Good for you, except for scarcity of the replacement pump. Did you check eBay for new or used pumps? The Fisher & Paykel toploader that I bought in 1999 carried on for 22 years until it went dead a few months ago, apparently due to a water leak of some ilk that zapped the controller board. My nephew had been using it for several years after it had passed through two other family members after myself, with one repair in 2011 (pump replacement). They live 2-1/4 hrs away and have a new baby so it wasn't a viable scenario for me to investigate it. They bought a used LG, a couple years old from someone who was moving and couldn't take it along. Anyway, appliance longevity statistics are a moving target. A machine that went for 10 years until a failure today was bought 10 years ago so is not as much relevant to expectations for one bought new next week.

Looks pretty good. Weigh it! Subtract a pound for the basket. As I said before Staber takes 18 pounds of varied clothes with one gallon of triangular air space dry, 2 gallons without socks which are puffy so no the clothes are not jammed in. With that much clothes I find I need 4 ounces powder, or 2 liquid stead of one. I wait till the splashing drum is a bit muffled, this indicates suds. Powder must be melted first, at least with my junky detergent. I add it manuelly. Gotta get some Tide Cold, it was thee best in a recent CR shootout. Did some reading about FP this afternoon....."Fisher and Paykel was tops in energy efficiency of all the top loaders," (CR) I'm sure Smart Fill helped with that. Staber does 5 dollars a year gas. Staber also has "Auto Fill Sensing" however, and adds water depending on the size of the load, I see no use for this frivoulous feature however. Uh-oh....here comes Dross again... In case Angela is still wondering....According to CR "Do'nt overstuff the washer.... clothing needs enough room to move so it can be properly cleaned and rinsed, especially in a top loader. You can fill the tub of a front loader, but do'nt jam the clothes in." In addition to the 18 pound capacity, the Staber works really well for puffy items, pillows, comforters, and such. I can wash 3 full size bed pillows and a lite twin size comforter all at the same time. They are rendered clean and odorless, pillows are always puffier afterward. The machine spins out fine in that mode, and does so on MAX spin speed as the machine washes these items without my having to set it on delicate, so the wash is more aggressive also. Really wrings em dry. That's what I mean by EVEREST of gentle. CR 2005 observation "New survey data show that Fisher and Paykel has been among the most repair prone top-loaders" CR observes recently that stainless steel can stand up to higher spin speeds but "has no edge over plastic". Unfortunately, in my reasoning sneeky engineers can breathe on plastic formulas in the lab in such a way as to feed mold if they elect to as can be done with paints (which contain tasty vegetable oil for mold to feed on). Plastic just scares me. It can absorb odors also depending on the plastic. Especially after 5-10 years. Stainless steel is beyond just odor-neutral, it is an air freshener. Not only that, when an inner tub is stainless both sides of it are stainless, thus protected/ deoderized, plastic parts are often hollow and what if both sides are not glossed? Hollow parts increase surface/odor area as there are 2 sides to them. The finished glossy plastic is free of pores and stain resistant and in the same way, porcelain tubs are often finished on only one side. By pores I mean either literal or regarding retention as in odors. All this plastic jiberish is really just my own opinions/theorizing. But we have tupperware that definitly suffers from these problems, and even feel greasy and smells after hot wash or maybe because of it as these tuperwares soften with heat. On the Staber all 4 surfaces front and back of the inner and outer tubs are, well stainless, and have a natural permanent air freshening quality. One things for sure, the Staber always smells crispy fresh. Both tubs are thick as a butter knife, 18 gauge, and the frame base is stainless also on the 2404 model I went with. The outer tub can also be accesed and cleaned by hoemowner. Long story short a friend down the street has a speed queen porcelain top loader and while it does'nt smell horrible it sure does not smell crispy fresh like the S----r does.

millmacc, I wonder if it is your water supply. I know where I live in TX there is so much limestone and the water is extremely hard. Even with a water softener there is more buildup than I would like. I have kicked around installing a whole home water filtration system. We have a filter on the refrigerator and I notice the difference in taste in water from it versus other faucets. We do have a water osmosis system but I have never really delved into why they installed it since it seems to be only at the refrigerator and kitchen sink.

The wall is a good size at 30" long x 41" high. You can mock it up with cardboard before building it to make sure you like the proportions. You asked about the colors of the flooring and the top. I am a fan of lighter floors. It will make the room feel larger. My preference is also a light countertop with a white cabinet, but a black countertop would work too.