macavity, you're welcome! It's easy to find a tac shop in your area, just Google. I found one within less than 7 miles of my house. Most will carry the stall mats for cridders. Save the leftovers, as you never know when you might need a piece of good rubber! If it is possible for you, you can also wedge a piece or two of rubber between your washer and whatever it's next to near the top of the washer for even more vibration protection of off balanced loads. I was able to do that on the right side of my washer as it is near a cabinet. There's too much space between my w/d to do it on the left side of the washer. Even on the one side it helps for less vibration if my load isn't perfectly balanced. I got that idea from seeing some guy use those swimming noodles wedged between his w/d and wall. Here's the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y91onCb7nSc&NR=1 Also, don't know if your w/d will go side by side but if so I would have the entire area reinforced and lay one big piece underneath both units. My house is 30+ years and there's a raised platform with a drain for just the washer, so I could not do that without ripping the tile platform out to make it level. As for finishing off the bare plywood reinforcement, we just left the plywood without tiling/etc, and cut the mat to completely cover the area, and had quarter-round placed to finish the edges. The mat was cut so that it comes right up to the quarter-round, completely covering the plywood. We can see the mat and although it's by no means a design statement, ... the look doesn't bother us. I guess you could say it has that "industrial" look. :) Keep in mind that if you cut the rubber so it doesn't show at all to be hidden underneath the units, it might be difficult to place the washer and dryer (especially the heavy washer) perfectly on the mat so that the feet are not falling off the edge of the rubber. Those washers are heavy! Our installers had a difficult enough time getting the washer placed,...I don't see how they could have placed it on a piece of rubber that was cut even to the exact size of the washer, let alone a slightly smaller piece that wouldn't show. I hope I'm making sense here....:) Good luck to you!

I don't know enough about current offerings from all the current manufacturers to say that one is better than another in a second floor application. Your appliance dealer may make his recommendation based on only one attribute, like noise level during operation. A washer has many attributes that you may value differently than your appliance dealer. Consider doing research about potential candidates on line comparing some of the following: Noise pressure during operation Wash ability Capacity Cycle speed Cycle options Efficiency water and heat requirements Appearance Durability Ease of use Overall size All the brands seem to have fans on this blog site, and GardenWeb seems to have some very sophisticated bloggers, appliance services by trade or just really good consumers who want to provide feedback on their ownership experience. You will see good and bad reviews for all machines, and be sure to check a few web sites for a good overall picture of customer satisfaction. Best of luck in your laundry purchase decision.

WeÂd like to move our washer and dryer up to the second floor master closet. The closet is behind the bathroom, and we are getting ready to remodel the bathroom. So IÂd like to take this opportunity (when the bathroom is all torn up) to also install the washer and dryer. Can anyone point me toward some step by step instructions on how to tie in the plumbing for the washer into the bathroom shower drain line? The one tricky part is that my wife would like the washer and dryer to be on a closet wall that is opposite the wall that adjoins the bathroomÂso I would have to run the washing machine drain plumbing across the closet floor in the joists to get into the bathroom drain.

Wooden board ist fine. People in Europe stack different washers and dryers all the time without issues. Here's a video of a friend of mine - dozens of working washer/dryers stacks without even a stacking kit. Alex Here is a link that might be useful: Appliance collection