This action followed advice from fellow blogger,Tammy of Sweet Southern Happiness. Last month she had a spill in the laundry room, upsetting enough, but in cleaning up, she saw a potentially BIGGER problem — a bubble in a washer hose.
A failed washer hose with an average water pressure of 70 psi will spew out almost 11 gallons/ minute. If a hose failure is undetected for 1 hour, 650 gallons of water will flood in. If undetected for up to 6 hours, 3,500 gallons of water can enter your home.
Washer hose failures are ranked by insurance companies as a leading cause of home water damage with an estimated $200 million annually in losses. This only includes reported claims, not the heartbreak of losing irreplaceable items or the inconvenience of not being able to use part of a home while water is extracted, the home dried and the damage repaired. Homes with 2nd floor laundry rooms have a larger risk due to water cascading through the ceiling to lower floors and, in some cases, into the ceilings of finished basements.
Steps to prevent
washer hose failures . . .
- Do regularly inspect your washing machine hoses and buy high quality hoses.
- Make sure there's at least 4 inches clearance between the water connection and the back of the washing machine. This will help reduce the chances of the hoses kinking.
- Make sure the connections are secure and do not loosen over time with the motion of the washing machine.
- Turn off hoses when not in use and don't leave your washer running when you are asleep or away from home.
I read that a good rule is to replace rubber washing machine hoses every 5 years, but how do you remember?
Tag them with the date you installed them so you won't forget. Another
tip is replace washing machine hoses every leap year.
Do yourself (and your home) a favor and get new washing machine supply hoses. If you can connect a garden hose to a faucet,
you can replace your washing machine hoses.
What to do with the old ones ? — toss out.
10 comments:
Very good advice. I need to check mine. They were replaced when I got a new washer, but that was several years ago.
Great post on how much water can spew out, I did not know that info.
Hey, with the old ones you can make drip hoses for the garden. attach them both together, puncture a bunch of tiny holes in them, put a cap on the end so the water does not come out the end, then connect it to your garden hose then place in garden.
good idea to keep on top of these hoses.. ours is in the garage but i still would not want that much water spewing out..
That is excellent advice. We better be checking ours today! LOL
We were surprised to find that contractors will put cheap hoses on expensive washing machines. Fortunately our plumber noticed and we replaced them with good ones. We've always replaced the hoses every 4-5 years, just in case. And we keep the water turned off except when I'm using the machine.
Great info and advice here ! We had it happen a few years ago . Papa came to the rescue as he always does lol ! Hope all is working perfectly now for you and no more leaky hoses . Thanks for sharing . Have a good day !
Interesting! What a home owner has to all look out for.
Interesting! What a home owner has to all look out for.
It's so important to check the condition on those things!
Another "fun" malfunction when it comes to washing machines is when the water level gauge stops working and huge electric flashes comes out from the washing mashine before all fuses goes to h...
Happened to me and thankfully the water stayed in the bathroom and went down the drain because the water just kept on filling the machine :-)
Have a great day!
Christer.
Thank you for the advice. These tips could save a fortune.
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