Floor damaged beneath my washer dryer

3 years ago

last modified: 3 years ago

Hi all:

I have a new stackable front loader washer / dryer set arriving and I want to address a floor problem before it arrives.

My current front loader had a leak that damaged part of the floor. The floor started to go concave under one corner of the washer, so we put a solid piece of plywood under the affected leg.

The floor is also a floating floor (came with the house) so the set (stacked for space - they won‘t fit side by side) rock a bit and definitely vibrate.

(Aside: One repair person added a screw somewhere so the rocking stopped, but the next repair person removed whatever was working and we never figured out how to duplicate it.)

Multiple contractors have quoted $4k - $6k to replace the floor where the units go, so that’s a no. I have other home repairs that take priority right now.

Option I’ve landed on: - I’d like to know if there’s a better alternetive, short of cutting out and replacing the floor in this area -

1) Screw the floating floor into the subfloor where the washer/dryer go to address the vibration.

2) Put a full-sized piece of finished plywood under the entire unit (with a tray) for added stability and to address the part of the floor that we can’t level the machine on.

Thank you in advance!

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Comments (6)

dadoes
3 years ago
Washing machines require a floor of sufficient strength and stability to handle the forces that occur during spin at the high speeds that are common nowadays. It should also be resistant to damage from small leaks/drips that may unexpectedly occur and go undetected for a substantial period of time. There's no reasonable way around that requirement.

There was an automatic washer in the 1950s that was popular in multi-story apartments that didn't spin. It drained the water via a pump that also pulled a vacuum on the rubber tub to collapse it and squeeze the clothes against the center agitator for extraction (the lid had an airtight seal and a release port).

Best recourse is repair your floor to the required strength.
ci_lantro
3 years ago
Multiple contractors have quoted $4k - $6k to replace the floor where the units go, so that’s a no.

Pictures? $4-6k is a small job and likely includes a small job premium in the quote. This sounds like it could be a good beginner DIY project.

Not at all advisable to place a new W/D unit on a deteriorated floor. Especially stacked units and 2x especially not a front load unit.
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ken c
3 years ago
I had a leak in the hose to valve connection at the wall. I never noticed anything until the smell. The sheetrock had turned into mush and the floor particle board sheathing had started to turn to mush also. If you're handy, it's not a bad job. I ripped everything out, put a heater in there for at least a week, checking the floor joists and wall studs (all water damaged) with a moisture meter until their water content was acceptable. I refloored, re-sheetrocked, painted, new baseboards. Done. The most expensive thing was the new laminate flooring. Total cost was probably $500 including the purchase of a couple of tools like the moisture meter.
armjim
3 years ago
Eeyuh, you got 3 excellent responses there. $4-6K for a floor replacement sounds very unreasonable if it is a small space. Unless you are replacing it with top tier marble, no way.
Eeyuh
Original Author
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
I’ve loaded photos of rhe space with a close-up of rhe floor. 3 contractors looked at it, with roughly similar pricing to cut this part of the floor out and replace it with similar flooring. Many things are expensive where I live as our cost of living is high.

DIY is not available for me, although I will GLADLY provide ample pizza ans beer for anyone who would like to come over and

do this!

If anyone has another thought, I’m listening.
cat_ky
3 years ago
Maybe if you contacted a good home handyman type person you would get a more reasonable price to repair.