Home Improvement

Today, I decided to install a washer and dryer by myself.



My roommate (the homeowner) purchased the w/d last night from craigslist, but he is going to be out of town for the next few days, so he can't hook it up himself. He hired some random craigslist guys deliver the w/d. They showed up this morning in a windowless, beat-up, 1980s Dodge Van. So naturally, I invited them into my home. Contrary to what the local evening news will tell you, not everyone on craigslist is a murderer, and lucky for me, neither were these guys.

Since I have dreams of being a real estate mogul someday, I figured that it would be a good idea for me to know how to install a w/d. How hard could it be? So, I googled "how to hook up a washer and dryer." Wait...I have to level the washing machine? Plumber's tape? What is that? Suddenly I had visions of flooding the basement and spending my evening hauling buckets of water up the stairs. I don't even know where Home Depot is...are they even still in business? Oh, and did I mention that the basement is totally creepy?




But really, what else do I have to do? Watch a few more episodes of Friday Night Lights on Netflix? Well, yes. XOXO



But if I flood the basement or find a dead body, I'll have a hilarious story that I can blog about. So, I grabbed some liquid courage and got to work.



It sounds simple. Just hook up the water hoses to the faucet and you're done. Unfortunately, when the previous owners removed the old w/d they chose to cut their hoses, leaving the other end connected to the faucet. I quickly figured out why -- the end of the hose that was connected to the faucet was rusted an impossible to remove. I found some WD-40, pliers, and my guns -- 20 minutes later, the hoses were off!



I connected the new hoses with only minor water spillage. The hot one may be hooked up to the cold and vice versa...I'm not really sure. The faucet leaks a bit -- probably because it is covered in rust -- not my fault. But, success! I was on a roll! I threw some towels in the machine for a test run and watched the magic happen.



Now that I succesfully had the washer working, I tackled the dryer. I had already been to the hardware store to buy a vent, which I hooked up fairly easily.



!!!!! so close!!!!! All I had left to do was plug the dryer in and I would be ready to launder -- clothes, money -- anything I wanted! The world was nearly in my hands until...



Three holes. Four pegs. F. Electrical work is beyond the scope of my knowledge. I'm not about to electrocute myself for clean towels. At least the evening wasn't a total loss. I mean, there was that BL Lime. :)