Front load washers: are there any structural considerations to be made?

I weigh 205 lbs. If you are worried about a 200 lb washer, I would be worried about walking around on the second floor of your house.
How much does your bed weigh with you and somebody else on it?

I have had both types. From my experience the balance on the front loader does a much better job of balancing the clothes during the spin cycle. Occasionally, my top loader would get out of balance an bang, bang, bang until I adjusted the load. In 2 years of use the front loader has never done that. For that reason alone it is easier on the floor.
Also a front loader uses less water, i.e. less weight.

I still don’t know how the engineers figured out how to evenly distribute the clothes before the spin cycles. Very clever.

Regarding your question, @LuckyGuy, the machine is (probably) built to sense a pending out-of-balance condition, slow or stop itself to slowly cycle the drum backwards and forward to attempt an automatic redistribution, then resume the spin. Here’s a video from GE, which I presume would be more or less typical There’s another video available to show what happens if that sensor is bypassed or otherwise doesn’t work. The machine can easily tear itself up – as I’m sure you well know.

@CWOTUS Thanks for the description. Whatever they are doing, they’re doing it right. The things spins at a million RPM (I might be over estimating a bit) and has never given any indication of out of balance. Remarkable.

I bought a front loader washer in 1999 and would never go back to a top loader. The cycles can take longer, but it is more gentle on my clothes and I get a much much better clean. The weight is essential for the stability of the machine. I’d be more worried about a top loader that ‘walks’ across the floor due to an unbalance spin cycle. That is bound to do more damage to your structure. My front loader is so stable, I can store things on top of it and they don’t fall off during a spin cycle.

My answer is the same as @josie.‘s 200 pounds is the weight of a lot of men; it really isn’t that much, unless you have so much weight in that floor already this will be the tipping point.

If you put the front loader washer and dryer side by side on the ground, be careful that the washer water hookup is low enough on the wall to be hidden. I knew this and mentioned it to my builder and they still screwed it up. Unless you don’t care about it showing.

I hate my front loader, but mine is older, and maybe there are many out there that are better now. It is much gentler on clothes, I will say that as a positive. However, many of my friends and I complain about the washers inability to get rid of all the bleach in a bleach cycle, staining or lightening a dark clothes wash if you do one right after, mold developing in the washer, extremely long wash cycles, and not enough soak for very sweaty clothing.

I never use bleach. A habit I was happy to break. Non-bleach alternatives are very good now. Also, Newer models are more flexible in their washing choices. I find a 90C wash of some towels and cleaning rags gets rid of any residual smell from a load that may have been left in the machine too long.

The American Wood Council has a good explanation of live load and deflection codes here. Keep in mind that the codes are conservative, and that the floor will have less deflection close to a load bearing wall. Summary: you’re safe. This is a common question when people consider putting aquariums, safes, water beds, and exercise machines on second floors.

Personally, I would be more concerned about addressing potential flooding issues, and would use a properly plumbed drain pan, and replace the the supply hoses every few years. They make a supply line called FloodSafe that is supposed to shut off the water in case of a burst hose, but their use on washing machines has generated a lot of complaints.

@cazzie Luckily, I too rarely use bleach, so I don’t have to worry about it very often. I find the extra hot cycle does help clear the washer. I only discovered that recently. My washer says 158 F for that cycle, which I think is around 70–75 C? I didn’t do the exact conversion.

An few appliance salesmen said if you use too much detergent it causes mold. Does that make sense to you chemically? That sound wrong to me, but I really wouldn’t know. I do use HE products, which are made for water conservative front loaders, 95% of the time.

Yes, @JLeslie , a build up of the buffers in the powders will build up if you use too much. Depending on your brand of washing powder, as well. What is probably building up is something called CMC or Carboxymethyl cellulose. You can look it up. It is in quite a few things including many food products.The cellulose increases viscosity and helps hold the dirt suspended in the water and prevents it from resettling in the clothes, but it will build up in your washer if you use too much washing powder and it moulds quite quickly.

I use liquid detergent; would it be the same for liquid? I don’t overdue the soap I don’t think. I never use more than recommended. I’m generally conservative with soap.

If you are getting a build up of soap, then you are over doing it a bit.

I don’t see any evidence of build up.

Perhaps not you, but then your friends you mentioned you talked to about the mold. ‘mold developing in the washer’

I do have the mold problem too. I’m constantly battling it. My friends and I all complain about the mold and the bleach problem.

There are several class action suits about the mold. I don’t know if they have been settled.