Laundry chutes ?

[petek]

Does anyone even have one anymore? We had one in one house we lived in years ago, it was upstairs in a hallway linen closet, basically a trap door on the floor heading down to the laundry room. Can't have one in the house, the laundry room is below the dining room.

 

[SactoTeddyBear]

Re: Laundry Shutes:

Hi! Pete, am I correct that you can't have a Laundry Shute in a house, because of them being a possibly Fire Hazard? If I remember correctly, someone quite some time ago,told me that they were a possible Fire Hazard.

If I had a real nice Multi-Story House, I would love to have a "Dumb-Waiter" since I've seen some in our Family Friends house and in some Model Homes I looked a long time ago too. I would probably have a Motorized one though.

Peace and Happy Laundry Shute Memories, Steve
SactoTeddyBear...

 

[doityrselfguy]

Laundry Shutes

In Michigan, these were very common in ranch homes built in the '50s. We had one when I was young. There was a spring-loaded door just above the bathroom counter. A wooden catch box was built into the basement ceiling, that could be pulled open to unload on the floor. We would occasionally need to unjam it with a broomstick.

 

[dalangdon]

My mom's house has one - it is just the space between two studs, with the depth being the thickness of the wall. It worked pretty well though. If it go jammed up, we would use the broomstick method as well.

The house next door to us had an actual trap door in the floor. It was pretty treacherous for us kids, but of course we loved it.

 

[Kevinpreston3]

We had two in different homes....

Where I grew up in Denver we had a two story house. In the hallways was a white square panel, with rounded corners, that stood out from the wall about 1/2 inch. The door in the panel was circular, hinged at the top and closed by its own weight. When you pushed clothes into it, they went downstairs to the laundry area. This house had a very interesting laundry area, you opened closet type folding doors in the "nook" and there was space for a washer and dryer. To the left was a two door cabinet. If you opened the door, there were the clothes from upstairs.

It was a mixed bagged dealing with it, as you kind of had to pull clothes out as more tumbled down on top of you! But it was cool.

When we moved to Illinois for a short time, we had a two story condo with a basement. The laundry was in the basement. There was a wooden door that opened in the hallway upstairs, and this was the laundry shoot. It went all the way down into the basement, where it just jutted out from the ceiling. In that one, you put a laundry basket under it to catch the clothes.

I had hours of fun lowering GI Joes down through that chute to the "planet's surface".

 

[rinso]

My parents house built in 1961 in which I spent my teen years had a single laundry chute with three access doors that funnelled laundry to the basement washroom. One from the master bath, one from the hallway, and one from the main bath. When they built a new house after their retirement, they learned that fire codes now prohibited laundry chutes between floors.

 

[Kevinpreston3]

Some day, we'll realize how much good stuff

in life is being taken away by rules from the "nanny state".

Exactly how many people were burned horribly because of laundry chutes for crying out loud! We already can't use fireworks in most places, idiot lawmakers in some areas think model rockets and gas R/C planes are fireworks, must have airbags in your car, must wear a motorcycle helmet, must have a toilet that saves water but you flush it 3 times anyway to make it work--thus WASTING water must this, must that.

Too many laws, too many stupid codes.

Rant off for the day!

 

[dalangdon]

The MGM Grand changed everything

When I worked in the hotel business, they made us watch a movie about the MGM Grand disaster that would make your hair curl. Most of the fatalities happened because of archaic building codes and non-pressurized elevator shafts and stairwells. While the fire was mostly containted to the casino area, The smoke went up them the shafts and stairwells like chimneys, which flooded the guest room floors with smoke and noxious gases from the polymers that were burning below, and that's how most people died. Frantic people who broke their windows open to get fresh air helped feed the flow of smoke.

After that, building codes tightened up everywhere, and I suspect that might be why some localities do not allow clothes chutes. Although I THINK they are allowed in Seattle as long as they have secure doors and are sheathed in sheet metal. That's what the hotels all have.

 

[kenwashesmonday]

In our apartment, the 1st floor of a house, there is a laundry chute in the bathroom closet. It's made of metal ductwork. We use it only for the white/hot/bleach/underwear stuff. Makes the labor intensive underwear wash load a little easier.

Ken D.

 

[whirlcool]

I can see how a laundry chute could have a chimney effect and easily spread the fire to other places in the home.
My parents had a laundry chute in their house that was built in 1960. It was in a sidewall of a closet in the hallway upstairs. You'd go down to the laundry area and pull on a cord and it would all come falling out. Occasionally a sock or small towel would get "stuck" to the side. Sending a big towel down would always dislodge it. I always wanted to try jumping down it! I remember a story on TV a few years ago about some kid doing just that and getting stuck in it! The fire department had to take part of the kitchen wall apart to free him.
This is one of those things that you always thought was neat but never gave much thought to. After reading this thread I realized that I haven't seen a laundry chute in many years!

 

[gregm]

illegal now ?

We had one in our house growing up, it was in the kitchen cabinet and clothes would drop into a basket next to the washer on the basement floor. I heard that they are "illegal" to build and / or install in new built homes today. Something to do with "fire codes" ? I think they are cool ...........

 

[Unimatic1140]

We have one in our house, going from the Kitchen down to the basement. I had one in my old house too from the hallway down to the basement. They are quite common in older houses built before 1950 here in Minnie.

 

[maytagbear]

The answer is simple.

Who needs a laundry chute if you have a washer and dryer on each level?

Just a thought!

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[foraloysius]

Well Lawrence, ofcourse you don't always want to use the same washer on a load from a specific floor. A laundry chute still would be handy if you want to do a load in a machine that is on a lower level!