so the laundry room is the last project---

[Stinky The Clown]

4. We have experience on two houses with full size stacking units. It is the only way to go.

One of our rentals has one. It is a small city rowhouse so room is precious. We carved out enough room for a generous laundry room, so long as the unit could stack. While looking for a stacking unit, we found that pretty much any full size front load machine could be stacked below its matching dryer. So that's what we did.

When it was time to replace the units in our house, we went the same route. We have one more rental and that is what we'll do there, too, when it is time.

The cost for the stacking vs side by side is in the same range, so that's not much of an issue.

Can't speak to the "steam" thing . . . . no experience with that accessory.

Good luck!