I clean clothes dryer vent systems and do a little bit of insulation work. One thing that most people don't even give a second thought is the black rubber hoses on the back of their clothes washer. I can safely say that maybe one out of twenty five homes have the stainless steel mesh hoses. They cost around $25.00 for the pair at most home centers or hardware stores. It's like changing a garden hose, it's that simple. There are nightmarish stories about folks coming home to find their homes filled with water, about 500 gallons a minute.
Source: YouTube Video:
By Tom G. from Chicago, Illinois
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Stainless steel hoses are better than rubber but stainless hoses also fail. And any house that has water pressure that can spurt out 500 gallons per minute would have other serious leaking problems in addition to burst washer hoses.
Oh My God! My husband and I can definitely speak from experience. We had one rubber hose that burst on our old washing machine. Fortunately, we were home at the time when I heard the sound of gushing water in our basement.
An easy way to solve all the problems with washer hoses is to install ball valves on the water connections. You can get them at any hardware store along with compression fittings that need no soldering. When we are washing we turn the lever on. When done washing, lever the valves off and breathe easier!
Rick
This happened to me too. But, we were out to dinner when the hose burst. When we walked in our front door, I heard a very loud "swooshing" sound downstairs. We live in a bi-level. I went to check it out and as I stepped onto the lower level's floor, my feet went into 6" of water.
I followed the sound, found cold water from the washer hose, shooting out horizontally across our laundry/storage room, nearly 12'!
The carpet in the 2 bedrooms, family room and stairs was ruined, several walls - drywall/2 x 4's were warped, some furniture had water damaged/was refinished, our tax records, other family records and photos in cardboard boxes were soaked/ruined, VHS tapes and PS2 games, many books were soaked,and just general stuff needed sorting and cleaning.
The tile floor in our downstairs bathroom had lifted off the concrete and had to be replaced; as well as the vanity cabinet. The doors to the bedrooms and bathroom were warped and were also replaced.
Not to mention all the repainting!
Our entire lower level was a watery and stinky mess. It took a lot of time and patience to get it back to livable spaces. I'd say, it was a good 3 motnhs before we got everything back to normal.
CHECK THOSE HOSES! If they're stiff, get new ones - pronto!
This happened to my next door neighbor, who was pregnant at the time. She didn't know how to shut the water off. It was a good thing I was home at the time. By the time I got there, the adjacent room was flooded. Her carpet was ruined.
Tom, can you tell us what are the best kind of hoses to have on our washers?
This happened to me some years ago in a basement laundry room. A hose burst and I didn't know how to turn off the water. I was the only one home and so ran to a neighbor's house. She came over and to my surprise just turned off the water under the laundry tub.
What's the best way to avoid this happening?
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