Do It Yourself

I am a huge fan of the show Holmes on Homes. Mike Holmes is a bold and brash host, and he does not hesitate to point out the mistakes made by other contractors. The show is great, and I hope this will help get the word out. I like watching the show because I'm a Do-It-Yourself kinda guy. So far, I've done the bathroom, master bedroom, second bedroom, and laundry room in my condo. I've also replaced the water heater. Note to self: Post some diy pix.


At this moment, my new Kenmore HE5t washer is out of service. I've disconnected it because while in the process of moving it out of the laundry room, I broke the bottom plate. That was so stupid of me! It's taken me almost four months to start fixing it. But in all fairness, I'm very busy and I don't always have time to fix things...

While the washer was out of commission, my wife and I go to a laundromat to do laundry. She is so understanding. Note to self: Appreciate her even more. I figured it would be OK to keep going there until I have enough time and energy to start fixing the washer. Sadly, that didn't last. For some reason, the owner of the laundromat starts going psycho on me. He's telling me that I'm not following the directions, that I'm using too much paper towel, that it's costing him lots of money. And here I was thinking I was a pretty good customer. I don't break anything. I pay the overpriced cost of $1.25/wash. The wash lasts only like 15 minutes. How much actual washing/agitation can happen when you include the fill and drain time plus rinse! So now I'm a bit annoyed, and I've decided to fix my washer.

First, I needed all the documentation I could find. The condo is a mess and it's really difficult to find anything. I resorted to surfing the web for anything that might resemble a user's manual. I found one at sears.com. I should add that it's not straightforward. The manual was there, but no drawings were available. I found the drawings only in their Parts & Replacement section. In any case, that was enough to get started. Second, I wanted to know what kind of problems others have experienced with fixing a washer. Fortunately, there is a great website called fixitnow.com. The "Samurai" bit is funny. I like humor. Makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. So after spending a couple of days reading many, many posts, I kept on reading until I felt confident in tackling the washer.

So I removed screws, opened up panels, and proceeded to fix the damage. Fortunately, the damage was only superficial. The internal wiring was not disturbed, and the tub housing and motor were all spared. So there was nothing to really fix - only the bottom plate. After straightening the bent plate, I replaced both the plate and panel. Then I moved the washer and dryer (stacked configuration) back in the laundry room and reconnected all lines including hot and cold water supply, drain, exhaust, and gas supply. Don't forget to level the washer otherwise you'll see a washer running wild. The whole thing took me the entire day, and my muscles were sore from all the heavy lifting...Both washer and dryer are now operational, and my wife is happy :)