Finally completed!

[SARGE..g-47]

Millimeter or in the military... mike-mike, woodwerker.

Excellent job Ray and your "design" plan clever to get it all in a given space!

Regards...

[jabe]

Looks GREAT Ray! I use all Blum hardware on my kitchen jobs, makes hanging doors simple.

[Turaj]

Ray, As usual your work looks great! Lots of work and lots of detail! I wish some one would do our kitchen this nice!

[Ken Massingale]

Another beautiful job, Ray. Thanks for the detail.
ken

[lrogers]

Excellent job Ray. I'm sure your client was pleased with the result.

[dwolsten]

Yes, it's a clothes washing machine, Pat - utility rooms in small houses are rare.

Traditionally, kitchens always contained the "copper," or boiler for heating the washing water. As machines came along, they were installed in the kitchens also. Built-ins (with matching false doors) make for a less obtrusive appearance, but you lose appliance volume and plinth heights can be a problem - especially the case with refrigerators and upright freezers.

It's not a washer/drier - they can be a real pain in the nether regions, but that's another story. Client has a tumble drier in the single car garage.

As an American, this seems like a rather odd way of doing things. I just moved out of a pretty small house (1100 square feet), and in that one there was also no utility room, but both laundry machines were in the garage. The advantage of having both machines in the same room (and typically, right next to each other), is that it's simple to transfer the wet laundry from the washer to the dryer right next to it. By having them in separate rooms, you have to take the dirty laundry into the kitchen (where you or someone else might also be trying to cook a meal), then take the wet laundry in a separate trip out to the garage to the dryer.

I can understand the rationale for this in the old days, where as you point out the hot water boiler was installed in the kitchen, but surely this is no longer a concern in modern houses. Plus, with modern detergents, hot water isn't really a necessity for laundry anyway: most recommend using cold water unless there's severe stains.

That space would be better used for a dishwasher, which seems to be lacking. I remember having to wash dishes by hand when I was young, and I certainly never want to go back to that.

Of course, this is all just my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt.

[GPA61]

Very nice, Ray.

[RayintheUK]

What I forgot to mention is how useful Google SketchUp was in presenting design ideas. OK, there's a learning curve, but with the tutorials, it's not difficult to swiftly produce good drawings. If the client has also downloaded the program, you can leave them a copy of the file to look around at their convenience.

Of course, it's also good for your own projects. Take accurate measurements of a room, then make accurate drawings of components and see where/if they'll fit and how they'll look - brilliant!

Here's an exported 2D file from the SketchUp model of the base units:



Ray.