We have one. Our house is a foursquare (aka, prairie box) style from c. 1925. The laundry chute is right next to the chimney, so darn close to the center of the house.
It goes from the upstairs hallway opposite the bathroom to the basement laundry room. I discovered that there was previously an opening on the first floor in the kitchen which had been covered over during a kitchen renovation. I opened it up and made a new door for it, which is super handy for kitchen linens and to keep dirty socks from colonizing the first floor (my family tends to prefer bare feet in the house and the kids often strip off socks as soon as they come inside).
The chute has a metal sleeve. I was frustrated with the fact that I usually couldn’t hear the dryer buzzer except in the basement, so in a fit of cleverness, I pulled the buzzer out of the dryer, ran some wires over to the laundry chute and bolted the buzzer to the metal sleeve. Now the buzzer is quite audible throughout the entire house.
Yes, it’s right next to my bathroom but I’ve never used it. It used to be lined with asbestos which is common in homes built in the 1950’s. The clothes would land right in front of the washing machine.
@narfcake Yes, I had it professionally removed before I moved into the house. It was worth every penny. It’s scary to think that there are probably still a lot of people who have no idea that this is in their home or the dangers of it.
I don’t. My old best friend did. This is his house that I just stalked on google maps. My old house was right down the street, which I also stalked but will not post because my privacy is more important than his.
Also, pretty sure they aren’t allowed any more in newer houses due to fire code. Unless that’s a dumb waiter thing. Maybe it’s both? /shrug
@lichme And that house has the porch over what used to be the garage… My brother used that set up at one of our houses for the escape route to go to forbidden Friday or Saturday night “events”. As ours was actually over the garage he used the basketball hoop as an assist to the ground and a garbage can along with the hoop as an assist to get back up. Parents never found out although they’d yell about who left the garbage can in the way.
The house I grew up in had one. It was super cool and went from the hall upstairs to the pantry/hall leading to the laundry room downstairs. We used to climb up and down it as kids.
We didn’t have one, but my friend did. We got in trouble for gathering all the pillows in the house under it (the parents were hippy therapists with tons of those big pillows to sit on) and trying to drop my brother down it.
We have one – well, kinda. We bought this house a few years ago. A previous owner cut a hole in the floor of the master bathroom closet that sits directly over the laundry room. I hated it at first because the clothes fall in the entry to the laundry room, but after a few months, the convenience outweighed the mess. One day, I’ll remodel that bathroom and make some duct work to redirect the mess.
My 1985 house has one that goes from the bedroom/bathroom hallway to a closet by the washer. I put a basket in the closet to catch the clothes. It is lined with a metal chute.
The house I lived in high school had one. It went from the second story down to the basement. It was slmost big enough to send my brother down it. There was a wooden cage at the bottom, just above the washer. That cage was big enough to hold my brother.
We put one in our house when we built it. There is a built-in bench with a hinged top in the master bath that covers a chute to the laundry room below. We thought it would be convenient, but to my knowledge, no one has ever used it, other than the brief period when our kids thought it was fun to drop stuffed toys through.
I just built a house and really tried to figure out how to get one installed, but it would have had to go under my kitchen table. Maybe a trap door for misbehaving kids at dinner wasn’t such a bad idea after all!
We have one in our house that was built in '77. It goes from the upstairs bathroom to the laundry room downstairs. It goes into a kind of box built on the wall. Handy I guess but I still have to get my lazy bod down there to wash the clothes, so whatever. And if stuff does get stuck on the way down (sheets) once in a while, flip that broom over and shove the handle up there and down in comes.
I had a friend growing up who had one. I think her house was from the 70s, the chute went from the hallway upstairs down to the laundry room. We used to put blankets at the bottom then jump down it.
I lived in several houses that had one. All were in the second floor bathroom and ran to the basement. Metal lined. Hinged door on the bottom. Big enough that you could fit small children down them. Occasionally something would get hung up on a metal seam. You’d then enter from the bottom with a broom stick handle or other long stick to knock whatever was stuck loose. (and of course then it would land on your head). On occasion they’d fill up to the bathroom on the second floor.
We also had a bottom cupboard in the kitchen with a big hole in the floor where you threw trash and swept dirt (the kickplate or whatever it is called was gone too). Burlap chute. Landed in a 45 gallon bag sized garbage can. PITA because if you didn’t stay on top of it then stuff would back up the burlap and it was messy. Not to mention then you had to carry the full garbage bag up the steps. My mother loved it. But that, of course, was because underaged slaves lived in the household who had emptying that as a chore. She never had to touch it. this house also had an entrance to the laundry chute in the kitchen as well to toss dishtowels and whatever down it. Of course then one game was toss stuff down from the second floor to see if you could catch it on the first floor.
Not currently but we had one. It was a hole in the floor of the bathroom closet. The clothes made a pile near the washer in the basement.
We had one growing up. It was metal lined. We used to throw different stuff down there to see what made the most noise. Ah, the days before cable TV.
You know it!
We have one. Our house is a foursquare (aka, prairie box) style from c. 1925. The laundry chute is right next to the chimney, so darn close to the center of the house.
It goes from the upstairs hallway opposite the bathroom to the basement laundry room. I discovered that there was previously an opening on the first floor in the kitchen which had been covered over during a kitchen renovation. I opened it up and made a new door for it, which is super handy for kitchen linens and to keep dirty socks from colonizing the first floor (my family tends to prefer bare feet in the house and the kids often strip off socks as soon as they come inside).
