apartment unit laundry equipment

[hans@dha-architects.]

I've done a few apartment buildings the last couple years and all have had their own laundry, one was a renovation of an old school building and we put stacking laundry in the type B units and side by side front loaders in the type A's, the last two new buildings we did side by sides in all unit types as ANSI A117 doesn't outright say that you can't have stackers in type B units but must have clear floor spaces at each W/D which implies side by side correct? I prefer side by side anyway as the stackers are a pain in the butt because you're usually jamming it into a small closet which makes hook-ups difficult and capacities are small, etc....anyway, reason I ask is a developer sent me some plans from another architect for an apartment building he wants me to finish up and all units had stacking laundry (as well as bathrooms that weren't compliant for type A or B units), and frankly, I see a lot of new apartments that have stacking laundry units so am I incorrect that you need side by side in both unit types?

 

[Yikes]

Our firm is based in California, so we mainly follow CBC 11A for privately funded housing and 2010 ADA Standards + CBC 11B for public-funded housing. I only have 2009 ANSI 117.1 so you will need to check if there are newer versions.

In private housing, stackable units are allowed in California. This roughly corresponds to ANSI Type B units.
However, my understanding is that in ASNI 117.1 a forward approach is allowed only for front loading machines, not top-loading machines.

In public housing, a the units that are required to be ADA mobility accessible must have all controls within reach range. In ANSI 117.1, section 611 refers you to 309 (and from there, 308) for reach ranges, which are basically 15-48" AFF for all controls and door handles. Can you find a stacking unit that meets that requirement?
The trickier part for type A and ADA mobility units is that both ANSI and ADA show the parallel approach, and neither state that a gap is allowed between the face of the equipment and the edge of the 30"x48" space. Therefore many accessibility legal experts are stating that the 30"x48" must touch the equipmmet.

This means if you are making a closet, it must have doors that provide at least a 48" clear width when the doors are open, either centered on the appliance (ADA) or ANSI will allow a max. 24" offset for front loading machines (see image below). this make s for a really huge laundry closet!



Last comment: Here in California, the state is pushing multifamily away from gas appliances and towards all-electric appliances and dwellings, including utilizing heat-pump clothes dryers. These are available as a single all-in-one unit (washer + heat pump dryer) in 27"x27" x 36" high configuration, or a bit smaller. We are planning on these for all future projects that have laundry appliances inside the unit.

 

[hans@dha-architects.]

I was doing another project in which the units would be sold as condos, in which case the state building official said we'd only need to provide type A units if the buyer wanted them, either way, seems like they need to be side by side for A or B units as your standard stacked unit is more than four feet to the dryer portion. I almost prefer them in an alcove without doors if possible, or at least in type A units.....frankly I've never gotten any comments on any accessibility aspects from a BO probably because ANSI isn't the most clearly written code so they're trusting my design is compliant. I do like the idea of that all-in-one unit (assuming they've gotten better than the first generation that came out), plus it eliminates any venting hassles I would assume. There are so many electric rebates in CT that we don't really even consider gas as an option

 

[Yikes]

I assume that in condos, the laundry appliances are not provided. You can show the all-in-one as a dotted outline on the plans and say "by owner". You could do whatever hookups you want and are free to assume whatever kind of equipment (such as a front-loading all-in-one) will demonstrate access compliance.

Aside form the durability of newer equipment / appliances, the main problem with all-in-one heat pump washer/dryers is user expectation. A wash+dry cycle can take 3+ hours, and the clothes won't exude warmth when you pull them out.
The people I know that have the appliances have changed their laundry habits. Saturday is no longer "laundry day". Instead, they put the dirty clothes in at night, and pull clean ones out the following morning, kind of like how many people run their dishwashers.

 

[hans@dha-architects.]

honestly, 3 hours really isn't bad unless you're trying to get five loads done in a day - how often do you actually get the laundry in the dryer right after the washer finishes? half the time you've forgotten about the laundry in the washer for hours and now it's easily more than three hours to finish a load.....so as Ron Popeil says, set it and forget it!