You read the first part last week, how our $2000 washer/dryer stack suddenly went south on us.
Once we got the news about the repair costs, I began to wonder about just how much this machine was really worth.
I believed that finding a comparable replacement would probably run maybe $2500 based on general inflation. But I also believe in spending as little money as possible without sacrificing quality.
I went to my handyman father and cried on his shoulder.
"Just get a side by side," he said.
It got me thinking. I had been looking only at replacement stack units, believing them to be my only option, due to space restrictions in the laundry room.
I measured the distance between the gas valve about a couple inches from one wall and the other in the small alcove we have the foyer, which is where the previous homeowners moved the laundry once steps became a problem in their sunset years.
56 inches to work with. A very tight fit.
We could fit a side-by-side in there, but it would call for removing the door to the laundry closet, and restricting our use of it to the two top shelves, plus removal of the moulding around the door.
Doable. But frustrating.
We could have returned the washer and dryer to the basement. But we didn't want to give up that convenience of a ground-floor laundry room.
Especially with my "forty-something" knees that are going to surely turn on me one of these days without warning.
After a 'day date' on President's Day, we decided to go washer/dryer shopping. A few stores were offering sales in honor of the holiday.
Sears first. Then Home Depot. Then finally Lowe's.
We hadn't had much luck with the first two. But then we got to Lowe's. And there it was.
A laundry stack, but much better designed than our Neptune.
Stackable separates, they were called.
Separate controls for each unit. They did not need each other to exist. If one died, the other didn't need to die with it.
I like that. So did my short-statured spouse of five feet, two and a half inches, despite having to stand on her toes slightly to reach the dryer controls.
And it was within our budget. $899. Add in the stack kit, a new gas connection line, a three-year extended warranty, and tax, it came out to about $1300.
Sold.
But then the man who sold it to us had some bad news...they had the washer in stock, but not a gas dryer. They did have an electric one.
This would have meant getting my dad out to do an emergency 220 volt install so we could have our own laundry capabilities back.
Margie decided against that and decided it was worth the wait.
They put us in their computer for a delivery date of ten days after the sale. Fortunately, we didn't have to wait that long.
In fact, the phone call came four days later...after I had spent six hours at my in-laws condo doing about six loads of laundry.
The dryer was in, according to the message on my voice mail.
I immediately called them back.
"Can you bring it tomorrow?"
"We can do that, but we're not sure of what time."
"Fine."
The next morning, they called.
"We have you down from nine to eleven, sir. We'll try to make it as close to nine as possible."
They arrived at 9:30. They were on their way within an hour, after uncrating them, taking away the Neptune (but not before I harvested it to try and get money back through selling parts on eBay!), connecting the hoses and testing it, and explaining its operation.
Then the moment of truth.
We brought down a small load of clothes.
Washed and dried, then folded and put away. All within an hour.
And the world makes sense again.
It's amazing what we sometimes take for granted.
NEXT WEEK: Part III (oh yes, there IS a part 3!)
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