The chute has a metal sleeve. I was frustrated with the fact that I usually couldn’t hear the dryer buzzer except in the basement, so in a fit of cleverness, I pulled the buzzer out of the dryer, ran some wires over to the laundry chute and bolted the buzzer to the metal sleeve. Now the buzzer is quite audible throughout the entire house.
All houses should have laundry chutes.
Yes, it’s right next to my bathroom but I’ve never used it. It used to be lined with asbestos which is common in homes built in the 1950’s. The clothes would land right in front of the washing machine.
@mehgrl Ah, that good old magic mineral that ends up killing people:
@narfcake Yes, I had it professionally removed before I moved into the house. It was worth every penny. It’s scary to think that there are probably still a lot of people who have no idea that this is in their home or the dangers of it.
@mehgrl Yep. And not just in the obvious places like insulation, but also in floor tiles and sheetrock.
I don’t. My old best friend did. This is his house that I just stalked on google maps. My old house was right down the street, which I also stalked but will not post because my privacy is more important than his.
Also, pretty sure they aren’t allowed any more in newer houses due to fire code. Unless that’s a dumb waiter thing. Maybe it’s both? /shrug
@lichme His privacy is safe too as there is no image here… at least not that I can see and no little blue box with a ? in it either.
@Kidsandliz Think that’s the lame https issue that pops up. Direct Link (Sorry Matt)
@lichme And that house has the porch over what used to be the garage… My brother used that set up at one of our houses for the escape route to go to forbidden Friday or Saturday night “events”. As ours was actually over the garage he used the basketball hoop as an assist to the ground and a garbage can along with the hoop as an assist to get back up. Parents never found out although they’d yell about who left the garbage can in the way.
@KittySprinkles has a body chute in her house of horrors. Does that count?
@mfladd no chute for me, gotta carry them out to the incinerator myself. Which reminds me, you should come over, it’ll be a hot time.
The house I grew up in had one. It was super cool and went from the hall upstairs to the pantry/hall leading to the laundry room downstairs. We used to climb up and down it as kids.
We didn’t have one, but my friend did. We got in trouble for gathering all the pillows in the house under it (the parents were hippy therapists with tons of those big pillows to sit on) and trying to drop my brother down it.
I don’t, but I once lived in a two-flat bungalow that had a milk door in the back. The upstairs apartment had a milk dumbwaiter next to it.
Not at all useful, but still cool. Especially the dumbwaiter.
We have one – well, kinda. We bought this house a few years ago. A previous owner cut a hole in the floor of the master bathroom closet that sits directly over the laundry room. I hated it at first because the clothes fall in the entry to the laundry room, but after a few months, the convenience outweighed the mess. One day, I’ll remodel that bathroom and make some duct work to redirect the mess.
My house has one. It’s nowhere near the laundry room, though. It’s now used as a conduit for running ethernet and coax from the basement to the attic.
My 1985 house has one that goes from the bedroom/bathroom hallway to a closet by the washer. I put a basket in the closet to catch the clothes. It is lined with a metal chute.
The house I lived in high school had one. It went from the second story down to the basement. It was slmost big enough to send my brother down it. There was a wooden cage at the bottom, just above the washer. That cage was big enough to hold my brother.
We put one in our house when we built it. There is a built-in bench with a hinged top in the master bath that covers a chute to the laundry room below. We thought it would be convenient, but to my knowledge, no one has ever used it, other than the brief period when our kids thought it was fun to drop stuffed toys through.
I just built a house and really tried to figure out how to get one installed, but it would have had to go under my kitchen table. Maybe a trap door for misbehaving kids at dinner wasn’t such a bad idea after all!
I’ve seen several, and most have been too narrow. If they were big enough not to get stuff stuck in them, seems like it’d be useful.
We have one in our house that was built in '77. It goes from the upstairs bathroom to the laundry room downstairs. It goes into a kind of box built on the wall. Handy I guess but I still have to get my lazy bod down there to wash the clothes, so whatever. And if stuff does get stuck on the way down (sheets) once in a while, flip that broom over and shove the handle up there and down in comes.
I had a friend growing up who had one. I think her house was from the 70s, the chute went from the hallway upstairs down to the laundry room. We used to put blankets at the bottom then jump down it.
I lived in several houses that had one. All were in the second floor bathroom and ran to the basement. Metal lined. Hinged door on the bottom. Big enough that you could fit small children down them. Occasionally something would get hung up on a metal seam. You’d then enter from the bottom with a broom stick handle or other long stick to knock whatever was stuck loose. (and of course then it would land on your head). On occasion they’d fill up to the bathroom on the second floor.
We also had a bottom cupboard in the kitchen with a big hole in the floor where you threw trash and swept dirt (the kickplate or whatever it is called was gone too). Burlap chute. Landed in a 45 gallon bag sized garbage can. PITA because if you didn’t stay on top of it then stuff would back up the burlap and it was messy. Not to mention then you had to carry the full garbage bag up the steps. My mother loved it. But that, of course, was because underaged slaves lived in the household who had emptying that as a chore. She never had to touch it. this house also had an entrance to the laundry chute in the kitchen as well to toss dishtowels and whatever down it. Of course then one game was toss stuff down from the second floor to see if you could catch it on the first floor.
We have one that goes from the 1st floor kitchen to the basement. it’s kind of useless.
Mine leads straight to hell.
@karamazovsdevil I take it you then buy disposable clothing?
If I’d had one as a kid, I’d have been playing “UFO” all day.
@blaineg You would have gotten stuck in there, but I like the idea. And I have the dvd box set of UFO.
The ones I’ve seen would probably be too small to fit a sweatshirt or pair of my jeans.