Where Should the Washing Machine Be Placed on the Balcony?

Why the washing machine is a particular case

A washing machine is unusual in feng shui terms because it is a large, permanently installed, electrically powered, water-using, metal-bodied object that vibrates. Almost every other domestic appliance is portable and quiet. The washing machine is none of those things, which is why it draws more attention in feng shui than its size in a kitchen cupboard would suggest.

Elementally it is strong in two directions: water, because it takes it in and moves it around, and metal, because the drum, the outer tub and the counterweights are steel. Put on a balcony, that is a concentrated water-and-metal object sitting at the most exposed point of the building. The classical concern is that this position is where the home's water element runs out to the outside, and that a strong object of that kind amplifies rather than contains the flow.

The balcony as a buffer

A balcony is essentially the building's buffer zone: it takes the weather before the interior has to. That is a good role for it and it is why the traditional advice about balconies emphasises using them for plants, for light and for drying rather than for storage. A washing machine is a reasonable use — it is a utility room in miniature — provided it does not become the loudest object in the space.

The rule: corner, solid wall, hoses to the wall

There is one arrangement that satisfies almost every version of the traditional guidance and almost every practical constraint, and it is worth learning as a single shape.

Put the machine in a corner. A corner gives it two boundaries rather than one, so the position is contained rather than exposed. In a long balcony, use an end corner rather than the middle. In a square balcony, the corner furthest from the door is usually best, because it keeps the entrance zone clear and stops the machine being the first thing you meet.

Put its back to a solid wall. The building's own wall is the ideal boundary: masonry, insulated and immovable. If the only available wall is the party wall of the flat above or below, that is still solid and is fine. If the machine must back onto the open balustrade, turn it so the back faces the building wall instead and accept a longer hose run.

Run the hoses to the wall side. Keep inlet, drain and power on the same side as the wall so that the connections are out of the way, protected and accessible, and so the machine is genuinely contained on three sides.

Then turn it

Where the machine faces out toward the railing and the view, the vibration is transmitted into the balustrade and the frame. Where it faces a wall or a side return, the vibration goes into masonry, which is far better for both the building and your neighbours. Rotate the machine a quarter turn and solve two problems at once.

The line from the balcony door

Whatever else you do, keep the machine out of the sightline from the balcony door. This is the most commonly cited feng shui point about a utility balcony, and it has a plain justification in how the space is used.

The balcony door is where the outdoor qi enters the flat. A washing machine standing directly in that line means the first thing the door introduces is a large vibrating metal object. In feng shui terms, that is a strong and unpleasant incoming energy; in practical terms, it means you walk into the machine, the room smells of detergent and damp, and the flattest part of the balcony is permanently occupied by the least pleasant object in it.

For the wider treatment of the space, the balcony guide covers plants, storage and the glazed-balcony case, and the materials guide covers how timber, metal and glass each behave in a wet outdoor corner.

How to test it

Stand at the balcony door with the door open and look straight ahead. Whatever you see is what the balcony is presenting to the living room. If it is a washing machine, you want to reposition something — the machine, a shelf in front of it, or a tall plant — so that the view is a plant, a drying rack with something pleasant on it, or clear space.

And the sound

Sound travels through a balcony slab remarkably well. A machine on spin cycle at 1,400 rpm with the door closed is around 70 to 76 dB at one metre, which is audible in the next room and audible through the floor to the flat below.

Practical clearances and drainage

The measurements that matter

Every one of these is a building requirement as much as a feng shui one, and getting them right removes most of the problems people blame on feng shui.

• Behind the machine: 10 to 15 cm. Enough for the inlet, drain and power, and enough to get a brush or a hand behind it. Nothing more; a gap that big is enough for the hoses and not enough to be a channel.
• In front: 60 cm minimum for loading a drum and for the door to open fully on a front-loader. On a narrow balcony, a 40 cm gap with a top-loader is workable but tight.
• The plinth. A level plinth of 5 to 10 cm, formed with a timber frame and a marine-ply or tiled top, keeps the machine off a wet floor, gives the vibration something to die into and lets you check for leaks.
• The fall. The floor should fall towards the drain, not away from it. Test with a spirit level and a cup of water if you are not sure.
• The drain trap. The waste hose should enter the trap with a loop visible above the water seal, which stops the balcony smells coming back in.
• The waterproofing. Balcony waterproofing is the most commonly failed element in a flat. Check it annually, and never run the machine with the door open.

Elemental balance: metal, water and what to put next to it

Having dealt with the machine's own tendencies, the remaining question is what should sit alongside it.

Water is already strongly present — the machine, the waste pipe, the tap and the outside weather. You do not need to add more. That is a practical as well as a classical argument: a permanently damp utility area with a plastic drum is the ideal breeding ground for mould, and mould is a genuine health issue on a balcony with poor ventilation.

Metal is also present in abundance. You do not need a stainless steel worktop as well. Where a worktop is needed, timber or a laminated composite board is warmer, cheaper and easier to keep dry.

Wood is the balancing element here, and it is also the practical one: a timber shelf over the machine, a wooden plinth, a bamboo laundry basket, a timber drying rack. It softens the metal, and it is a material that ages rather than corrodes in a wet environment.

The balcony guide covers the space as a whole and why its treatment affects the whole flat, and the materials guide sets out how each finish contributes to the elemental balance of the room.

And something living

A plant in the corner of the balcony, ideally one that tolerates wind and occasional neglect, does several things at once: it introduces the wood element, softens the industrial look of the machine, filters the wind that comes across the balcony, and improves the microclimate around the drum, which reduces condensation. It also, more importantly, makes the balcony read as a buffer rather than a shed.

The glazed balcony changes the equation

Many flats now have a fully glazed balcony, sometimes with the glazing at floor level so the outside space becomes part of the interior. That changes the feng shui analysis substantially, because the balcony is no longer an open buffer between inside and outside — it is now effectively an interior room with a view.

The consequences run in both directions. On the good side, a glazed balcony holds warmth, keeps the wind off the washing machine, reduces noise from the street and gives you a genuinely usable room in a small flat. On the less good side, everything that was outside and therefore contained is now inside: the rain driving on the glass, the traffic noise, the summer heat, and any damp the balcony has always had.

Adjusting the rules for a glazed balcony

• Ventilation becomes critical. A glazed balcony without an extract fan or a trickle vent will trap condensation. Open the balcony door fully when the machine runs and dry the floor afterwards.
• Treat it as a room for feng shui purposes. Do not stack it to the ceiling with stuff; do not hang washing over the rail; do not put a mirror on the glass.
• The plants that made sense outside may need moving. A balcony closed for nine months of the year needs different species than one open all year.
• Check the seal on the door and the threshold, because a glazed balcony that leaks at the threshold brings the water element straight into the flat.

The washing machine still goes in the corner

None of this changes the basic recommendation.