Saturday, September 03, 2016

Not what I planned on doing

New item added to vacation to-do list: clean basement.

It doesn't necessarily need to be done this week, but must be done by September 17th.

Start at the beginning: A month or more back I noticed that the basement floor near the washer was damp. There is a four by three foot mat in front of the laundry machines, a relic left by the previous owners. The corner of the mat was wet, and the concrete was wet underneath. Thinking about it, I realized I'd used the "giant pile o' clothes" setting ("extra large" to normal people) on the last load I'd washed.

"Self," I said, "All that spinning must force some water up and over the tub, and it trickled down here, running toward the floor drain conveniently placed three feet from the front of the washer. It can't possibly be old hoses or a cracked tub or anything serious. Stop using that wash size. Now move along here, there is nothing more to see."

Ignoring the obvious is a specialty of mine.

Today I washed the mattress pad, turning the washer on when I walked out the door for breakfast. When I came back...more water on the floor.

On the plus side, I'd washed everything but the clothes on my back the day before, so there are enough clean clothes to wear for about ten days.

On the not-so-plus side, the washer was about 8 - 10 years old when I bought the condo five years ago. Unlike my 35 year old Maytag at the old flat, newish appliances are not built to last forever. Just recently I saw a listing of how long appliances are supposed to last; washers should last ten years, while dryers die at about eight.

After some looking around and recommendations from friends, I've ordered a new set. Personally, I will never do the 8 - 10 loads per week on which the Energy Star ratings are based, so I didn't need to take running cost into consideration. These condos, while two bedroom, are not exactly set up for families, but tend to sell to singles and couples. So I don't need a high volume set, assuming I plan to sell the condo before this set bites the dust. I don't want fancy, or mega-numbers of cycles, or special inserts...

In other words, I could shop cheap.

The place I bought from prompts you for all the installation stuff (they require new water hoses and dryer venting, which I would have bought anyway) as you check out. Delivery is set for Saturday 9/17. For a modest fee, they will haul away the old units.

But back to the basement.

Yeah...the basement has been accumulating things for the last five years. Granted, once all the empty boxes are broken down and disposed of, what is left will not seem like a lot. But there is still quite a bit of shifting of stuff, plus a lot of general cleaning to do down there. The basement is on the to-do list, but after several other things. Was after several other things.

I am eternally grateful for a job that drives me crazy, but allows me enough income over expenses to not completely panic over something like this. More than that, I'm grateful to the God who gave me that job and provides all that I need - and blesses me with so much beyond.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Joys of home ownership, indeed. We've been in Port Swiller Manor for sixteen years now and I believe I've replaced every appliance except the Maytag washer/dryer combo. Especially the way the gels overstuff them (when they can be persuaded to do their own laundry, that is), I'm surprised they haven't rolled over and died yet. Soon, I suppose.

- Robbo the Port Swiller

Anonymous said...

Whoops! My washer/dryer set are actually Kenmore. I had Maytag on the braims because my dishwasher is one and the bottom rack is starting to rust in spots. Fortunately, I just discovered that instead of having to replace the rack I can just buy some goop that goes over the rust spots. Six bucks is a lot better than two hundred.

- Robbo

Diane said...

Since Kenmore just slaps a brand on whomever they have a contract with, your washer/dryer may well be Maytags, especially since they've held up this long. Those old metal machines just keep on ticking.

My new set is a Samsung, based on a recommendation from a friend. These days, you can't get away from all digital/electric controls; none of those nice rotary dials and pushbuttons. We'll see how it holds up. My big quilt is in the "wash me" stack.