Can I move Washing machine?

[Simon]

Hi there,

I had a new kitched fitted last year and am very happy with it - the only thing is that the Washing machine is not integrated and spoils the look as it sits in the middle of the other fitted units. Please see the rough sketch -

'd like to swap the Washing Machine with the integrated Fridge - but have been told I may have a problem with the waste from the W/M. The sink in the diagram has one of those waste pipes that you can connect a Washing Machine waste to... is it practical to move the washing machine to where the fridge is now and run the waste pipe runs along at ground level to the sink waste? I've put the rough mesaurements of the kitchen

- it's not a big one!

Cheers

Simon

[Set Square]

Not recommended! The water - having been dumped into a vertical standpipe by the washing machine - will have to run round the room and then flow back

*up* to sink waste level. Chances are that it won't get away fast enough, and will gush out of the top of the standpipe. Even if it does work, you'll have a lot of pipe full of stagnant water - which is not a good idea.

Is the sink on an outside wall? If so, can't you take the pipe out through the wall at low level, and straight into a drain, rather than connecting to the sink waste?

[powerstation]

I dont think you are allowed to discharge waste water into a rain water drain.

[Set Square]

Who said anything about a rainwater drain? Perhaps I wasn't explicit enough - but I meant the same foul water gulley as the sink discharges into.

[chris French]

In message , Set Square writes

Anyway, it depends on the house. Many older houses have combined foul water and rainwater drains - our last house 1930's semi was like this, as is our current Victorian house.

Back to the OP, I don't think their suggestion is practical either. If you wanted to do it you'd have to work out a way of running a proper waste pipe around the kitchen either behind (move the cupboards out....) or inside the cupboards. You'd have to run the water supply around as well.

[NikV]

Our dishwasher is in the position the OP wants the washing machine. The waste standpipe (with trap) is in the void behind the cupboard next to the machine, it then runs behind this and the next cupboard into the corner cupboard where it goes down into the void behind the plinth and runs through this void (use a hole saw to cut holes in the cupboard sides at lower and lower points) under the built in gas cooker until it exits the wall and elbows into the foul water gulley. The water supply runs right behind the kickboards in U shaped cutouts into the plinth. It involved pulling out the two cupborads next to the dishwasher and doing the cutouts for the waste and mounting the standpipe and trap, the rest was done in situ.

[Set Square]

That's fine - and is basically what I was suggesting that the OP should do. The basic difference between your setup and what the OP originally wanted to do is that yours has a continuous fall on it, and exits the house at low level rather than being brought back up to connect into the sink trap.

[NikV]

Yeah sorry I mean't it to illustrate your point and also to say, it took me about 5 hours to do the day after we moved in 5 years ago and we've had no problems since, my original post was cut short since it was my turn to soothe #3 'screaming beetroot' who had his 30day birthday today and I was getting sharp pointy comments from SWMBO.

[Simon]

Thanks for the advice -but the water wouldn't be dumped into a vertical standpipe - it would exit the washine machine, go around the room and enter into the waste pipe underneath the sink. Apart from holding an amount of water in the waste, what's the downside? What's wrong with water staying in the waste pipe for a day? It'll be refreshed with new waste water the next time the washing machine is used. Thanks

Simon