Brooke here:
With deadlines looming, I’ve done nothing more exciting than clean. Well, in this house, “just cleaning” means I’ve qualified for a spot on the U.S. Competitive Danger Mopping Team, but it rather pales in comparison since Elizabeth has gone and built an entire room.
The washer and dryer hookups are in the basement, right outside the entrance to the Labyrinth. Like much of the rest of the house, nothing resembling foresight went into the hookups. The dryer exhaust, for example, goes up into the ceiling, then crosses 30 feet on the diagonal to exit. And when Brown, who used to work as a plumber, saw that the tube for the washer’s waste water goes up, he wondered at length why its installers thought that the laws of physics failed to apply to this house. Based on placement, we think the installers went with the cheapest option, positioning the hookups directly under the kitchen and next to the water heater so they wouldn’t have to run lines to a better location. It is not, however, the worst place I’ve ever done laundry. That honor goes to the Scrub-a-Dub in New York, which burned to the ground and took four stores and a post office with it.
We’ve got plans to move the washer and dryer hookups when we do the full plumbing/rewire five years down the road, but between now and then they’ll stay where we found them. After finishing the shelves in the Labyrinth, Eli grabbed a couple dozen 2x4s and a bunch of sheetrock, then started the framework for a 12×8 laundry room. The room has been framed and is only half-done, and already it is a huge improvement. I need to see what North Carolina defines as being a finished (aka: “taxable”) room before she puts up a ceiling, but some shelves and a laundry folding table are definite.
Flying by night 
If finished means anything like what it means here then it just needs to be livable. Which means it can’t flood (under normal circumstances) so you’d need to use a floor sealant and put up some of the special walling. I have a ceiling in my unfinished basement. Heh, took back possession of the house Thursday night, starting cleanup today. Any tips on how to not go insane?
It looks like we’re good; in NC, the rule of thumb for a finished space is that it has to be heated and is connected to another livable space, and the laundry area doesn’t meet either of these criteria.
As for staying sane? Assuming Brown and I are still sane, we recommend the blogging approach. If you can see you’ve made progress, it helps you not break down sobbing with the amount of crap that’s left.
Glad that you don’t have to worry about that then. I think I will start a blog, and unlike you, my mom will likely help do the blogging. Kick Brown and tell him to post.
My knowledge of North Carolinian tax codes stops right about at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries… I think however that Arenlor is right, all the things that will make it a passable alundry room will make it a finished room as well, unless that needs natural lighting