This isn’t so much a DIY as a “You can do it” post. Reason being, replacing an existing washing machine with a new one is as easy as assembling Ikea furniture.

I installed my first washing machine yesterday. Thought I’d have to wait for hubby because I don’t deal with plumbing or electric. “Nothing dangerous” is my motto. Had it been a dryer, I would not have trusted myself with the gas connections, but what’s the worst that can happen with water? A flood?

Assuming your laundry area is already set up for a washer, it’s easy. If you’re going about this from scratch, it will require installing water supply and drainage, both beyond my expertise.

Ok, so you’re just replacing, right? A brand new washer will come with directions, some tools and hoses. Save the hoses from your old one if you’re installing second hand. Of course, you can always purchase new ones if need be.

1. The first thing you want to do on a brand new install is remove the shipping bolts. This part takes longer than the rest of it, but it’s very important.

2. The water line hoses on my LG were marked red and blue for hot and cold. Hook those into the hot and cold intakes on the machine. Connect the other ends to the faucet. Hand tighten as much as you can, then use the wrench. Don’t over tighten, but you don’t want a leak either.

3. Drain hose comes connected to machine. There’s a support that’s easy enough to attach to the other end. Stick that end in drain or slop sink (mine is a sink).

4. Plug it in and run a test to check for leaks. If all is good, move it into it’s permanent position.

5. Level the machine with the adjustments on bottom. Personally, I didn’t use a level….just stopped it from wobbling.

6. Do the laundry.

The wrench they provided didn’t work on everything so I’d say it’s handy to have an adjustable wrench. Maybe a screwdriver would come in handy too.

Yeah, that’s it. Not so bad, huh?

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Oh Krups, why must you tease me so? I haven’t been on 18th Street in awhile but yesterday when I passed Krups, they had a lovely display of colorful appliances out on the sidewalk. I just wanted to share the picture of these kick ass kitchen options. Drooling? I know I am.

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A few months ago when I was doing my weekly Build it Green visit, I had the opportunity to make a decision between two available dishwashers. One was a Kitchen Aide stainless interior in perfect condition for $200. It retails new for $900. The other dishwasher was an old piece of crap for 25 bucks.

Guess which one this cheap bitch chose.

My husband doesn’t call me “Penny Wise Pound Foolish” for nothing.

So, with the dishwasher already installed, I notice that the door springs are shot and the seal is corroded. Something I should have looked at before purchasing, you say? Well, guess what? A new seal costs about $40. Yeah, more than I paid for the dishwasher. I didn’t price the springs because I wouldn’t even know how to fix them.

So guess what I did? I went looking for another dishwasher. And I found one for $200! It’s a GE Profile that retails for $800. Yeah, basically, I could have just paid the $200 for a better dishwasher to begin with.

But I’ll never learn.

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New York City. A town where living quarters are as tight as those jeans from high school that you never threw away. You would think small appliances would be easy to buy, no? Not really.

It was only recently that I came across the Summit counter depth fridge. Yes, there are plenty of narrow refrigerators, but, ah, this one is tall as well, so it actually fits more than a day’s worth of groceries. At 79.5″, it’s got an extra foot on most of the others.

I had my hands on one at Build it Green. $275. I paid and said I’d pick it up in a few days as I couldn’t fit it in my van at the time. Should’ve just shoved it in there. Got a call from them to say it had actually been sold to someone else prior to moi and they neglected to put the “Sold” sticker on it. $275.

So, I kept looking. Oh, I should mention that they sell for over $1000 new, which is why I was only looking at second hand. Over a thou was not in my budget for a modest 2 family in Rockaway.

Anyway, tried to get a few others on Craigslist, priced $375 and up. They were gone before I even emailed. Finally, I got my hands on the older, discontinued ConServ. Summit took over for ConServ some years ago. Ok, so I paid $450 for an old model. I did not wait nor try to bargain them down. They said they had 20 more people who wanted it and after shopping around, I believe them.

