And so full circle...
In 2002, I bought my house. I suspect that I got such a good deal on it because the washer and dryer were in the middle of the second bedroom. They sort of stood out at you. I understood why they ended up there: there really wasn't any where else to put them. But it looked weird.
My initial thought was to move them out to my deck and build a shed around them. But the plumbers I talked to said it'd be close to an $1750 job. I didn't have $1750 to spend on something like that, though at some point I revised my idea of where to move them. Still, it would have been expensive.
So I decided, instead, to get rid of the washer and dryer entirely and get a combination washer/dryer that would go next to my kitchen sink, eliminating the plumbing/new shed problem.
I ordered the appliance around Christmastime. I personally ripped out the cabinetry in the kitchen, and I thought about attempting the installation myself, but I ended up getting someone else to do it for me.
All went swimmingly until I noticed some black spots on my floor in the kitchen three years later. It was obvious that water was getting under the floor, but I didn't have a clue as to where the water was coming from. Then I noticed a leak from the washer/dryer. (Dangerous fantasies started around this time... They continue.)
It turned out, six months later, that no one in Houston knew how to fix the damned thing. I eventually figured out that the pump was busted, and it took me a full year of hauling my laundry to my parents' house before I got around to ordering the part to replace it.
Around Christmastime, I ordered the part. Graham and I put the part in at some point in early January. In late we discovered a sewage line was broken and had to discontinue the use of appliances in the kitchen. There was a delay in getting the sewer line fixed due to dog emergency vet visits, but in late March, the sewer line was fixed and we could do laundry again!!
I went to visit Graham in Dallas on his jobsite in the first weekend of April. I came home and started several loads of laundry. Finally!!
Sometime during the last load of whites, the laundry system stopped. I called the manufacturer, and he told me it was likely the door handle. I ordered the part two weeks ago. It got here on Friday, and yesterday, Graham, with the parts guy on the phone, installed it. He started it, and there was a fritz and according to the parts guy, it's likely some sort of short.
This isn't something we can fix ourselves. We'd have to send it in to, er, someone, and they'd have to figure it out. Graham finally told me yesterday, ENOUGH! we're not putting any more time, effort or money into this thing. It hasn't worked properly for two years now (mostly due to my year long search for someone to help me figure out the pump), but still, and it's not all efficient, because it takes twice as long to do laundry, and its capacity is very small. And eventually, there's likely to be more than just me and Graham and the cat and dogs living there. And that'll mean even more laundry to do.
So now, in full circle, I'm back to figuring out what to do with the washer/dryer situation. And, I'm thinking now that it'll go back into the second bedroom. The hookups are already there, it's already going to cost me a lot, and if I a) go stackable, and b) assume that due to fantasies above, this is all temporary until we are in a position to do the container addition, then the front room for the washer and dryer isn't as bad of an idea as it was when I first moved in.
My initial thought was to move them out to my deck and build a shed around them. But the plumbers I talked to said it'd be close to an $1750 job. I didn't have $1750 to spend on something like that, though at some point I revised my idea of where to move them. Still, it would have been expensive.
So I decided, instead, to get rid of the washer and dryer entirely and get a combination washer/dryer that would go next to my kitchen sink, eliminating the plumbing/new shed problem.
I ordered the appliance around Christmastime. I personally ripped out the cabinetry in the kitchen, and I thought about attempting the installation myself, but I ended up getting someone else to do it for me.
All went swimmingly until I noticed some black spots on my floor in the kitchen three years later. It was obvious that water was getting under the floor, but I didn't have a clue as to where the water was coming from. Then I noticed a leak from the washer/dryer. (Dangerous fantasies started around this time... They continue.)
It turned out, six months later, that no one in Houston knew how to fix the damned thing. I eventually figured out that the pump was busted, and it took me a full year of hauling my laundry to my parents' house before I got around to ordering the part to replace it.
Around Christmastime, I ordered the part. Graham and I put the part in at some point in early January. In late we discovered a sewage line was broken and had to discontinue the use of appliances in the kitchen. There was a delay in getting the sewer line fixed due to dog emergency vet visits, but in late March, the sewer line was fixed and we could do laundry again!!
I went to visit Graham in Dallas on his jobsite in the first weekend of April. I came home and started several loads of laundry. Finally!!
Sometime during the last load of whites, the laundry system stopped. I called the manufacturer, and he told me it was likely the door handle. I ordered the part two weeks ago. It got here on Friday, and yesterday, Graham, with the parts guy on the phone, installed it. He started it, and there was a fritz and according to the parts guy, it's likely some sort of short.
This isn't something we can fix ourselves. We'd have to send it in to, er, someone, and they'd have to figure it out. Graham finally told me yesterday, ENOUGH! we're not putting any more time, effort or money into this thing. It hasn't worked properly for two years now (mostly due to my year long search for someone to help me figure out the pump), but still, and it's not all efficient, because it takes twice as long to do laundry, and its capacity is very small. And eventually, there's likely to be more than just me and Graham and the cat and dogs living there. And that'll mean even more laundry to do.
So now, in full circle, I'm back to figuring out what to do with the washer/dryer situation. And, I'm thinking now that it'll go back into the second bedroom. The hookups are already there, it's already going to cost me a lot, and if I a) go stackable, and b) assume that due to fantasies above, this is all temporary until we are in a position to do the container addition, then the front room for the washer and dryer isn't as bad of an idea as it was when I first moved in.