Shared laundry room

Crunchy Friends

Hi all,

Just looking for a bit of insight or advice here.

Viewed an apartment today which is suitable for us in every way except it doesn't have its own washing machine - there is a shared laundry room in the apartment block with 3 washing machines, 1 euro a go.

We're having a hard time determining whether this is a big deal or not? Does anyone have any experience with this type of set-up? I'm kinda worried we'll never be able to get at a washing machine. We probably do 3-4 loads a week at present, so it's not really the money that bothers me, 3-4 euro a week isn't anything major to worry about.

Any advice appreciated!

Thanks a mil

cronos

Crunchy Friends wrote: »

Hi all,

Just looking for a bit of insight or advice here.

Viewed an apartment today which is suitable for us in every way except it doesn't have its own washing machine - there is a shared laundry room in the apartment block with 3 washing machines, 1 euro a go.

We're having a hard time determining whether this is a big deal or not? Does anyone have any experience with this type of set-up? I'm kinda worried we'll never be able to get at a washing machine. We probably do 3-4 loads a week at present, so it's not really the money that bothers me, 3-4 euro a week isn't anything major to worry about.

Any advice appreciated!

Thanks a mil

How many apartments does it serve?

colm_mcm

Where are you supposed to dry clothes?

CIARAN_BOYLE

cronos wrote: »

How many apartments does it serve?

This. 3 washing machines in a building with 6 apartments is different to 3 machines in a building with 90 apartments.

Crunchy Friends

1 laundry room for 15 apartments.

Dryers are available - don't like using them myself except for towels etc. but otherwise it'll be the usual drying clothes in the apartment - typical apartment living where there is no balcony!

athtrasna

Crunchy Friends wrote: »

1 laundry room for 15 apartments.

Dryers are available - don't like using them myself except for towels etc. but otherwise it'll be the usual drying clothes in the apartment - typical apartment living where there is no balcony!

Is it student accommodation? Sounds highly irregular for a standard apartment block in Ireland?

OU812

Pretty standard in the US. A Friend lived in an apartment with one laundry room with two washers & two dryers on each floor. There were eight apartments per floor so it seems like a pretty decent deal for you. No maintenance, no cost up front.

Crunchy Friends

athtrasna wrote: »

Is it student accommodation? Sounds highly irregular for a standard apartment block in Ireland?

No actually it's a small apartment block on a quiet road in Dun Laoghaire. I agree, never came across it before!

Mrs OBumble

athtrasna wrote: »

Is it student accommodation? Sounds highly irregular for a standard apartment block in Ireland?

Some social housing units have arrangements like this.




OP - how well kept did the laundry room look? Were there any out of order signs? What sort of neighbourhood is it, do you think there would be worries about other residents stealing your washing?

Personally, 3 machines to 15 apartments sounds like a OK-ish ratio: even if you do 4 loads a week, that's only just over one every 2nd day - and most won't do that many.

So I wouldn't see it as a problem unless there were things about the room that looked dodgy.

R.D. aka MR.D

The last time I had this set up, there was awful trouble with people leaving their clothes in the washing machine or taking other people's clothes out of the machine before it was finished.

There is a lot to be said for thinking to yourself 'must put on a washing' and walking over the machine and doing it over having to bring the washing downstairs, find they are all taken and have to go down to check every 15mins if one has become free.

God, how i hated sharing a washing machine!! I would never do it again.

newacc2015

OU812 wrote: »

Pretty standard in the US. A Friend lived in an apartment with one laundry room with two washers & two dryers on each floor. There were eight apartments per floor so it seems like a pretty decent deal for you. No maintenance, no cost up front.

They are the norm in Germany too. The machines are not cheap. An industrial Miele washing machine can be around €6k.

IMO they should be the norm in Ireland. The amount of destroyed apartment I have seen from leaking washing machines is ridiculous. They are one of the biggest causes of leaks in apartments. If you have no less thing to leak in an apartment, the better.

Plus an industrial Miele beats a €50 washing machine your landlord got in donedeal. Irish landlords dont buy quality, as tenants rarely look after them. At least an industrial washing machine is harder to destroy

rossmores

I have a 6 with 1 wash machine 1 dryer good capacity/quality and a washing line in back garden supplied free cant be bothered to empty a meter
Depends on how many bodies are in the building more than apartments
A communal wash room is better than having a noisy sometime smelly appliances in the units and there is the potential for water damage.

freshpopcorn

I know I'd hate the idea of a shared washing machine room. It would just not work with the way I do my washing.
You'd have to ask yourself could you live with it!

Crunchy Friends

Thanks everyone for the replies! I think I could live with it if we were offered the tenancy as the apartment ticks all the other boxes. The area is very quiet - I know because i'm from the area myself, so hopefully that means there wouldn't be any messing around with washing etc.

Trying to find an affordable place in Dublin near the DART line for commuting which also has parking included within our budget (1300e per month) has proven difficult so far, which is why I am keen to get this one!

Samuel T. Cogley

Crunchy Friends wrote: »

Trying to find an affordable place in Dublin near the DART line for commuting which also has parking included within our budget (1300e per month) has proven difficult so far, which is why I am keen to get this one!

Tried the north suburbs like Baldoyle and Portmarnock?

Crunchy Friends

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

Tried the north suburbs like Baldoyle and Portmarnock?

Yeah we're really not having a lot of luck - but looking everyday anyway. We're not in too much trouble at the moment as we've another month on our current lease.

painauchocolat

Just bear in mind weight issues if you're planning to carry wet loads back to your apartment to hang them out there. What distance would you have to carry the basket?

Graces7

painauchocolat wrote: »

Just bear in mind weight issues if you're planning to carry wet loads back to your apartment to hang them out there. What distance would you have to carry the basket?

Surely there would be driers?

painauchocolat

Graces7 wrote: »

Surely there would be driers?

OP said they don't like driers, and intend only to use them for towels

Graces7

painauchocolat wrote: »

OP said they don't like driers, and intend only to use them for towels

Ah ok; I thought she meant full on driers. All the machines I have had dry to a non-drip so the weight is far less than dripping wet.

I agree with her on that...;)

Mrs OBumble

Graces7 wrote: »

Ah ok; I thought she meant full on driers. All the machines I have had dry to a non-drip so the weight is far less than dripping wet.

That's not drying, it's spinning. Drying is a totally different kettle of fish.