Laundry Upstairs!

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Ireland House
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Laundry Upstairs!

Post by Ireland House »

My dear, darling, adorable husband finished the upstairs laundry room. Before you other wives get terribly excited, let me tell you he had his own motives. My appliances had before been on opposite sides of his wood shop. he wanted them GONE. We used an unexplained room between two bedrooms upstairs. It is just the right size for a laundry. We found a chase in the dining room wall left be the end of the pocket door, we originally thought we would have to go up, over and down through the attic. The appliances are on a raised platform to allow for a drain pan under washer. It is plumbed into drain line, so no chance of a failed washer getting to the dining room ceiling. The water supply is on a single rocker shut off, so it is easy for me to turn off the water when not in use. while they were running a conduit, they pulled the wire for 220 in case we ever wanted an electric dryer. The room opens onto an upstairs porch and my sewing room, so perfect placement.
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I can hardly wait to strip, paper and paint, although that will have to wait until I do the sewing room.
Today is my happily ever after.

phil
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Re: Laundry Upstairs!

Post by phil »

that looks great ! I had one of those stacked ones and the dryer could spin at just the right resonant frequency that it could shake the whole house. Eventually I reconfigured it for a side by side and it was so nice to be able to do larger loads.

is that a new copper stack in behind for water? or the dryer vent maybe? ? it's so shiny it looks like it could be a fire pole ;-)

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Ireland House
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Re: Laundry Upstairs!

Post by Ireland House »

The visible stack is the dryer vent going up & out through the attic. You can just barely see the water supply above the washer. It has a single shut off, so it is easier to keep it off when not in use. The grey floor underneath is actually a platform that allows for a trap for a drain pan beneath the washer. Hubby was afraid that the washer would one day spring a leak and soak through to the dining room ceiling. It also seems to absorb a lot if not all of the vibrations. While they were at it, they also pulled 220 wire in case we ever got an electric dryer. All the supplies and the drain were able to go down through a chase created by the dining room pocket doors.
Today is my happily ever after.

phil
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Re: Laundry Upstairs!

Post by phil »

not sure about yours but on mine I think I can access the belts by tipping the machine and the access was surprisingly easy, new belts might make it run quieter if it's that easy. you could perhaps just tip either back a little and stick a block of wood under the front edge then shine a flashlight up under there to see if yours is as easy, not sure if the washer and dryer are both like that. a lot of the new front load washers seem to develop seal issues within a couple of years so I like the older machines way better. if it's not that then they might depend on some proprietary PCB that's pre-designed to fail and cost enough to warrant a new one.. but the old ones seemed to go forever and a day. the new ones seem to quote all this enviromental energy savings mumbo jumbo and then need complete replacement in short order and I don't think that's very environmentally conscious at all

its probably a good idea that you installed some flood protection.. ounce or prevention is worth a pound of cure or something like that.. now it wont leak ;-)

phil

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Ireland House
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Re: Laundry Upstairs!

Post by Ireland House »

Know exactly what you mean about the front door seal. My last washer was a Maytag that was a money pit. Finally gave up and replaced it with a top load with no agitator. Really love it and it does not shake at all like the front load did. Belts are fairly new on the dryer, it just makes noise as it is 20 years old. Of course, putting it inside a small cement (plaster) room didn't help. :crazy: Convenience of it being upstairs way makes up for any noise.
Today is my happily ever after.

phil
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Re: Laundry Upstairs!

Post by phil »

come to think of it , Maytag used to run a lot of ads with the poor lonely repairman. I wonder where he got to? ;-) data on life expectancy of these products by year would probably show a pretty drastic comparison.

something rubber under the feet like hockey pucks or something might help. with my old spinner I found it interesting as it would pick up speed I could be at the other end of the house and when it reached the magic frequency, it matched the resonant frequency of the house and I could really feel the floor bouncing. It wasn't due to the house not being strong and it didn't' hurt anything but it was interesting just how much it could make things shake. once it got past that certain frequency it would stop shaking.

eclecticcottage
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Re: Laundry Upstairs!

