and love it because it is so easy to clean. We put in hardwood like tile in our kitchen and bath and love it. We have Arizona Tile and I am not sure if it is regional but it was very reasonably priced. I love how easy it is to clean and the grout hasn’t been bothersome to clean either. The rest of our house is hardwood though so it fit the look we were going for.


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He did suggest looking at Pergo as well.

[twowhat?]

1) I think LVT is a good choice for a basement. I'd do floating - easier to replace if needed and if you got a water leak, you could take up the planks, let it dry, replace them. Floating will feel/sound more tappety-tap but to me that's totally fine for a basement - make sure you have a level subfloor/good pad underneath.

2) Yes! We have the LG WM3770 washer and matching dryer. The washer has a Turbowash option and can do a load of normal laundry in 37 minutes, which is fast for a FL machine. In my experience it gets the clothes just as clean and I find I use this for most loads. The dryer finishes drying the load in 38 minutes (on delicate, low heat setting...I feel like the dryer runs hot so we use low heat for most everything). I can power through a lot of laundry pretty quickly. The only times we use longer cycles (like Sanitary or Heavy) is for things like white bath towels and dog beds but I just plan ahead for those things. This machine is (was?) also a Wirecutter pick. If you want top-load I think there's a Maytag Commercial model or something like that...check Wirecutter...but it won't spin the water out of the clothes as well which will contribute to longer drying time.

3) Start a Pinterest page on small bathrooms! We added a bathroom to our attic addition and went with a basic bathroom that measures about 5.5 ft by 8 ft and we're able to fit an ADA Toto toilet, quite a large shower, and a small vanity 24-inch that I got from Wayfair. I put an oval pivot mirror above it and opted for using a shower curtain instead of a glass door so that I can add texture/color with the curtain. We added a little wainscot around the vanity area and painted it a pale sage green/gray for character, and the walls a soft white. It's a cute and functional bathroom. I put a 2-light vanity light above the mirror, and there is a light in the shower. And then finally there's a fan/light combo in the center of the ceiling. We like lots of light here. so this is perfect - you can have everything on and the bathroom nice and bright, or you can just turn any of the individual lights. The vanity has a drawer underneath for closed storage, and a shelf underneath that for open storage. The shower has a cubby for shampoo bottles, etc. We still need to add hooks/towel rings. IKEA has a bunch of bathroom storage shelving that is sized very nicely for a small bathroom - some might even fit behind the bathroom door, depending on how the door is spaced from the wall. Alternatively, if between-the-wall space allows, you could consider a pocket door though my personal preference is to use a real door whenever possible - it just feels more private.

[niccig]

Put a light in the shower stall. MIL did this in their basement bath and it made huge difference to lighting in the small room. We put light in our shower during a renovation too


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[SnuggleBuggles]

The bathroom actually has a huge window in it. The basement is a walkout. The window will be in shower so we're probably going to something like glass block. So, we're in pretty good shape light wise but will consider the vent+light option- thanks! We're installing a real ceiling (as opposed to drop in the other areas) and real door.

So, the glue down floor requires that you use a hairdryer to loosen the glue up then you can easily replace individual planks. It actually seems easier than replacing boards. But, still not sure on which way to go!

The bathroom will be fairly decent sized (36" vanity easily fits along with a linen closet and full sized shower- on par with a shower/ tub combo). Won't be grand but space isn't at a premium.

Pinterest and Houzz boards all done up.

[twowhat?]

The bathroom actually has a huge window in it. The basement is a walkout. The window will be in shower so we're probably going to something like glass block. So, we're in pretty good shape light wise but will consider the vent+light option- thanks! We're installing a real ceiling (as opposed to drop in the other areas) and real door.

So, the glue down floor requires that you use a hairdryer to loosen the glue up then you can easily replace individual planks. It actually seems easier than replacing boards. But, still not sure on which way to go!

The bathroom will be fairly decent sized (36" vanity easily fits along with a linen closet and full sized shower- on par with a shower/ tub combo). Won't be grand but space isn't at a premium.

Pinterest and Houzz boards all done up.

That could end up being a very nice guest bathroom, especially with a window! I don't know if you could consider a regular frosted window, the kind that you can tilt out to open it up and let air in (nice for ventilation on cooler days after a steamy shower) instead of completely closing it up with glass blocks. I'd actually still consider at least a small can light in the shower for mornings/night since you won't always have the advantage of natural light.

Shower hardware - consider a slide bar system where you have a regular shower head as well as a handheld on a slide bar. Very versatile, especially if little kids or elderly will be using the shower. Vanity - we stayed at a luxury lodge over summer vacation and I was impressed with the IKEA vanities! Might be worth checking out! Otherwise I'd probably choose the nicest countertop you can reasonably afford...36 inches is big enough to make a nice impression with a nice counter and add a little luxury to what would otherwise be considered "just a basement bathroom".

Sinks - I love deeper sinks because they're workhorses - great if you need to soak a piece of soiled clothing or fill a larger container with water or whatever.

[fauve01]

we just put in wood-look tile flooring all entire downstairs and LOVE it.

For any bathroom with a shower, put in a GOOD ventilation fan. And make sure there's good light.

IMO you can't have too many HOOKS. be sure to put one by the entrance of the shower.

Also, if possible, put a bar inside the shower. I wish we had that in ALL our wet/showers places so we could hang up wet towels, swim suits, rugs, anything.