Fina Johnson moved to Stowe, Vermont, from New York City, New York City, in 1996. She began transforming her Cape Cod home from being merely livable into something more comfortable and efficient. Fina Johnson’s latest project was to install a laundry chute in her basement from her bedroom closet. Johnson says, “I work in real estate and keep seeing laundry chutes at all these houses–they are ingenious.” Johnson says, “I don’t mind climbing up and down my steps as much.”
How do you put a laundry chute in?
A laundry chute can be added to a house like a needle in a dark place. To plot the course of the house’s mechanicals and frame, it is best to have an X-ray (in the form of a blueprint). Finding a straight line from the washer to the hamper, even with blueprints, can be challenging, especially after remodeling. It may also require sacrificing a closet or nook.
Laundry Chute Door Placement
Tom recommends that children use an elevated door to keep them from falling down the chute. Some state building codes may regulate the size, design, and placement of lines. Sometimes, trapdoors are required to stop fires from climbing up pipes. Dan Priest of the National Association of Home Builders recommends contacting local officials to obtain the latest code information.
Building the Chase
A chute’s tricky part often begins below the floorboards. Johnson lost her blueprints, so the route she thought was clear quickly became a maze. Bartlett discovered that the chute was in a collision course along with a thermostat wire and a water pipe. He said that this was a design-built chute. This meant he would have to create a chase that jigged in the perfect spot to avoid the house. To determine the location of the chute’s opening into the laundry area, he reached into the floor and poked three 1/4-inch-long framing nails through the ceiling drywall. He traced the opening downstairs using a framing square and a pencil.
