Kitchen storage or washing machine?

We have an extra freezer and a washing machine in our stables tbh I used the washing machine to wash horse stuff and the freezer for garden produce that I couldn't fit in our big freezer in the house, both worked perfectly and were completely unheated. I think storage space in a kitchen is important and everyone needs a washing machine too. If you provide a nice rental property you should be able to choose good tenants and ask a decent rent. Good luck, we need more good rental property as not everyone can afford to buy.

We have a utility room, with washer, dryer (stacked), a cupboard for the laundry stuff and a shelf, but were advised not to put the fridge-freezer in there.

if the outhouse is only one brick thick, and if it is an outhouse it will be, then first line the walls with insulated plasterboard and then put an thermostatically controlled oil-filled electric radiator in there on a timer plug.

We turned a similar building in our garden into a potential home office/workroom by doing just that. By having an electric oil filled radiator, which we had one for one hour morning and evening, it made very little difference to our fuel bill'

However the insulation on walls and roof is essential, otherwise the temperture will fall below freezing inside in cold weather leading to residual water in the washing machine freezing, as well as water in the sink u bend. It will also be deleterious for the freezer.

Do what you plan, but insulate and have lowmlevel heating in winter.

Separate laundry room and as much storage as poss in kitchen

Providing white goods and furniture attracts a different type of tenant, probably short-term tenants.

Letting unfurnished is more attractive for someone wanting a long-term rental property and they might be more inclined to look after the property.

Our chest freezer spent 20 years in an unheated garage and since we moved its been in an unheated shed for two years with no ill effects. The same goes for our tumble dryer which is vented to the outside.

Elegran

Fridges and freezers now use different cooling systems to the ways they used to work, and the the fluid used doesn't work well at very low temperatures.

Coolgran

Elegran explained why.

If it's a 1950s semi can't you take out a wall into the dining room and make a kitchen-diner?
Leave drains etc exactly where they are.
I think this would add value and rental potential.

Obviously don't provide the white goods - leave spaces for them to be fitted by tenants.

I would think that's the best option to be honest.

Definitely kitchen storage and utility outside utility. I believe it’s very forward thinking.

Our freezer is in the attached garage so unheated but contains the gas boiler and relevant pipe work. There was only a very limited choice of models suitable for such a setting, but seven years on there have been no problems.

My tumble dryer is in an outbuilding, it is a fairly modern one and will not work if the weather is cold. I think some washing machines are the same. Something to consider.

The coolant previously used in fridges and freezers has mostly been replaced with non-CFC ones. These don't work properly at temperatures below freezing.

Some models are specifically designed to be "garage-ready". The salesman or the user maual should be able to tell you whether the model you are buying will be OK in a garage or unheated cellar. If they can't, they don't know their stock !!

We had to replace a fridge freezer recently which had been in a brick outhouse attached to the kitchen wall. It was only a couple of years-old.
Well done for considering the needs of your tenants.

I have this problem it's why I dislike cooking in my father's narrow galley kitchen .
Storage is difficult .
I hurt my back at the beginning of this week and had to rely on my emergency supplies - so I was grateful for them .

I'd opt for the outside utility room to free up some space in your kitchen .

In response to those saying “why bother?” with creating a utility as we may not be able to recoup the costs, I have a sound reason.

Firstly, having rented ourselves at times we were determined to make the house somewhere we would want to live. Not only is this morally the right thing to do, but happier tenants will stay. I would rather have a long term happy tenant who stayed because the property met their needs than have a succession of tenants who moved because the storage in the kitchen was unworkable.

Unless it is utterly out of the question cost wise our plan is to create a really nice outside utility room with a sink, counter, washer and dryer and room for a freezer if the tenants wanted one. Good point about the heating, I hadn’t thought of that.

Adjacent to the utility is an old coal house which could just be used as a small garden shed and next to that is a grotty outside loo. We also plan on upgrading that so that the kids (it’s very much a family home) won’t go traipsing through the house to the loo in summer. The bathroom is compact, so we have elected for a bath with a shower over, again to cater for a family. No room for a washer and it would probably be too noisy if kids were in bed.

If we were just interested in money we would have turned into a HMO, but we both feel strongly that this should remain a nice family home.

NotSpaghetti

If it's a 1950s semi can't you take out a wall into the dining room and make a kitchen-diner?
Leave drains etc exactly where they are.
I think this would add value and rental potential.

Obviously don't provide the white goods - leave spaces for them to be fitted by tenants.

I would think that's the best option to be honest.

Unfortunately the layout doesn’t lend itself to this. Some of the neighbours have done this and it looks terrible as you end up with an okay kitchen diner but a very small living room.

Mmmn. Not so good then.. can you attach the outbuildings to the house with a "lobby" and put your boiler out there too?

My parents did this to their 1950s house and it meant that there was more space in the kitchen but they had an attached utility.
Moving a boiler would add costs but you obviously want to preserve the value of the house and an "outbuilding" feels very different to a utility room that is joined on to the existing property (and, hopefully, warm).

my first house had a utility and I miss it to this day. If you are doing plumbing anyway and have the room then please add a sink and of course plenty of plug sockets. Yes it needs to be properly insulated but the only reason i would say no would be if there wasn't a dry access from the houase to the utility. My freezer is in the garage and its a real pain on wet days.

Mamma66 I applaud your thinking.

What a lovely landlord you are!
A near neighbour has her washing machine, tumble dryer and chest freezer in a detached garage. She doesn’t seem to have any problems. I believe chest freezers are all right in an outhouse but most upright freezers are not. A few very expensive ones say they can stand the colder temperatures.

I wouldn't rent a house if I had to go outdoors to reach the freezer, washing machine etc. I like my creature comforts.

In answer to your questions about incorporating the utility or creating a covered walkway, unfortunately I can’t see any way of doing it. I know it’s not ideal, but the option is unworkable kitchen or outside utility. We are planning on the utility being insulated with a tiled floor, so it should feel a welcoming space, good call on the heating - I hadn’t thought of that. The builder is coming on Wednesday and so I will know by then if we can reasonably do it

Charleygirl5

I wouldn't rent a house if I had to go outdoors to reach the freezer, washing machine etc. I like my creature comforts.

I'd rather that as have insufficient storage in the kitchen though. I like to cook, so the pantry is always full, and I love gadgets too, which also require storage space.

I'm pottering about in the kitchen for far more time than I spend putting washing in. These days it's not as though we have to stand over a poss tub - it's just a case of putting in the washing and switching on the machine, so nipping across the garden to a wash house for 5 minutes doesn't seem to me to be a big deal. We are all different, though.

Btw tradesmen say it’s not worth it and it will be a faff to have to go outside to do washing. I genuinely believe this is a women / men thing. At the risk of being shot down for making generalisations, women tend to do more of the cooking, shopping and equipping a kitchen. I think that proper storage for both food and ‘stuff’ is more important than having to step outside (about 8 feet) to sort your washing out.

Can you put a washer dryer in the bathroom instead? Always quite logical as that's often where the laundry basket lives. You can sort both things that way