Maggie's Farm

We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

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Saturday, April 13. 2019

Our washer and drier


Last year I had a bit of spare cash burning a hole in my pocket, so instead of a second exotic spousal trip we decided to do a little work on ye olde homestead (it is, indeed, an old farmhouse, 1820) to enjoy as we begin to experience a touch of grey. 


Not a large project, but everything is complex in an old rambling firetrap of a place. You have to make some steps. We combined two small bedrooms into one gracious one, and added 14' to the upstairs (while expanding the kitchen workspace downstairs) for a walk-in closet and space to put an upstairs washer and drier. 


Not a big deal, really, but why we put off putting that washer and drier upstairs for all of these years seems crazy to me. Sure could have used it when the kids were little. It feels sinfully luxurious but I think I earned it. GE machines, ok but maybe not the best.


The plumbing was a little complex, of course. Plaster walls.


Posted by The Barrister in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation at 13:28 | Comments (12) | Trackbacks (0)

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Just deep sixed our Kenmore's that are rumored to be Samsung, asked my repair guy, who visited us quite often, What should I get. He's response,Whirlpool. Hope he is right.
#1 RJT on 2019-04-13 14:39 (Reply)
OH No! Not upstairs !!. Sorry for disagreeing with you. The ideal solution is a dumb waiter between two floors for carrying laundry up/down. Then you can have whatever make of washer/dryer you choose. ALSO, the water-- when it leaks can be contained downstairs. Just sayin. In order to avoid the hideous government intervention mandated for HE washers to control the amount of water you use, look for last year's model of Speed Queen. A good appliance man will you find the last model to allow your choice of water levels. Your wife is going to be finished with HE in about six months!
#2 faculty wife on 2019-04-13 14:59 (Reply)
I once lived in a two story house with a full basement. There was a laundry chute on each floor that dropped the clothes right next to the washer in the basement. Awesome.
#3 Anon on 2019-04-13 15:18 (Reply)
And who always carried the finished laundry up two flights of stairs? It is always me, and I'm getting too darned old to carry heavy loads!
#3.1 JC on 2019-04-13 16:40 (Reply)
Well that is true but I was a young man then and honestly back then the harder it was to do something the more I wanted to do it. All physical challenges were gratefully accepted and many were searched for. I never climbed stairs one at a time, every staircase felt like a chance to run up them two at a time.
#3.1.1 Anon on 2019-04-13 16:55 (Reply)
OMG! That's why you install a dumbwaiter cost is approximately $3,000. It goes down AND UP ! See here:

https://www.ameriglide.com/item/ameriglide-express-plus-dumbwaiter.html?utm_medium=base&utm_campaign=base&utm_source=google&matchtype=&keyword=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI5e2I2ZXO4QIVl_hkCh2RRQGuEAYYASABEgI14vD_BwE
#4 faculty wife on 2019-04-13 18:59 (Reply)
We have our washer and dryer upstairs. Of course we keep a careful eye on the water-supply situation, but we've never had a problem.

This is our first house with the washer and dryer inside the air-conditioned space. I love it. Having to run upstairs to cycle loads can be a pain, but on the whole it's very convenient to have it in the master suite.
#5 Texan99 on 2019-04-14 10:22 (Reply)
Barrister, I commend you for putting your washer/dryer where (most of) the dirty clothes are. When we built our house 20 years ago, we did what was expected and located them in the basement. I had originally planned a laundry chute from our bedroom down to the basement, but it seems fire codes forbid that (for good reason). Now that we're old and tired with bad knees, hauling laundry up and down stairs was becoming a problem. So I did what any good redneck would do and moved the washer and dryer up to our back deck. We have a piece of 2" PVC pipe that we use to direct the gray water over the edge of the deck and into the back yard. Perfect!
#6 snopercod on 2019-04-14 11:17 (Reply)
...and no matter where your washer is, be sure to turn off the water supply each time you finish. Those cheap rubber hoses fail all to often and will flood your house in the middle of the night. Ask me how I know...
#6.1 snopercod on 2019-04-14 11:24 (Reply)
Floodstop for Washing Machines. The washer sits in a shallow pan, there's a water sensor in the pan, and it shuts off the water when it detects a leak. The basement in my place and a rental are finished and leaks could cause $ thousands in damage. For the water heaters I have Watts FloodSafe Water Detector Shutoff Valves. Same deal: the heater sits in a shallow pan as does the detector.

A bedroom floor laundry would be wonderful.
#7 CapitalistRoader on 2019-04-14 11:24 (Reply)
Despite automatic shutoff valves, manually shutting off water to washer when not in use, etc., locating appliance on second floor is asking for trouble. Ask your Homeowner's policy agent to show you in your policy exactly how you are covered and to what extent. Also make sure dryer vent is properly installed with a minimal run to external extractor (which is of a type not easily defeated by rodents, etc.). Avoid stacked washer/dryer as they are expensive to work on. "Brand names" no longer worth much as many have sold out to consolidated mfg's building junk, including those in various People's Republics. Speed Queen, especially commercial models, very tough but have few, if any, electronic gee-gaws (but alas, the also come from consolidated mfg but one located in U.S.--good luck trying to find out where components originate!).
#8 SAS in NC on 2019-04-14 15:33 (Reply)
If you have a basement you could run your dumb waiter upstairs and downstairs through the main floor to the basement. That way you can carry suitcases either up or down (clean clothes or dirty), vacuum cleaners (some but not all will fit) small appliances, snow boots, table lamps. Then you can pack down into the basement whatever you need to from the main floor like pantry staples, etc. Next time ask your friends at MF ! ;-)
#9 faculty wife on 2019-04-14 21:40 (Reply)

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