Good News/Bad News: Washing Machine Leak
Oct. 23rd, 2025 08:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerWhen I spotted a new leak in the ceiling of the kitchen pantry yesterday, I was pissed. Pissed, because it was just two days after we'd finished getting another leak repaired. A repair that we'd waited 8 weeks to get started. And this new leak was occurring just 2 feet over from the previous one! Had the repairmen screwed up the repair that badly?
I did a bit of troubleshooting on the problem myself. It didn't seem like it was the same leak as before just 2 feet over. It seemed like it might actually be a problem with the washing machine... which, yes, is about 2 feet over from where the toilet upstairs is! But could it really be such a coincidence that our washer sprung a leak right after the toilet was fixed? And right after plumbers were working on the water main outside all day? I was too pissed to want to run a full troubleshooting process myself. Thankfully the owner of the plumbing company agreed to come over.
The plumber and I worked through the troubleshooting process together. He saw my reason for suspecting the washing machine— dampness on the floor underneath it— and helped me shift it around a bit to pinpoint the problem more precisely. It wasn't a loose hookup problem or a leak in a supply hose or drain hose. It was some kind of leak from the body of the washing machine itself.
So, good news/bad news: It's not a plumbing leak. It won't be another $13,000 job that takes 8 weeks to schedule. But it looks like now we need to buy a new washer.
I did a bit of troubleshooting on the problem myself. It didn't seem like it was the same leak as before just 2 feet over. It seemed like it might actually be a problem with the washing machine... which, yes, is about 2 feet over from where the toilet upstairs is! But could it really be such a coincidence that our washer sprung a leak right after the toilet was fixed? And right after plumbers were working on the water main outside all day? I was too pissed to want to run a full troubleshooting process myself. Thankfully the owner of the plumbing company agreed to come over.
The plumber and I worked through the troubleshooting process together. He saw my reason for suspecting the washing machine— dampness on the floor underneath it— and helped me shift it around a bit to pinpoint the problem more precisely. It wasn't a loose hookup problem or a leak in a supply hose or drain hose. It was some kind of leak from the body of the washing machine itself.
So, good news/bad news: It's not a plumbing leak. It won't be another $13,000 job that takes 8 weeks to schedule. But it looks like now we need to buy a new washer.