Post by eclecticcottage »

Back when we had The Old House, space was at a premium for laundry (even though the Cottage is smaller it has a laundry "space"). We had no basement, so we tried to put the laundry in the main house instead of a small addition on the back. It actually shook the whole house-we had one of those (at the time) new fangled washer/dryer in one combo units. We had to take it back and go back to a stacked unit in the addition. All either of us could think of was that bridge that collapsed when the marching soldiers hit the right resonance. We tried a couple ways of isolating it but none worked-now the laundry at the Cottage is in a small room on the side with a brick floor (still no basement).

Anyway, point being-the very first thing I did was cringe at the thought of the shaking we encountered and hope you didn't as well. Glad to read the platform seems to isolate it! Congrats on the new laundry room!

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Ireland House
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Re: Laundry Upstairs!

Post by Ireland House »

It is the noise more than anything else. When you put your hand on the real floor or on the wall, you hardly feel any vibrations at all. I will ask for a new belt for my birthday as I think that will quiet it some.
Today is my happily ever after.

phil
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Re: Laundry Upstairs!

Post by phil »

a bit of general info about belts.

new belts are almost all worth the money, I change lots of them. It's also easy to get new belts that have been sitting a long time. rubber deteriorates with age. if you take them to a bearing retailer they can usually match them up. a good common brand is Gatez. Dayco is common and they are ok but I dont' think they are very precise. usually that's what the auto pars places here seem to sell. I'd shy from implement belts if you can. the ones you might find in the hardware store for lawnmowers and stuff. they will all work if they fit but some are just made to better tolerances. if the belt is thicker in spots or if the rubber has gone hard it usually causes some vibration but the belts will normally not break unless they are really shot. Often you will find cast aluminum ( or pot metal) pulleys on things and sometimes it is easy to go buy a decent cast iron pulley for not too much and they usually dont' shake as bad. the weight works like a flywheel and dampens vibration and they are more true and have better balance. If you are changing them check if set screws holding pulleys have come loose.

when a motor starts, it stretches one side of the belt and the other side loosens. this causes some movement between the drive and the driven pulley. that's normal. you'll see similar when you switch off as the belts stretch the other way also causing some movement. just as a common example on a cheap tablesaw you will see the motor bounce a little when it starts or stops. that's an example but you can see this on most other things. lots of them use the weight of the motor to help tension the belt and its normal to see the motor move a little.

if you go get a "maytag" one it is probably a good belt but the chances are high it's been sitting in inventory in the store so if they hand you a dusty old package sometimes you can ask for a newer one. sometimes there is a date. like tires, after 5 years or so they aren't as good but will still usually work after 10 years, they just get "bumpy" and the rubber looses it's grip because it goes harder with age. eventually they can fail due to rubber rot. changing them at 5 years or so will often keep things running smoother even though they might not completely fail until they get much worse. a shaky belt can cause some wear in pivots points and things over time and make a lot more noise.

somethign like a washer would often have a spring tensioned idler pulley. an idler doesn't drive it just helps keep tension or guides the belt. if that is moving around a lot due to a bad belt then sometimes you can have issues with the idler but it's not normally the cause of failures. it might run on a bearing and the bearing could fail or just get loose and maybe go out of alignment or something.

you can usually just stick a ruler against the side of a pulley to see if it lined up or if it is twisting the belt as it travels. misalignment can cause squeal, belt wear and other issues. sometimes you can adjust or replace bushings or move a pulley over a tad if you have misalignment.

tension on a washer might be set by a spring. the spring can grow weak with age. sometimes you have to move the motor mounting to get the right tension. as a rule of thumb you should be able to fairly easily rotate the belt 1/4 turn but it should be hard to rotate it 1/2 turn if you just grab it at midpoint and give it a twist.

be careful things are unplugged, you dont' want to get your fingers in there in case it does. sometimes there are triggers , for example closing the lid on your washer might cause it to start unexpectedly.

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Ireland House
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Re: Laundry Upstairs!

Post by Ireland House »

Thanks for the advice. My guys have rebuilt/repaired more appliances than they care to remember. We usually buy parts from a local parts warehouse that is a regional shipping center, so they have a quick turnover. My son always checks manufacture dates on parts like belts, because as you say, they have a limited shelf life.
Today is my happily ever after.

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