Comments on: why don’t more houses have a laundry chute?

By: Heather

Heather — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:59:29 +0000

We are building a house in Italy and I am driving the workmen nuts having them build a chute (out of a 30 cm sewar pipe!)… I am so excited!!!

By: Sarah

Sarah — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:10:25 +0000

When the kids were really small and we were doing laundry all the time, husband looked all over our 1990s house trying to find a spot to add one. No such luck! It would have been so nice.

By: shelterrific » Blog Archive » five things we learned last week

shelterrific » Blog Archive » five things we learned last week — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:02:19 +0000

[...] 1) Laundry chutes are the sources of fond memories. Gina says: “Both of my grandmothers have laundry chutes in their homes and it was always one of my favorite things about visiting. One of the chutes was just a small square cut out of the bathroom floor (I suspect this chute may have been homemade). A handle was attached to the cut out and you could drop your clothes right onto the washing machine in the basement, then cover the hole back up. Or you could drop notes down to your cousin while you were ’spying’ on the grown-ups talking upstairs…” Read the rest of Gina’s reminiscences, and the pros and cons of laundry chutes, here. [...]

By: Kristina

Kristina — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 00:43:53 +0000

When we were buying this last time, we made sure the house we had had the option to install in a laundry chute. When it was time to go and get it done, we were told no because of fire codes in place.

I can imagine that is why more homes don’t have them.

By: Megan B.

Megan B. — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:32:31 +0000

We *thought* our recently purchased house had one at first, as there was an open duct in the basement from a closet upstairs. But, much to our delight, we discovered it was a duct out the roof from some previous tenant’s horticultural endeavours, if you know what I mean…. We’d like to turn it into a laundry chute someday, though.

By: DJ

DJ — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 20:58:06 +0000

We have one in our current house. But friends in the neighborhood who are remodeling and wanted to put one back into their home were told no dice, they are considered a fire chute/hazard.

I LOVE ours. Fingers crossed it will only ever have laundry inside it.

By: Mary Thomas

Mary Thomas — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 20:50:58 +0000

I agree! My parent’s house had a laundry chute and I can’t tell you how handy it was. And the fun we had throwing other things down there as well. But seriously, it is practical. Don’t know why they arent’ used more these days in new construction.

By: cheri

cheri — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 19:59:57 +0000

My grandmother’s house had one, I and used to love to send my stuffed animals down and then run to the basement to find them among the piles of clothes.

By: Gina

Gina — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 19:43:48 +0000

Both of my grandmothers have laundry chutes in their homes and it was always one of my favorite things about visiting. One of the chutes was just a small square cut out of the bathroom floor (I suspect this chute may have been homemade). A handle was attached to the cut out and you could drop your clothes right onto the washing machine in the basement, then cover the hole back up. Or you could drop notes down to your cousin while you were “spying” on the grown-ups talking upstairs. I seem to remember a cousin small enough to squeeze through that hole as well. The basement ceiling was so low that it wasn’t a very big drop,although it was still dangerous. My other grandmother’s chute was a very long drop from a cabinet in the kichen. It was made a little bit safer by a flap you had to pull down after you opened the cabinet, but my mom said she and her siblings used to do some pretty dangerous stuff in it.

By: Mary T

Mary T — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 18:36:07 +0000

Ah-ha! Fire hazard, or lazy builders? http://www.laundry-alternative.com/laundry_chute.html