Many years ago I lived in a townhome that had the clothes washer/dryer in a closet adjacent to the bedroom in the upper floor of the home- what a convenience. Now we are in a house where the laundry is in the basement, and are hauling loads of laundry up and down 2 flights of stairs several times a week. Seems like most homes have it this way, and I am wondering why? I am considering moving them up to the 2nd floor, where I have the space and can tie into existing bathroom plumbing, but am concerned about the possibility of water damage below if the washer should overflow. I was at Lowe’s the other night and they sell “washer pans”- nothing more than a 1″ deep pan that the washer sits in. My thought is that if the washer overflows, this pan is gonna fill instantly and do little good. Any suggestions on how to properly install these appliances in an upper floor to minimize the risk?
Thanks
Replies
Use an automatic shut-off like the Watts Inteli-Flow. That will keep problems from burst hose lines down. Also, you need a floor drain (ideally) or a pan. And a waterproof floor surface.
There are multiple risks: the washer supply hoses bursting; the machine overflowing; the drain backing up; or the drain hose coming loose. Guard against all of them.
The washer should definately sit in a pan. The trickyest part is running the pan drain. If you run it to the bathroom drain pipes it would need a p-trap to prevent gasses from coming out of it. Problem with that is the p-trap would tend to dry out and not serve it's purpose.
The couple of times I did this, I ran the 1" PVC drain all the way to the basement, to discharge into the utility sink. No p-trap needed because it's not connected to the drain system.
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Like others said, just drain that pan to somewhere. You'll see a knockout on that pan to pipe into.
Ask This Old House had a whole segment on this. There are a number of different water sensors that you can use, that will either shut off the water at the washing machine or even to the entire house.
Strangely, code doesn't require anything at all - at least in MA.
I have just done this in my house, and I did the pan w/ kerdi and I bulit up a 4" curb just in case. I have seen this done many times and it seems to work very well. just my 2 cents.
I've always had a sheet metal shop make me a pan that exactly fits the closet bottom. Have them weld (braze?) a stub of pipe to the bottom for the drain. The bigger the better- I'd say 1" minimum, but 1 1/4" or 1 /1/2" much better. Connect this to a pipe run to daylight (over a basement floor drain, or into a utility sink. If a hose goes, you need a big drain to do any good. The also have inexpensive auto-shutoff valves for the supplies.
Another concern is vibration. We just replaced our top loader w/ a new front loader, and there is practically no vibration now. I also put a piece of 'dibiten' (torch-down rubber roofing) in the bottom of the pan (with a hole cut out at the drain exit) to further isolate the washer from the structure. Come to think of it, I put a sheet under the pan, too. I guess you could put a piece of sound board (homasote?) under the pan, too- every little bit helps.
Bill