It has been a long time coming but my washer and dryer are finally installed in my kitchen! After the flood last August when I lost my washer and dryer down the basement I decided I was not going to put my new ones down there and have them installed in the kitchen instead. With the insurance money I bought full sized LG washer and dryer to be stacked. After purchasing them in September, they were not delivered until the end of October. I called for a quote from the same company that put in my new furnace and I was quoted $2300 to have them installed. I got another quote and it was almost the same. I didn't have any insurance money left after purchasing the furnace and washer and dryer so it has taken me this long to save up and numerous hours of hand washing my clothes, and sometime bringing my laundry to relatives when I would go to visit. I am so sick of hand washing my clothes and my bedroom is full of laundry baskets with heavier items that need to be washed.

My friend told me to call his handyman to get a quote last fall but by the time I got around to it, he was away for the winter. I forgot all about this guy but I figured why call him when I didn't have the money. I worked the Election and didn't make nearly as much money as I usually make because our hours were capped so I didn't think I could afford to have the washer and dryer installed. I scrimped and saved a bit more and called the company who gave me the first quote of $2300 and that was without taxes included. I knew it would take every last penny I had but I needed my washer and dryer. haha I could live without buying groceries for awhile. The minute after I called to make the arrangements and accept the quote my friend messaged me on FB and said his friend was working on his boat who he originally wanted me to get a quote from. I told him I already contacted the company to install but he said just let Bill come over and give you a quote. Bill was here 10 minutes later and he gave me a quote for the plumbing, electricity, etc for $1400!!! I was shocked. I was a little wary at first because I wanted to make sure this guy had his licenses for plumbing and electricity and he did. He does everything including gas lines and he says he can fix anything and he can be called any time at night for emergencies if anything breaks down. This was too good to be true. He drew me some diagrams showing me what he was going to do. I called the other company back and told them I had a better quote that I couldn't refuse. I kind of felt bad cancelling because the other company is owned by a cousin but I could only do what I could afford.

In the meantime I have a plasterer, painter here as well fixing my ceilings from the bad storm 2 years ago that I have been delaying because of my sister who I had to care for and my living room was set up as a hospital room until she passed away then I had to clear out her apartment and her bins of stuff that I was keepin came back here and sat in my living room for months until I could get them moved into the attic. Then I was going away, then working so finally was able to get the painters in. I have a house that was built in the 1940's and my ceiling was textured. My Dad said they used a burlap bag to put the texture in the plaster. Well, the first set of guys the insurance company sent in wanted to dry wall my ceiling, remove the cove or use popcorn stucco stuff and I said no way, I wanted my plaster ceiling the way it was. The insurance company sent in another guy who said he couldn't match the texture but he could scrape it off and skim coat it and make it a flat ceiling. I decided to go with that. The cove and ceiling had a lot of water damage so this guy fixed the cracks and put about 5 skim coats on and the ceiling and cove look great. He is here today priming the walls to finally paint then will come and do the kitchen ceiling.

So yesterday the plumber guy shows up to do the washer and dryer. I thought it would take him a few days to get the work done but he started at 9 am and finished at 8 pm. I wasn't able to get into my kitchen all day. The plumber had a hard time with the drains and hooking up the water lines because my pipes are galvanized steel, one of the pipes broke so he had to go out and get copper piping to replace it. After he was done he took me down the basement to show what he had done and the galvanized pipes that he had taken out were clogged and corroded and just barely a small space for water to get through. I still have a lot of that piping and one day it will have to be replaced. At the end of the day I had a working washer and dryer installed in my kitchen. Bill ran a cycle on the washer while he went in and out of the house and everything seemed to be working okay. He left and I wasn't sure about using the washer until I read the manual but my brother stopped by and showed me how to use it. I did 2 loads of laundry and finished at 2:00 am. I was like a kid at Christmas! I went to pick up the laundry basket off the floor to take into the bedroom and go to bed and the bottom of the basket was all wet, there was water on the floor and lots of it! I mopped it up and put a towel down and went to bed. I got up this morning and water had almost reached the living room. I used towels to soak it all up and called Bill. I also told him my brother noticed a pipe down the basement that was replaced was leaking as well. Bill came right over and spent the next few hours fixing the mend on the pipe down the basement saying it was the galvanized pipe that was causing the problem and the washer leaked because the heat from the machine or water caused the connection to expand. He stayed here for a full wash cycle to make sure everything was fixed. I am so please with this guy and his work ethic and for the wonderful quote he gave me. I guess it pays to listen to your friends.

I am just so excited to be able to do laundry again. I always did like doing laundry. All those years I took care of my Mom, standing down the basement at 1 am to do her laundry and bedding was like therapy for me. My house is finally being put back in order again and it will be nice to be able to celebrate Christmas here again after 2 years of not being able to. It has been a rough couple of years. My next project is getting the sump pump and backwater valve put in to stop flooding. The City is providing coverage and I have been approved 100 percent but I still have to pay the plumber up front and once my sister's affairs have been settled I should get the money back I paid out for her cremation and that will cover that cost. I also just got my insurance renewal papers sent by registered mail and they took away my flood and sewage back up which I am not too happy about. I only have my furnace down the basement now so at least I won't lose too much if I do flood again.

Sorry this post was so long but I always did have wordy posts