Project fail: leaky washer

On Monday I noticed a soggy area right along the edge of the laundry nook and had to remove the doors so I could pull the washer out to investigate. 

That can't be good.

I hate these bi-fold doors.  They are a pain in the rear to take off and put back on, and they are hella heavy.  I set them out in the garage - just in case I decide to put them back one day.

I pulled out the washer/dryer file and read that you're supposed to change the intake hoses every 5 years.  Since the machine was bought in 2017, I knew that hadn't been done.  So I ordered the hoses from Best Buy and made a plan to replace them the next day, hoping that would fix the problem.

Spoiler alert: it did not.

The instructions seemed straightforward:  unplug machine, turn off circuit breaker, turn off water, remove hoses.  Reverse steps.

You can see the calcium build-up in the old hose on the right.  I scrunched myself down into this space and tightened everything up - even checked the drain hose.  All good.  Time to turn the water back on and flip the circuit breaker.

And just to be sure - I ran a short rinse cycle.  You guessed it - water leaking out, but it wasn't coming from the intake hoses. Luckily I was standing by with the shop vac.  A neighbor gave me the name and number of someone she has used for such problems in the past.  So I cleaned everything up, pushed the machine back,  and set a fan up to dry the carpet the rest of the way.

I can't put the doors back on yet anyway, since the repair guy is coming next week.  And I got to thinking, this area could use a major refresh.  There is so much stuff in here!

I emptied the shelves and made a plan to repaint them, add a lazy susan for the small supplies like stain stick, bleach tabs, and fabric spray, and just pretty it up in general. I went through the decor and some of it landed in the Goodwill pile, the rest to the closet in the office.  I pulled the miscellaneous stuff off the walls (decorative plates and such).  Gone are the kids' art magnets, too.

And now I have a clean slate to work with.

And I may just do another of these tension rod/rings/curtain panel set-ups.  It will be easier to open the dryer all of the way and make the hallway seem less like a tunnel of doom.  I might even use burlap which is so easy to work with and relatively inexpensive.  All in all, not a total fail I guess since  I learned how to switch out those hoses!

Ooof.  Happy Friday. Glad this week is over.

Gina