The Pros & Cons Of Front Loading Washers & Top Loading Washing Machines

Well, our new washer and dryer have arrived! And we promised to share how the installation went, what we did with the floors under them, and how we like them so far (that is where things truly get interesting). We realized a few days ago that we have had a whole bunch of distinct laundry situations. In our first house we had front loaders with a counter…

In our second house we had stacked front loaders with cubbies next to them…

… and in this house we have had top loaders with cabinetry above them. Here are the new folks sitting fairly (although not quite as fairly as the others since we have not tackled the rest of this nook yet).

Honestly, each of these setups have had pros and cons:

• We enjoyed having a counter over our first house’s front loaders, but it typically ended up cluttered with stuff (it became sort of a dump-this-here-until-we-deal-with-it-later zone). And this setup required the most bending, which was not that bad at the time, but now that we have had top loaders a while, we certainly can appreciate less of that.
• Our stacked loaders were pleasant because we had cubbies for storing everything we needed, which did not tend to get cluttered like the counter (there simply was not space to drop grocery bags, returns, and other random items there). There was still a fair amount of bending and lifting when it came to doing laundry, but again – at the time it was simply fine, and we truly only realized how pleasant top loaders were once we moved here.
• The obvious con to top loaders is that there is no place for a counter, which we did truly like having, but we still have the top of the dryer to work with (we can put the laundry basket there for example – or lay things out to air dry). The cabinets might be our go-to storage solution (as compared to open cubbies or pull-up blinds) simply because everything is tucked out of view but still truly straightforward-access.

*Note: We got some questions on Friday’s post about why we do not bring our appliances with us when we move. It seems to be one of those regional things. Here people tend to leave them, but it is not like you leave pleasant ones without getting anything in return for them – it is simply factored into the listing price here (a seller can command a higher asking price by saying “there are new top of the line appliances” which obviously add a lot of appeal/value).

But now onto our new washer and dryer! When it came to delivery, the folks were truly pleasant, although I did realize about half-way through it that I needed to lay down a dropcloth to protect the runner, even though they wore those pleasant little shoe-booties (the runner was getting dripped on by the old appliances as they came down – but it was thankfully nothing I could not simply wipe down to remove). With the booties/dropcloth combo it looks like a slip-n-slide situation (I begged them to take off their booties because I was afraid they’d fall) but thankfully they went slow and steady and all was fine. Turns out I am simply a worry wart.

You might remember that we could not wait to get the old appliances up and out of there so we could at last replace the old pan under the washer and remove the remaining carpet scraps that were sitting under the dryer.

We chose that laying down some thick 3/4″ plywood (which is the same depth as our hardwoods) would be a pleasant way to give that particle-board subflooring a more wrapped up look – especially since we could stain it to match the floors so well (we used one coat of Dark Walnut followed by three coats of SafeCoat Acrylacq to seal them). We in fact brought in plywood under our last washer and dryer (more on that here) since we heard it was easier on them to have reinforced flooring (something about them lasting longer) so we are hoping it gives these a leg-up.

As soon as the folks carried our old appliances downstairs we ran up into the laundry nook for a swift floor presto-change-o, which we did in a blind panic because we knew it would only take them a few minutes to get the old ones downstairs and the new ones upstairs. First we had to remove the old carpeting, which was more secure than we expected (John in fact had to scrape up the staples in a mad-dash after we yanked up the carpet and underlayment). Look at him go:

Then we had to get the boards down. Here is the first one going in. We had pre-measured them and stained/sealed them beforehand so they were all ready to slide into place when the appliances came up.

The second one went right in after the first, but there is still a small gap that we have to fill where the molding jutted out too far for us to get a flush result. We hope it’ll look pleasant and complete once we slide that missing piece in (we are simply going to cut one more slice of plywood and stain it to match). Wish we had time to prime and paint that blue trim hiding in the nook while the old washers were out, but it might have to wait for a rainy day…

When you step a little further back, you can hardly tell it is not the same hardwood flooring running under those appliances (we did not photoshop the crack out of this pic, it is simply barely noticeable from this distance). And we are truly glad with how well the color matches. We also plan to add some pleasant white folding doors (there were some blue ones hanging there originally) so that is another reason we thought the subtle flooring change should work truly well.

