A Triple Blessing In Disguise

Saturday morning was a pretty typical morning.  I had a few showings in the afternoon but my morning was free, so I was doing stuff around the house (cleaning, organizing, etc).  So was my mom.  And one of the things she was doing was laundry.  That's when she discovered that our dryer was dying (it was making a grinding noise and smelled like something was burning).

So what did I do?  I called my hubby who was out yard saling and let him know that he may need to plan on repairing the dryer, but if he finds another good deal buy one.  Another good deal?  Yep.  You see, our washer has been irritating me for a couple months now because nothing I do can get it balanced.  We've realized it wasn't leveled so we fixed that (which made it worse so we unleveled it again).  I've even tried shifting clothes around numerous times each load but every time it hits the spin cycle it tries to dance out the door of the laundry room.  So a couple weekends ago, he called me while he was out yard saling because he had found a washer and dryer set (that had never been used) for $200.  Unfortunately, while he was calling me to find out if I wanted them, someone else bought the set.

So on Saturday, shortly after I had sent him my text message about the dryer dying, hubby sent me a text that he'd found a washer and dryer set for $150.  $50 less than the set the weekend before... yay!  Granted they were 4 or 5 years old, but they are a really expensive brand.  The only issue was that he was told the washer has some strange thing where it has to sit for 5 minutes between each wash.  Being an electrical engineer, he figured he would look at it and see if he could figure it out.  Worst case, he figured it might be the circuit board which would cost $100.

The boys trying to diagnose our issue

A couple days ago he hooked it up to see if he could duplicate the problem.  He wasn't able to duplicate that problem, but he discovered a more serious issue.  Perhaps it was a result of moving it, or perhaps the symptoms the previous owner experienced were the beginnings of our problem.  Whatever the case, a part was broken in a such a way that the washer was filling and draining at the same time.  Kinda hard to wash clothes that way, right?

Being the handy kind of guy he is (as well as having access to some really cool tools), hubby made the part he needed, and now I have a functioning washer and dryer again.  I hate folding laundry but the washing and drying will be much more fun now.

Oh, and another bonus that came out of all this... when we moved into the house, there was carpet in the laundry room.  Crazy, right?!  And I've been wanting to remove it and put down tile ever since we moved in.  I knew I didn't want to mess with it till we were replacing the washer and dryer.  The other day I told hubby to keep his eyes out for some cheap tile as he was out and about (since it looked like we would be needing a washer and dryer soon).

When hubby brought home the washer and dryer, we hadn't found any tile yet.  I decided I would rather have concrete floor than that carpet anymore so I decided it was time to rip out the carpet.  How surprised was I when I found this under the carpet...

Tile!  And we didn't have to buy any.   And we didn't have to lay it either.  God is good!

Old set: currently waiting in our carport for a new home

 

New set with "new" floor

Update:  Shortly after posting, I was working on my computer which is near the laundry room and heard a pop.  I run into the laundry room and find water pouring out from the back of the washer.  Oh no!  I run to get the shop vac and yell for my dad (who was closer than hubby).  We proceed to clean up the water and as we are discussing whether we will be buying a part for the washer after all, my son walks in, looks at the valve area behind the washer and dryer and say "I know what's wrong."  I look at what he was looking at and then I noticed it too... the drain pipe had come out of it's hole and was on the floor.  So thankful for easy fixes (and a practical and smart son too).