If you live in a small apartment, you know firsthand how important each square meter, and sometimes a centimeter. Therefore, we offer you an interesting, affordable and relatively simple way to save space - to make a podium for a do-it-yourself machine. "What is the essence of saving?" - you ask. After all, the podium is still a waste of space! Further you will be convinced that this is a useful thing that will serve you excellently.
Advantages of installing a washing machine on the podium
This design has practically no disadvantages, there will be some pluses from the podium in your apartment:
- The washing machine does not take up much space, because it can be located on unclaimed territory of housing.
- If the stand for the washing machine with a drawer, then you can hide any little thing in it - laundry detergents, soap, rags, brushes, etc.
- The podium significantly dampens vibration if the design was made in accordance with all the rules.
Important! By installing the machine on a high podium, you can use it much easier. Namely, you don’t have to bend your back to throw laundry in the tank.
Choice of premises
The plus is that the podium for the washing machine can be done not only in the bathroom, but also in other rooms, and many craftsmen have accumulated ideas for implementation.
Typically, a stand for a washing machine is made in such rooms:
- in the bathroom;
- on the kitchen;
- in the bathroom or toilet;
- in the pantry;
- on the veranda.
The last two rooms are unlikely to be in ordinary apartments - these options are suitable for owners of private houses. And for urban residents, the first options are suitable. If the washing machine will be in the bathroom, then the stand is best placed under the sink. If the machine will be placed in the kitchen, then by tradition it is installed in a niche in the middle of the kitchen. And if you decide to send the washer to the toilet, then the catwalk can be constructed behind the toilet. Speaking of the veranda or pantry: for these rooms there can be a lot of solutions that depend on the type and area of the premises.
What you need to create a podium for a washing machine
If you need a stand for a washing machine, making it yourself is not so difficult. It is important to choose the right materials and tools, choose the type of future design.
Important! The podium should be as stable as possible to support the weight of the machine at 60-80 pounds. So plastic, PVC, gypsum boards are suitable only as a cladding.
The podium itself is worth making by choosing from the following materials:
- brick;
- foam block;
- concrete;
- wood bars 100x100 or 150x150 mm;
- metal corner;
- polycarbonate plate and so on.
But as a lining, not so durable, but more aesthetic materials are suitable:
- tile, ceramics;
- gypsum plasterboard (waterproof);
- plastic;
- Particleboard (waterproof, laminated).
Speaking about the tool, it is still easier with it. Inspect your toolkit, you may not even have to buy anything:
- Master OK;
- level;
- measuring tape, tape measure;
- hacksaw;
- electric drill, electric screwdriver;
- angle grinder;
- construction pencil;
- crosshead screwdriver.
Attention! You can also buy custom-made special blocks or plates made of polycarbonate. It is enough to choose a company, tell it the dimensions, and you will be made and delivered the material from which you can quickly and easily assemble the stand.
Common types of podiums
The simplest podium. Level 1 How to make:
- Take 2 bars of wood, 63 cm long.
- Put them in parallel.
- Between the bars there should be a distance equal to the width of the washer.
- Lay on boards 2 boards 60x3x430 cm.
- Screw the boards to the bars using self-tapping screws.
- You will get a semblance of a shelf.
- There will be a ledge 30 mm wide in front.
- Put a 30 mm wide board on the ledge, turning it with an edge.
- As a result, you will get a podium with a side, the width of which will be 270 mm. If you want to reduce its width, cut the board in length into two parts.
- Fix the side with screws.
Disadvantages: It will not work to install a container for small things.
Advantages: the machine will gain additional stability, will work well and quietly.
Important! Make your choice on larch, buying blocks. This type of wood is not afraid of moisture.
On a note. To make such a podium more attractive, you can sheathe it with drywall or use other finishing materials.
The podium is more complicated. Level 2 This stand is made of brick in this way:
- Lay the bricks in two walls, parallel to each other in one layer. The distance between these walls equals the width of your AGR.
- Place a slab of concrete or polycarbonate on top of the walls, securing it to the cement mortar.
- Sew a pair of metal corners to the plate on the front.
Such a podium is more capacious from below, so you can make a box under the washing machine in it, in which you can put all the necessary little things for washing. If the box is made on wheels, it will be both stylish and convenient - pulled by the handle, and all that is needed before your eyes. This podium is suitable even for the smallest rooms, such as a toilet in Khrushchev, however, with a drawer then it will not work. The design of the podium for the toilet is slightly modified:
- Lay the drain pipe on the floor with a brick.
- Line up the walls.
- Cover with a stove.
- Then everything is the same as described above.
- You can cover the podium with ceramic tiles.
Not everyone likes the option, but it saves a lot of space.
Cool podium. Level 99 His coolness is that you don’t really need to do anything: just order blocks and plates made of polycarbonate and put everything together later, like a child’s designer. Blocks and plates are fastened with self-tapping screws, and that’s all - you can use it!
Important! Monolithic polycarbonate is a good choice. It is durable, not afraid of water and humidity, and very resistant to mechanical damage. No matter how the machine rode on such a podium, it is as solid as a rock.
There is only one drawback: price. But who will stop this if you want to save space and give the typewriter a chance to work for several years longer? Installing the machine on the finished podium To build a stand is half the battle, but you also need to put a washing machine on it. Many do not know how to raise the washing machine above the floor correctly so as not to damage anything. There are several important factors to consider:
- Calculate the distance to the outlet. If you forgot to do this while constructing the podium, then check at least before you start moving the machine. If the length of the cord is not enough, you will have to use an extension cord, which is undesirable.
- The water supply hose can also be short, but you can buy a longer hose or extend the existing one.
- To prevent self-draining, it is necessary to raise the sewer pipe. Raise it so that it exceeds the surface of the stand by 40 cm.
How to raise the pipe:
- Connect the elbow to the old pipe.
- Connect the pipe to it, taking the length of the desired size.
- Install the drain hose into the sewer pipe.
Features of the operation of SM on the podium
Most users are afraid that at high spin speeds, when the machine starts to jump, it may jump off the podium. It is really possible. Therefore, it is advised to make sides in front, so that the machine does not crash. If the podium is so high that you calmly, without bending, put the laundry in the tank, then there may be difficulties with the cuvette, it will be difficult to get into it. It is necessary to think over the height of the podium to a millimeter, so that you do not have to bend your back, and you did not have to jump to the cuvette.
In general, we can conclude that the washing machine installed on the podium is not only a saving in space, but also a small compensation for the obvious shortcomings of the equipment.