I had an appliance repair issue recently.
I was watching television with my husband when our washer started to make a terribly loud noise and began shaking violently.
I ran into the laundry room to see that the tub of our front-loader wasn’t spinning, as it should. I hit the “pause” button and tried to pull out a wad of clothing that had been winding itself around the big rubber seal on the inside front of the machine.
After finally untangling all the clothing, I was able to see that the rubber seal was a goner and would need to be replaced. Overpriced replacement parts and dollar signs in labor started flashing before my eyes.
I looked around on the Internet for the part that needed to be replaced. I also wanted to see if I could get some instruction on how to do it myself.
The part it seemed would be fairly easy to find, although ridiculously expensive for a simple oversized rubber gasket. But the replacement was a little more complicated than I originally thought it would be.
I figured though that if I could use a screwdriver and had an extra pair of hands, I would be able to tackle it without calling in a professional at $90 an hour.
After securing the correct part for my model washing machine, I got busy on the Internet. I Googled the manufacturer and model number of my appliance and lo’ and behold, found a DIY video on YouTube.com describing in detail how to replace the part.
My husband seemed hesitant to take on the project at first. But he remembered the numerous piles of laundry in various parts of our house and realized he may have no choice.
We were forced to take apart the majority of our washing machine to get to the gasket that needed replacing, but an electric drill with a 6-pointed star attachment really did all the work.
An hour and a half later, the replacement of the part had been completed, and our laundry was well on its way to being clean.
Not only had we saved a couple hundred dollars, I had the satisfaction of knowing we could do some of these things on our own.
Not bad for a girl, who used to have to call in back up to change the air filter on her furnace, eh?
Amy Grace is married with two children. You can read her every Friday on momaha.
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