Washer and Dryer Move

I had to do a few things before moving the washer and dryer. Specifically, I had to install a new dryer vent, connect into the drain line for the washer, and connect the 110V and 220V electrical circuits for the washer and dryer.

Here's a photo of me installing the dryer vent. We're going to stack the dryer on the washer some day so the vent is located in the ceiling.

I'd show you photos of the drain line, but I hate going under the house enough as it is so... no photos. Instead here are some photos of the move.

Sadly, I found that I'd installed the 220V outlet too high for a ground level dryer. So, I raised the dryer. It's a dryer on blocks! It's actually WAY easier to load and unload the dryer at this height.

And here's a photo to of the empty entryway (formerly the utility room).

The next steps are to clean out the entryway and then move all our tools and other gear into the entryway to clear up space to work in the den.

The Big Move

Here are some photos of where the water heater has lived since we bought the rat hole.

As you can see, it's in the way. We have to walk through the kitchen to get anywhere in the house.

The first thing to do before the big move was to turn off the power to the water heater, turn off the water to the house, and drain the water heater.

The next steps were to decommission the old lines and hook up to the new lines. I used Sharkbite fittings so the pex to pex connections were ultra-simple. The only annoying connection was the brass barb into the 1" poly main line under the house. Handling scalding water in a cramped crawl space is tricky.

Here are some photos of some of the old galvanized lines that were removed.

Can you tell which ones were hot water and which were cold?

We used a furniture dolly to move the water heater to its new home. We think it's happy.

Here are some photos of the empty doorway in the utility room. What a big difference!

The next steps took a while. Connecting into the lines for the water heater wasn't hard, but it was a long process.

I'll say it again... Sharkbite fittings are great! And easy! And expensive. One of them leaked after I turned the water back on. I was upset, but turned the pex and fitting a little and the leak stopped. Yay! I really like Sharkbite!

Here's a funny part of the story. After I connected everything and turned the water back on, I turned on the faucets to let the air out of the system. The hot water lines expelled air for a long time since the water heater had to fill up. I noticed that the cold water valve in the washer and dryer closet was expelling air. It freaked me out! Had I made a mistake and reversed my connections somewhere?

After going under the house, going into the attic space, and checking the water heater closet, I was able to confirm that, yes, I had indeed reversed the connections (hot to cold and cold to hot). All of them. In moving the water heater, I also moved the main incoming water line (cold). I connected the main line to the new hot water line instead of the new cold water line. But I also connected the water heater input and output to the wrong lines. And I reversed the splices up in the attic as well. It all stemmed from me misremembering which line was which. Should have labeled them. In the end, because I was consistent in my mixup, everything worked out. Except for the washer valves. Those are reversed. I'll switch them around before the washer gets moved. Three wrongs make a right!

Closet Baseboard

We had a little difficulty settling on the design for the baseboards in the closets. After looking at a number of different profiles, we chose to go with a standard 1x4 (.75x3.5). We liked the height the best. We also chose to put a 1/4" radius on the top corner. We like this look, but we will likely do something different in the main rooms. These are the closets after all. Simple is okay.

The baseboards were installed using panel adhesive and a few nails.

Since nothing is ever straight and perfect, there was a little gapiosis between the boards and the walls. The whole family got in on the gap filling project.

The end results looked great. A couple coats of paint went on next.

And now for the big move!

The Lowdown on the Floor, Click!

As was mentioned before, we chose to use Forbo Marmoleum Click for our closet floors. The tiles are 36"x12" and fit the closets perfectly (the closets being 36" deep).

The install was super simple. I used the table saw to cut off the tab on one end and then just laid the pieces in the closet. Each tile snaps tight to its neighbor. Forbo makes sheet linoleum as well, but the tiles were just so easy!

The finished floors! Next... the baseboards.