How to Install a Washing Machine and Dryer

Installing a Dryer

Installing a Washing Machine

When you buy a new washer or dryer, you can usually pay a small fee to have the appliances delivered and hooked up. But you can also undertake installation yourself. The job is quite simple if the laundry area is set up for these machines, although a gas dryer does involve connecting both a gas supply and a vent to the appliance.

If you are installing a washing machine in a new location, you will need to run hot- and cold-water supply pipes to the connection point and terminate each with a shutoff valve and, if necessary, a water-hammer arrester. If there is an existing laundry sink, you can hook the washer's drain hose over the sink's edge. If there is no sink or laundry tub nearby, the washer will need to drain into a standpipe, which is a 2-inch-diameter pipe with a built-in trap that taps into the nearest drainpipe. The top of the standpipe should stand between 18 and 30 inches above the trap (some codes allow a range up to 42 inches). The trap should be 6 to 18 inches above the floor. Standpipes are available with built-in traps or can be assembled from scratch using standard drainpipe and elbow fittings.

Clothes dryers all plug into the wall because they have electric motors. They may be heated by either electricity or gas. Though an electric dryer is extremely easy to install, a gas model is less expensive to operate in most regions. If the dryer's spot in the laundry area is equipped with a gas line and an appropriate vent that exhausts to the outdoors, it usually makes sense to install a gas dryer. If there is no gas line but there is a 240-volt outlet, you may want to opt for an electric dryer.

During installation, be sure the circuit breaker to the dryer's circuit is turned off and that the gas pipe's valve is closed.

Both washing machines and dryers are designed to operate on flat, level floors. After positioning each appliance, check the tops for level. If necessary, turn the adjustable feet at the front of each unit to properly level them.

1. Screw the washing machine's water supply hoses onto the connections at the back of the washing machine. If the hoses are marked, be sure to orient them to hot and cold accordingly.

2. Connect the washing machine supply hoses to the proper valves. Scoot the appliance into place. Level the top of the machine, adjusting its front feet as needed.

3. Put the drain hose into the standpipe (or laundry sink). Turn on the water supply valves and check for leaks.

1. To hook up a gas dryer, turn the gas off at the shutoff valve. Wrap the threads of the gas supply pipe with pipe-wrap tape (use the type that is made for gas connections), and then tighten a stainless-steel connector onto the pipe. Thread the flexible gas supply pipe onto the connector and the dryer's gas valve, and tighten both connections. After turning on the gas, check for leaks by mixing a 50/50 solution of dishwashing detergent and water, daubing this onto the connections and watching for bubbles.

2. Fit metal duct piping onto the vent connector at the wall, and, using elbows along with lengths of straight pipe, run the vent to the dryer's outlet. Drive 3/4-inch sheet metal screws through the pipe into the flanges to hold the vent pipe in place. Wrap joints with duct tape. Note: Be sure the vent of a gas dryer exhausts to the outdoors.

3. Plug in the dryer. An electric dryer will have a large, 240-volt plug like the one shown. A gas dryer will just have a conventional plug. Push the dryer into place, leaving a couple of inches on each side for air circulation.

Single-Lever Valves

A single-lever valve is an alternative to conventional washing machine shutoff valves. With this type, you just flip the lever to shut off the water supply when the machine is not in use. Because the hoses that connect a washing machine can leak or burst, this is a good way to prevent an unexpected flood.