How to Install a Basement Laundry | Ask This Old House

[Music] so you went ahead you bought a new washer/dryer yeah see some new work here yeah so we built this plywood wall we want to make this corner a little bit nicer since we'd be spending a lot of time down here it's work you do this weird it yeah super so we got the power all set up now the plumbing is a different case we get estimates between two and twelve thousand dollars two to twelve all right I'll do it for six No well let me think about why there was such a variable the dryer straight for you and electricity you got a vent looks like and go right out here with a washer we need hot and cold water and that looks pretty straightforward to it looks like a hot Nicole pipe right here we can come down the wall here I think the variable is in the drainage you know any drainage system has to work by gravity and look at this the closest drain line is way up here so I'm sure that was what the issue was and even when it runs back this way even where it leaves the building his way up high here but I think I have a solution I think this is a project you and I could do today you up for a little work yeah cool all right let's start right to left we'll start with the dryer vent for the electric dryer and the outside of the building you'll see this it has a little bird screen here and a flapper so that air only comes out doesn't come back in now the question is where we can drill this through okay well it's pretty straightforward there's only one spot here his his looks like a balloon framing so we're gonna go right here with a feeler bit and go right in the center of the opening [Music] I just want to caulk around where the termination connects to the building and then four screws will hold it tight we connect the flexible metal dryer vent to the outside termination here's a couple of zip screws for that this fitting allows it to swivel it to any angle we want if you swivel it to an elbow it fits perfectly to the back of the dryer we connect the drive head to the back of the dryer with a hose clamp then we just plug it in all right so dryers all set yeah good awesome all right so now we're going to start thinking about how we're gonna get the water to leave the wash machine to get into our drainage system this is a laundry sink also called a laundry tray sink you got a faucet right here we're gonna have the discharge from the washer she come right into here and water go down through the bottom now historically and we've ever had a basement laundry or a basement bathroom where the drain was so high we've only had one choice we've had like a sewage ejector it's almost a sump pump that goes below the floor water will come down from the drain into the sump a flow would come on pump it out but when you'd have that you have to make sure both the Sugie jekt ER and the fixture itself is connected into the houses vent system now in a retrofit like this 70 years ago it might the only event we're gonna find might it be up in the attic and that might be why the plumbers had such a wide range of pricing look at this this is a cool invention seven a trap underneath it it's got a pump that sits right under the bottom of the sink and when water comes into it'll come on right then and the water will discharge and go through this this is a check valve now the water pushes out the pump comes on pushes this way it lifts a flapper lets the water go this way but it doesn't let the water come this way it doesn't let the sewer gas come this way and even though it was a stoppage back here it couldn't come back this way so this is approved for this use it's gonna be a so it's gonna be a lot simpler for us to mount the where we want it to be run the one-inch PVC up to here and tie it in right here trying to put you to work uh I'm ready I use a reciprocating saw to cut out a section of this old galvanized pipe I replaced that with a Y filling and some PVC pipe the PVC will attach to the old galvanized with these couplings rubber on the inside and stainless steel on the outside now we can work on the water supply lines I cut T's into the existing water lines then I can run new copper lines to the washing machine valve I apply flux to each joint and then bring in Mike torch when the flux bubbles I touch the solder to it and the solder will melt and fill that joint making a watertight connection now why don't you attach the stainless-steel hoses for the washing machine and the faucet supply give them a hand tighten and then snug them up with a pair of pliers okay the drain line from the laundry sink will be made out of one-inch PVC which I connect to the PVC Y on the main drain line all right now we can move the wash machine into place and connect the supply hoses all right now look you're getting excited yeah this looks great all right Electric dry is ready to go vented to outside washing machines here we have a wash machine valve right here this is really good to have you know this when you're not using it you turn it off when you're using it you turn it on right here and that takes the pressure off the hoses when you're not here okay and now we got our copper water here here's our discharge into the sink but I still have one more thing I got to do this pump underneath is really powerful crazy problem and so we could pump way faster than this faucet could fill if I don't throttle down this ball valve on the discharge the thing will be on and off on and off so I got to turn this so full you'll hear the pump come on okay you see how it's on and off so now what I want to do is actually throttle it until it stays on you see so now for as long as the faucets on or the washing machines filling it'll stay on but it won't cycle on and on it shuts off you ready to go you do the laundry I do yeah okay I got stuff in the truck alright alright go grab it you were a great help [Music]

Channel: This Old House

Views: 841,991

Rating: 4.8739581 out of 5

Keywords: This Old House, Ask This Old House, DIY, Home Improvement, DIY Ideas, Renovation, Renovation Ideas, How To Fix, How To Install, How To Build, laundry room, basement, laundry machine, laundry appliance, washer, dryer, home imrovement, home repair, diy, do it yourself, plumbing, plumber, lifestyle, construction, building, house, richard trethewey, norm abram, tom silva, roger cook, kevin o'connor

Id: HW-_WA1Psi8

Length: 6min 44sec (404 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 24 2016