Laundry room dimensions

A laundry is planned outward from a box that cannot be resized. Everything else in the room, the aisle, the counter, the sink, the storage, is a consequence of the machine's three dimensions and the services behind it. Get the order wrong and the room is finished before anyone notices that the dryer door hits the opposite wall, or that the duct cannot legally reach outside.

Start with the machine, and know which system it belongs to#

A US full-size washer or dryer is 27 in (69 cm) wide, 31 in (79 cm) deep and 38 in (97 cm) high. A European machine is 600 x 600 x 850 mm (23.6 x 23.6 x 33.5 in). Those two families do not interchange, and the near-miss between 24 in and 600 mm is one of the standing traps described in imperial and metric: 600 mm is 23.6 in, so a European machine slides into a 24 in cabinet run and a US compact does not fit a 600 mm one.

The depths that matter are not the ones on the spec sheet. Add 2 in (5 cm) for the door and handle, 1 in (25 mm) of air each side, and 4 to 6 in (10 to 15 cm) behind for hoses and the vent elbow, all worked through in washer and dryer dimensions and the space they need.

The wall to wall arithmetic#

Add the parts up in the direction that matters, which is depth.

Two machines side by side need 60 in (152 cm) of width, and the aisle in front is the number people cut first and regret longest: 42 in (107 cm) is the NKBA planning figure, and 48 in (122 cm) is our recommendation wherever a front loader door, which projects 23 in (58 cm) when open, has to be walked around while carrying a basket. The four workable arrangements and the footprints they need are set out in laundry room sizes and layouts, and the tighter case, a machine pair behind bifold doors, in laundry closet dimensions.

Stacking trades width for height and changes the ergonomics rather than improving them. The dryer drum floor rises to a genuinely useful 47 to 49 in (119 to 124 cm), but the control panel goes to 72 to 76 in (183 to 193 cm), above the comfortable reach band, which is the trade laid out in stacked washer and dryer dimensions and clearances.

The duct decides where the dryer goes#

Vented dryers are governed by one arithmetic. The IRC allows a 4 in (100 mm) duct up to 35 ft (10.7 m) of developed length, and every fitting is charged against that total: 5 ft (1.5 m) for each 90 degree elbow, 2.5 ft (760 mm) for each 45 degree bend. A periscope behind the machine, a turn up the wall, a turn through a joist bay and a turn out through the rim board is four elbows, or 20 ft of the allowance spent before a single straight length is counted. That leaves 15 ft (4.6 m) of actual duct, and it is why the dryer takes the position nearest an exterior wall and the washer goes inboard, not the other way round. Terminal clearances, hood types and the recess that buys depth back are covered in dryer venting dimensions and clearances. A ventless heat pump machine removes the constraint entirely and is often the only way a laundry works in the middle of a floor plate, at the cost of a longer cycle.

Work heights: the one counter that should not be 36 in#

The full derivation by user height, plus the counter depth needed to clear a front loader door, is in laundry counter and folding surface heights, and the general case for every task in a house in work surface heights by task.

Sink, drying and storage, in that order#

A utility basin is the one fixture that should not be borrowed from the kitchen: 22 x 22 in (56 x 56 cm) on plan and 12 to 15 in (30 to 38 cm) deep, so a bucket stands under the spout, with the rim at 36 in (91 cm) to match a counter or 38 in (97 cm) to recover the work height a deep basin loses. The clearances in front, and what happens when a machine door opens into the same space, are in utility sink dimensions and clearances.

Drying is sized in metres of line rather than square feet of room: 15 to 18 m (50 to 60 ft) per load, with 50 mm (2 in) between garments and 300 to 400 mm (12 to 16 in) between parallel lines, from drying rack, rail and line dimensions. A ceiling airer needs 2,030 mm (80 in) of headroom under the hanging laundry, which is a door head height, so it belongs over the machines rather than over the route.

Storage comes last because it takes whatever is left. Wall cabinets above a folding counter follow the kitchen relationship, 18 in (46 cm) of clear space above the surface, and their depth is limited by the machine door below, all in laundry shelving and cabinet heights. The awkward objects, the ironing board at 54 x 18 in (137 x 46 cm) opened into 66 x 54 in (168 x 137 cm) of floor, and the detergent shelf that needs 14 in (36 cm) of clear height for a large jug, are dimensioned in ironing board and laundry storage dimensions. Where the laundry shares a wall with other appliances, check the service clearances in appliance dimensions and clearances before assuming the run closes.

In this section#

• Dryer venting dimensions and clearancesDryer ducts are 4 in (100 mm) and the IRC caps the developed length at 35 ft (10.7 m), less 5 ft per elbow. Terminals, materials and the recess that saves depth.
• Drying rack, rail and line dimensionsOne wash load needs 15 to 18 m (50 to 60 ft) of line. Rack footprints, ceiling airer headroom, line spacing, and where the 3.8 litres of water goes.
• Ironing board and laundry storage dimensionsA full-size ironing board is 54 x 18 in (137 x 46 cm) and needs 66 x 54 in of clear floor to open. Board heights, storage slots, shelves and basket sizes.
• Laundry closet dimensions and door clearancesA side-by-side laundry closet needs 60 x 36 in (152 x 91 cm) of clear interior, a stack 32 x 36 in (81 x 91 cm). Door types, clear openings and ventilation.
• Laundry counter and folding surface heightsFold at 38 to 39 in (97 to 99 cm), not the kitchen's 36 in. Why a counter over a US front loader lands at 41 in (104 cm), and the 30 in depth a towel needs.
• Laundry room sizes and layoutsA single row of machines needs 80 in (203 cm) wall to wall: 38 in of appliance and services plus a 42 in (107 cm) aisle. The four layouts, sized.
• Laundry shelving and cabinet heightsLeave 16 to 18 in (41 to 46 cm) above the machine top, which puts a laundry wall cabinet bottom at 54 in (137 cm) above the floor. Depths and reach limits.
• Stacked washer and dryer dimensions and clearancesA full-size stacked pair stands 76 to 79 in (193 to 201 cm) tall and needs a closet 32 in wide by 36 in deep (81 x 91 cm). Heights, doors, venting and reach.
• Utility sink dimensions and clearancesA laundry basin runs 22 x 22 in (56 x 56 cm) and 12 to 15 in (30 to 38 cm) deep, rim at 36 in (91 cm). Faucet clearance, floor space and rough-in heights.
• Washer and dryer dimensions and the space they needA US washer or dryer is 27 in (69 cm) wide, 31 in (79 cm) deep and 38 in (97 cm) high. European machines are 600 x 600 x 850 mm. Every clearance around them.