Laundry Renovations

The hardest-working room in the house

The laundry rarely gets the attention it deserves. In many homes around Moe and Newborough, it is a narrow room at the back door with a freestanding tub, a washing machine squeezed beside it, a dryer on a bracket above and a few hooks for coats. It doubles as the entry from the yard, a place to dump muddy boots, a drying room through the long valley winter and sometimes a home for the dog. It is used every day, yet it is often the most neglected room in the house.

A laundry renovation turns this space into a room that works. We design and build laundries with proper bench space, enclosed storage, a tub that suits how you use it, room to sort and fold, somewhere to dry clothes on wet days and a floor that is waterproofed and easy to clean.

What makes a good laundry

• A bench over the machines. Front-loading washers and dryers under a continuous bench give you a surface for sorting and folding.
• A proper tub. An inset or undermount tub in the benchtop, deep enough for soaking and rinsing, with a tap tall enough to fill a bucket.
• Enclosed storage. Overhead and tall cupboards for detergents, cleaning products, the ironing board, the vacuum and the mop.
• Drying space. A hanging rail, a pull-down rack or a heated drying cabinet for clothes that cannot go in the dryer or outside.
• A durable floor. Porcelain tiles over a waterproofed floor that falls to a floor waste.
• Good ventilation. An exhaust fan ducted outside, essential when clothes are dried indoors or a dryer is used.
• Good light. Laundries are often windowless or lit by a single small window.

Laundry layouts

Galley laundry

Machines and tub along one wall, with cupboards above and opposite where space allows. This is the most common layout in older homes and works well when planned carefully.

European laundry

Where space is very limited, a laundry can be built into a cupboard with bifold or sliding doors, often in a hallway or kitchen. It needs the same waterproofing and drainage as a full laundry, and ventilation must be planned carefully.

Laundry and mudroom

For households on farms and lifestyle blocks around Moe South, Narracan, Thorpdale or Willow Grove, the laundry is often the main entry from outside. Including a bench seat, hooks, a boot rack and a hard-wearing floor turns it into a mudroom that keeps dirt out of the rest of the house.

Laundry and bathroom combined

Some homes combine the laundry with a bathroom or second toilet. This can work well if the room is large enough and the layout separates wet and dry zones.

Waterproofing a laundry

Laundries are wet areas, and AS 3740 sets out how they must be waterproofed. Where there is a floor waste, the floor must be waterproofed and fall to it. Walls behind the tub and around the machines need waterproofing to the required height, and penetrations must be sealed. A leaking washing machine hose or overflowing tub should be contained by the laundry floor rather than damaging the rest of the house. We follow the standard and document each stage.

Storage that makes sense

We plan storage around what you actually keep in the laundry:

• Tall cupboards for the vacuum, mop, bucket and ironing board.
• Overhead cupboards for cleaning products, kept out of reach of children.
• Pull-out baskets under the bench for sorting dark, light and delicate washing.
• Open shelves for frequently used items.
• A broom cupboard or hanging rack for brooms and dusters.

Every centimetre counts, so we measure appliances and plan clearances carefully, including door swings and room to open the washing machine.

Drying in a valley winter

Winters in the Latrobe Valley are cold, damp and often foggy, and clothes dry slowly outdoors. Many households dry clothes inside for months of the year. Without good ventilation, this puts a lot of moisture into the house. We plan for it with:

• A hanging rail over the bench or tub.
• A properly sized exhaust fan, ducted outside.
• A condensing or heat-pump dryer, which does not vent moist air into the room.
• Where space allows, a heated drying cabinet.

Our process

Consultation

We visit, measure the laundry, check the drainage, plumbing, electrical and ventilation, and talk about how you use the room.

Design and scope

We draw a layout, help you choose cabinetry, benchtop, tub, tapware and tiles, and prepare a written scope.

Strip-out

The old laundry is removed. In older homes, any linings that may contain asbestos are tested first and removed correctly if needed.

Rough-in

Licensed plumbers and electricians install new pipework, drainage, power points for appliances and exhaust ducting.

Waterproofing and tiling

The floor and walls are waterproofed to AS 3740 and tiled.

Cabinetry and fit-off

Cabinetry, benchtop, tub and tapware are installed, appliances are reconnected and everything is tested.

Handover

We clean up, walk you through the new laundry and hand over the documentation.

Laundries in older Moe homes

Many post-war homes in Moe and Newborough have laundries that were originally separate wash houses or enclosed back verandahs. They often have uneven floors, little insulation, old plumbing and a single power point. Renovating such a laundry often means levelling the floor, adding insulation, rewiring and replumbing, and making sure the room is properly waterproofed. It is worth doing properly, because the laundry often sits right beside the bathroom and the kitchen, and water damage spreads.

Combining a laundry with a bathroom renovation

Because the laundry and bathroom often sit side by side and share plumbing and drainage, renovating them together can make sense. The trades are already on site, the plumbing can be planned as one system, and the finishes can be coordinated. We can plan both rooms in a single scope and schedule the work so you always have access to essential facilities.

Choosing materials for a laundry

Benchtops

Laundry benchtops take knocks, spills, wet washing and cleaning products. Laminate is practical and comes in a wide range of finishes; engineered stone and solid surface tops are harder-wearing and suit an undermount tub. Whatever the material, the edges and joints around the tub must be properly sealed.

Cabinetry

Moisture-resistant board, sealed edges and quality hinges and runners last far longer in a laundry than standard board. Cabinet kickboards should be water-resistant, because laundry floors get wet.

Tub and tapware

A deep stainless steel tub is durable and easy to clean. A tall gooseneck tap or pull-out spray makes filling buckets and rinsing muddy clothes easier. Taps for the washing machine should be easy to reach so they can be turned off when the house is empty.

Flooring

Porcelain tiles are our usual recommendation. They are hard-wearing, water-resistant and easy to mop. For mudroom laundries, a darker or textured tile hides dirt and gives better grip.

Safety in the laundry

Laundries hold detergents and cleaning chemicals, so we recommend storing them in overhead or lockable cupboards in homes with young children. Power points for appliances are positioned by a licensed electrician to suit the wet-area requirements, and the dryer is installed with adequate clearance and ventilation.

Laundries in older valley homes

In many post-war homes around Moe and Newborough, the laundry sits in an enclosed back verandah with a sloping floor, lightweight walls, louvre windows and no floor waste. Renovating these rooms usually involves more than new cabinetry. We level and strengthen the floor, reline and insulate the walls, install a floor waste with waterproofing to AS 3740, improve ventilation with a ducted exhaust fan and, where needed, replace windows. The result is a laundry that is warm, dry and solid. If the existing position does not suit how you live, we can also discuss relocating the laundry closer to the clothesline or into a hallway cupboard.

Book a design consultation

If your laundry is cramped, damp or simply not working, book a design consultation. We will visit your home in Moe or a nearby town, look at the space and the services, and prepare a written scope for a laundry that works as hard as you do.

Areas we service

• Erica
• Hill End
• Moe South
• Moe
• Morwell
• Narracan
• Newborough
• Tanjil South
• Thorpdale
• Trafalgar
• Westbury
• Willow Grove
• Yallourn North
• Yarragon