Why is my washer drain pipe in middle of floor?

Question

Plumber put drain pipe smack under where stackable unit will go. I've never seen this before. Am I going to have issues getting my stackable unit installed?

Answer 1

That is not the washer drain.

That is a secondary/emergency drain line intended to connect to a catch pan. The pan goes under the washer and catches any leaks before they can damage your flooring.

Typical catch pan pictured below:

The washer drain will be up higher on the wall near the supply stops.

Answer 2

Yes, this is a problem. The key question is what kind of access is available to reroute it underneath this floor. If there is a crawlspace or a basement with open ceiling then it should be relatively easy to route the drain so that it is to the left (most common, I think) or right of the closet. If the pipe is coming from inside a finished ceiling then it will require more work.

The only other alternative is to cut the pipe low and reroute it inside this closet. But then you will need to put the washer/dryer on a platform several inches above the floor. That is bad because (a) extra materials for the platform, (b) ugly, (c) unless all the users are tall, this will affect usability of the top machine.

As to "why"? It could be the plumber did not know what equipment would be installed. This is a good location if you were going to install a sink of some sort rather than a washing machine.

Answer 3

Am i going to have issues getting my stackable unit installed?

It's a floor drain. You can't install on top of it without something to elevate the washer. The easy solution is to plumb it together with a 60 deg to the side of the unit or use a flex pipe.

Then you can use a pedestal, pad, or drawer to elevate the washer. Many manufactures make custom drawers which will look nicer, but may require some hacking to make them work.

Or you can move the into the wall.