A Do-It-Yourself Laundry Chute
A laundry chute can be quite a convenience when the laundry room is located on the lower level of your home. You will delight in being able to drop your laundry in a chute upstairs, rather than dealing with descending and ascending all those stairs each time you empty your hamper. While requiring very simple materials, this time and effort saving do-it-yourself project can add some serious charm to your home. You can install the laundry chute to conform to the layout of your home in just one afternoon. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Measuring tape
- Jigsaw
- Kitchen trash can, 13-gallon rectangular
- Cardboard
- Marker
- Kitchen shears
- Drill
- Caulk (optional)
- Duct tape (optional)
- Laundry hamper
Instructions
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Decide where to place your laundry chute. Ideal places include inside a kitchen or bathroom cabinet or underneath a sink. This way you will not have to be bothered with buying or building and installing a cabinet to house your laundry chute.
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Determine exactly where you wish to cut out the opening for the laundry chute. Before you cut the opening, go to the lower level of your home and determine exactly where in the ceiling the opening is to be placed. Use a measuring tape to measure the distance from the walls on each floor. If placing your laundry chute inside a cabinet with a sink, you will likely have pipes running from one floor to the next which can also help you judge the exact location where the opening will be cut. Verify that you will be able to cut a clean opening, in between joists, without disturbing any wiring. Pipes in the way can be accommodated.
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Use a jigsaw to cut off the bottom of a tall, rectangular 13-gallon plastic kitchen trash can. This will be placed into the opening in the floor to form your chute.
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You will need a template to mark exactly where to cut the floor. Turn the top of the trash can over and place it onto a piece of cardboard. Reach inside and trace around the inside of the top of the trash can, marking the cardboard with a marker. Cut out the shape with kitchen shears to create your template.
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Determine if pipes are obstructing the vertical fall of the chute. Cut away part of the chute to create an angle or bend in the chute, if needed, to accommodate the pipes. Cut out a strip from across the front and triangular shapes from each side, with points toward the back. The back wall of the chute will bend to lay on the pipe. To accomplish this, measure how many inches the pipes are below the floor of the upper level. Starting at the top middle on one side of the chute, measure the same number of inches down and mark the spot with a dot. Lift up your marker and move it 5 inches up and then horizontally to the back of the side. Mark that spot at the corner of the back and side with a dot. Repeat for the other side. Connect the dots on one side with a straight line and continue marking along that same path until you reach the front of the side. Repeat for the other side. Connect the two lines from each side with a horizontal line across the front. Draw a line parallel to and 5 inches above that line. Draw a line along the side to connect the upper parallel line to the line at the back of the side to create a triangular shape on the side. Repeat for the other side. Cut along the lines with your jigsaw.
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Place the template on the floor inside the cabinet. Trace around the template onto the floor with a marker. Double check your measurements for accuracy, as if you make a mistake, it will not be simple to fix. Drill a pilot hole along the inside of the line where the floor is to be cut. You may have to drill two holes that overlap each other to create a starter point large enough for the saw blade of the jigsaw. Cut the floorboard with the jigsaw to create the opening for the chute. Place the plastic chute into the opening. The lip around the upper edge of the chute should hold it in place perfectly, but you can secure it with caulk if desired.
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Go to the lower level and duct tape around the inside and then the outside seams of the opening which you cut out of the front and sides of the chute, if you have adjusted the chute to accommodate pipes. Place a large round laundry hamper on the floor under the chute to catch the laundry.
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Tips & Warnings
For the safety of your children or any child visitors your home may receive in the future, please be sure to childproof the cabinet. A fall of such magnitude could be seriously detrimental to the health of a child and must be protected against. Use child-proof safety latches.
References
- Photo Credit David Sacks/Lifesize/Getty Images
