Little by little I’ve been constructing our house in a 3D model – the idea is to get a working model of our current house, and start to plan out some projects that we really want to tackle this year. A lot of them seem to involve finding the time to measure, get drawings out to contractors or fabricators, get pricing, budget the work, and actually schedule the work to be done. Sometimes it’s hard just to get that process started. Having a good base model to work with might just help us get our mind around the extent of some of these projects, and also allow us to put furniture and rugs, etc. in at the correct scale and make some informed decisions.
Last night I pulled out the laundry room section of the model and looked at a couple of alternatives for trimming out the new units.
Below is what we currently have – with a big blank spot under the countertop where the old single unit was, and a big blank spot above where we’ve removed the upper cabinet.
Last night I pulled out the laundry room section of the model and looked at a couple of alternatives for trimming out the new units.
Below is what we currently have – with a big blank spot under the countertop where the old single unit was, and a big blank spot above where we’ve removed the upper cabinet.
The next image is one way that we could trim out the side of the new stacking units – it’s a little awkward and doesn’t really give good access to the back of the units for servicing, etc.
I really like this next one where the whole unit is enclosed in trim and we modify the existing upper cabinet doors – shortening them and making the upper cabinet deeper – similar to the way some refrigerators are fitted out in kitchen cabinets. This is a pretty involved option, and again it doesn’t give a good solution for plugging / unplugging the unit. There’s just not a lot of room to pull the units straight out into the room to service.
I think the next one will be our best solution to the problem – the upper cabinet will remain the shallow depth, and we’ll have a trimmed out box that surrounds the new unit that will provide a way to get easier access to the back for servicing. The upper cabinet won’t be very accessible, but we tend to store our boxes with owners manuals here – for things like our cameras, appliances, so we don’t have to access them too often.
We got the bid back from the electrician today, and the units should be in as well. So still a long way to go – a bit more of the laundromat in our near future. But at least in the virtual world those machines are scrubbing and drying and spinning away in their new little spot, and my laundry room doesn’t smell like accumulating dirty diapers and burp rags.
I like the view of the laundry from F’s room as if the floor was removed…I’ll get started on that tonight! -M
the third option seems the like the most practical. but the second really looks cool. the upper cabinet could just be pulled forward and supported with some light framing behind to push it out. As for access… how about a magnectic concealed panel that could be removed when servicing the units? the side panel could be bead board which would hide the lenght cut of the opening and the top and bottom could be in line with the countertop and the bottom of the upper cabinet.
krak