As for leak protection, since these folks are on the second floor (and we TRULY TRULY do not want them to cause damage to anything below them, we were sure to place the washer in a plastic water-catching basin and also upgraded to those nicer reinforced steel water lines instead of the plastic ones.

The crazy thing is that during installation there was in fact a small leak where it was attached to our water line, but we caught it while the installer was still here, and he ducked back there and fixed it by tightening things a little. The lesson? Check those lines!

So now onto the lively stuff: how we like our new washer and dryer! Well, we ENJOY the dryer so far. It has been quieter, has a much larger capacity, does not shrink things nearly as much as our older one did (that one practically “burned” things and this one has a heat sensor so it does not over-dry). I also enjoy the charming little chime sound it makes when it is done (which can still be silenced, but it is so much better than the loud buzz that our old one made).

We also truly like the digital setup of the washer and the dryer. It is straightforward to see things, like how long each cycle still has left.

The washer’s capacity is also truly excellent. It fits a lot more than any of our previous models (especially the old one we were replacing).

And now for the womp-womp. Remember how I worried that bad things happen in threes? Well, our new washer is broken. I will pause for effect, as I quietly weep into my dirty laundry pile. The installation simply included starting it to make sure there were no leaks when it filled up, but they did not stay to watch it run a full cycle (which is fully understandable… that would be close to an hour of washer-watching time).

So imagine our surprise when we ran our first real load of laundry well after they had pulled out of our driveway and heard a crazy-loud grinding sound during the wash cycle (whenever the agitator is moving, there is this jarring metal-against-metal sound). You can hear it all the way from downstairs with the TV or radio blaring.

I woefully called Home Depot to tell them we already had a problem and they told us to call Maytag, who told us they could get a tech out in seven days. Ack! A full week without a working washer after buying a new one and expecting it to run without issue? I sweetly asked if they could get that service call moved up a bit since we were expecting a working machine upon delivery (our laundry had built-up a bunch already, so the prospect of another seven days of waiting stunk) and they said we could call Home Depot and see if they could do anything. I explained that I called them first, but would try one more time.

Well, when HD heard it was going to be a week until Maytag could make a service call (which might not even fix things, it might simply diagnose that I needed a new machine, which then had to be ordered) – I could feel them trying to work something out for me, which I truly appreciated. They had mercy on my sweet laundry-missing soul and agreed to take back the first one and deliver a new one on Thursday.

I am truly glad with Home Depot’s customer service (I am sure it is a lot easier for them to simply say “call Maytag, it is a mechanical issue that they are supposed to handle) and I have to be honest that I wish Maytag had been able to come out for a service call within 48 hours or so, which is what I expected when my brain reached that “oh snap, our brand new washer is broken” moment.

So that is where we are. Still sleepless in Seattle washerless in Richmond, but we enjoy our dryer and the new flooring under it. And here is hoping that by Thursday I will be whistling while I work that new washer. I have never looked forward to doing laundry this much in my life! Have you folks had any unexpected delivery or new-appliance issues? We are happier than ever that ours have a one-year warranty given this little curve-ball, but we hope this third house snafu means we have all of our bad luck out of the way for a while…

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Sidenote: We’d enjoy to see you folks this weekend at the Richmond Home & Garden Show! We are speaking at 2pm on Saturday and Sunday (with a book signing following Saturday’s talk). You can get half-price tickets online right here. Oh and they gave us the shock of our life when we were driving down the highway and saw our giant faces on a billboard.

Seriously, we screamed so loud it likely scared other drivers. It is exciting, unbelievable, and terrifying to see your own mug that big.