.:.This is what we have been doing over Winter Break.:.
tiff January 2nd, 2010
…well mostly Rick has been working daily on this project…
We went from having a laundry closet that housed an apartment size stackable w/d with no way to vent, but inside the house…to this…if you are patient enough to watch the slide show…if not just scroll down.
We have now managed to squeeze in 6 loads of laundry and the w/d has been complete for 7 hours…it is HEAVEN!
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We only confronted a couple of plumbing issues…you see…Rick decided to do all the work by himself…well that is not entirely true…we had to have our friend come help put in the dryer outlet which involved some new breakers & snaking wire through the walls…so definitely needed his help! But other than that Rick has done an amazing job…he plumbed the wall for a washer box…which involved him moving the plumbing a couple of feet from its original spot…he then put in an outlet for the washer & an outlet w/ a switch for a light. He taught himself how to bore a hole through a straw bale home to vent the dryer, he taught himself how to cut & lay tile (i did the grout…whoop-di-doo)…he taught himself how to vent the dryer from the side instead of the back…his brain has not rested this entire vacation…but i think he is one happy man w/ the accomplishment of a finished laundry room!
you see that ‘p-trap’ that rick has his hands on…well do you see in the next photo the bump at the bottom??? Well when you go to put on your sheet rock…you should test out your drain by flushing water down…to see if there are any leaks…cuz’ we didn’t and our p-trap leaked…fortunately rick poured water down the drain when we were cleaning…we left for the evening to come back to water at the base of the sheet rock…ugh! i convinced rick to take the sheet rock off to see what was going on…fortunately it was not that difficult to do…and well we found out that that bump on the bottom of the p-trap needs to be closed…it is the flushing system for the trap, but really we didn’t need to be flushing the entire time we used the washer to only rot out the walls…thank goodness we checked. that would be our biggest mistake, but easy to fix…thankfully!
.:.for those of you that read this post…well i decided as much as green is my favorite color…well it just wouldn’t look good in our house…so we decided to go with these great vibrant red machines that have the color name: Tango Red.:.
I am super impressed that you built a laundry room over break! You guys could have been on the DIY (Do It Yourself) Network : ) It looks beautiful and big! The red laundry machines were an excellent choice! I bought a red couch for my living room and LOVE it. The slide how is super-cool too, I always love how you find and use new blog-technology. Enjoy laundry in your new home!
How impressive! Both the addition of the laundry room, the washers and the slide show! Do you feel like pulling up a chair and just watching the washer like you would a movie?
If no one told you already, be sure to leave the washer door open after each use. At least we have to (for mold/smell). And if you are ever missing a small item like a key, pull back the rubber on the washing machine on the front of the washer when you open the door–it could be hiding there!
Happy New Year–look forward to your 2010 adventures!
We LOVE our new laundry space…and look forward to finishing up the tile work throughout the winter months…plus we have plans of putting in a wall of cabinets for all our outdoor gear…and a bed for our guests…it will truly be a multi-purpose room…with all good things happening in their!!!
Stacie-I took photos because we have watched some of those shows where the owners take on projects and they don’t turn out very well & it becomes a bit of a mockery. I knew ours wouldn’t, but still that was in the back of our minds…hee
Rick does amazing work, but we would have never tackled the job if we hadn’t built our place in Alaska…that certainly gave us the confidence!
Michele~Thanks for the laundry tips…and I had heard that about the washer…thanks for the reminder! BTW i sat and watched the washer yesterday for 30 minutes…it was like a good tv show…smiles
Ooooo…. so pretty. Would almost make me enjoy doing the laundry… almost!
You mean I have to sleep in the laundry room??????? LOL!!!
yes mom…but we promise not to do laundry when you are sleeping…hee
although they are very quiet. 
Rick, I feel your pain with the leaks but all of the work looks awesome. Tiling is a lot easier than it looks. I’m glad you are taking your vacations to work on the house, it makes me feel much better. Power to the handyman!