The Scandinavian appliance is designed by Bang & Olufsen artist David Lewis and it’s since it’s so extremely energy efficient, I figure that this old gal will be about as efficient as a brand new cheap-ass fridge.

Apart from Summit, there are some other tall and slim fridges out there. Fagor and Liebherr make similar models, priced close to or over $2000 new.

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Yay, Drimmer’s! One of my favorite go-to appliance stores is offering Sandy victims washers and dryers at cost. “Drimmer’s refuses to profit from your catastrophe.” Well, good for them. This should set an example for other appliance shops, building material stores and contractors. Step up, people!!

If you know of any companies offering discounts or volunteer work due to the hurricane, please let us know!

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The Rockaway house is a two family, so one of my biggest budget concerns has been the purchase of appliances times two. AJ Madison has been my appliance source for a few years now. There are always running good deals and they will deliver and haul away the old.

I got away with one kitchen of all stainless for under $2000. That includes the fridge, stove, dishwasher and over-the-stove microwave exhaust combo. The microwave makes sense when you consider it’s not that much more than just a fan. I figured we would save ourselves some money on take out during renovations. No, we won’t be using the stove. Let’s not go nuts.

My only disappointment was with the shorty refrigerator. Purchasing online, one has to remember to look at the dimensions. I looked at the width and assumed I was buying a standard size fridge, but it’s actually shorter than me. And I’m short! At the end of the day, who the hell needs a huge refrigerator for a one bedroom apartment? Plus, the smaller, the more efficient. Right?

Well, those were the brand new Energy Star appliances for the downstairs kitchen. While at Build it Green one day last week, I did spot this second hand dishwasher which I purchased for upstairs for a mere 25 bucks. It’s returnable if it doesn’t work but I’m ready to accept the loss as it’s not worth $25 to schlep it back to Astoria. Fingers crossed!

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File this one under “Information you should know”. KitchenAid tweeted a nasty joke regarding President Obama’s deceased grandmother. “Obamas gma even knew it was going 2 b bad! ‘She died 3 days b4 he became president.” The tweeter probably mixed up their personal account with KitchenAid’s and has supposedly been let go. An apology was issued.

KitchenAid’s parent company is Whirlpool whose Political Action Committee gives mostly to Republicans.

Not trying to sway you one way or another. It’s just some background you might want to know before you purchase appliances. Personally, I’m the Queen of Boycott and I haven’t exactly hidden the fact that I’m a strong Obama supporter. If you don’t like it, you can boycott this blog. I don’t give a fek.

You can check out many companies and their ethical, safety and environmental ratings at Good Guide.

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Refrigerators can take over a small room. They especially look out of place with open plan kitchens. Pricey Sub Zero units take custom panels but if you’re creative enough, who’s to say you can’t hide any ole fridge? Click on the images for more info.

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We all know about cleaning the lint filter in dryers but how often do we clean the washing machine filter? For me, it’s never. In fact, I didn’t even know my washing machine had a filter or trap.

Let’s backtrack a bit, shall we? I’ve mentioned before that I’m no fan of Frigidaire appliances. We already replaced the dryer last year but we were holding off on the washer because it still worked (intermittently). About 6 months ago, I started noticing a sulphury smell whenever the wash would drain. I knew that something wasn’t right but the clothes came out clean enough.

Last week the washing machine stopped working in the middle of a wash. It wouldn’t drain or fill with water. It sounded as if the motor was trying to fill the chamber with water but nothing was coming out. I ordered a new machine in hopes that it would arrive soon enough so I wouldn’t have to hit up the laundry mat.

Six piles of laundry later, my online purchase was still pending so we figured we might as well attempt to fix the thing temporarily.

Not draining = something is blocked up. All of those socks we lost over the years?

Whomever designed this particular machine didn’t make it easy to empty the filter. We had to turn the machine over and take it apart. At the end of the day, we found about $2.00 worth of change and a bunch of pet hair blocking the trap.

I canceled the new machine and I promise to check pockets before doing a wash.

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