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Does This Co-op Building Permit Washer-Dryers in the Apartment?

October 8, 2007

Is having a washer-dryer in your New York City apartment something that interests you? If so, join the club. More and more home shoppers consider this a must have. They dread having to lug their skivvies down the stairs or elevator to the basement. Even worse is the idea of seeing your creepy neighbor handle his dirty drawers. Yuck!

Many Manhattan Co-op’s do not permit washer-dryers within the unit for one simple reason - apparently, the buildings plumbing can’t handle the load. The theory is that the soap suds produced by the washer could build up and flood some of the lower floor apartments. Whether true or not, many co-op’s don’t want to take the chance. Thy may also have some financial incentive to disallow them - e.g. money from the building laundry room vending company. So they don’t permit them.

Yet some co-op’s do permit them, but with board approval of course. These co-op’s usually ask that you complete an alteration agreement of some sort and have the work completed by a licensed New York City plumber. If you choose to do the work on the down low, you may be asking for a whole lota trouble. If you are the DIY’er, this is not the time to be one. Imagine having the unit spring a leak and flood all the apartments below you. Assuming you have homeowners insurance, in all likelihood, they would not cover you for an illegally installed washer /dryer. Additionly, when it’s time to sell, having an illegally installed washer dryer may be a problem. This is clearly not worth the risk.

So what’s the solution? If having a washer-dryer is a must have, simply focus on buildings that permit them. Sounds easy enough doesn’t it? But with so many buildings, where do you start? Can you guess?

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