Request for advice re Son's plumbing problems

[beech1948]

Hi,

My son lives 240 miles away in Manchester. He's 30, knows nowt about anything but called me last night at 10.30 to say he heard the sounds of running water from his washing machine even though it was turned off. He identified a damp patch close by.

This afternoon he is in a tizz and very irritated. He is worried that he must take apart his kitchen to get at this washing machine. The w/m is about 150mm above the floor and is fitted to the kitchen. The kitchen is in great shape and looks good for its 20+yrs of age.

My problem is how to convince him to start to disassemble parts of the kitchen starting with the toe board -which is held by two screws and probably something behind the board.

Can anyone advise what is likely to be behind the board. My thoughts were probably adjustable feet and clips with an adhesive front but could be just floor to worktop chipboard.

Now being told water is under lino and kitchen cabinets. Water turned off and drained. 24hr Plumber unavailable..the wonders of todays communications.

thanks in advance
Al

 

[spinks]

The toe board will probably just pull off, being held on by a clip that snaps over the leg of the unit....like a large pipe clip

 

[Lons]

Easy to convince him. Just tell him to remove the screws and get the thing off pronto or he might be looking at worse (expensive) damage. The plinth itself will be chipboard and if not dried out will swell and be ruined. - Time he learned.
Once off he can at least mop up the excess water.

I also have a 30 year old btw so I've been there. He managed to get a major leak from a radiator whilst decorating

Bob

 

[beech1948]

Well he made some progress and the toe board is gone...he broke it off.

Now the w/m is held up in place by two boards of 5"x2.5" chipboard under the machine running from front to back and at either side. The w/m is jammed into this space by these such that there is no way to get a canvas belt over the top, both sides are about a 2mm gap and the bottom boards are 1.5mm below the lino.

So no space to get a grip except the open w/m door but he can't apply enough force to get it to move...tried tyhe open the door an heave on it approach....ideas anyone.

Al

 

[paulm]

Large screws into the sides or front of the chipboard packers and try and pull them out from under the machine using rope or straps on the screws ? The vinyl flooring is a nuisance though and may get in the way, but it may just be stuck down around the edges and could be rolled back a bit if he is lucky ?

Sounds like a real pain of a job !

Cheers, Paul

 

[Lons]

Hi Al

Tell him to look very carefully around the edges of the machine to make sure there are no fixings. It isn't all that common but the machine might well be screwed in and the offending screws will be quite small and insignificant.
Or... Is there anything stopping the machine feet sliding forward?
Just a thought as I have fitted a lot of kitchens and very unusual that the machine won't move by pulling on the door. they would have had a hell of a job putting it in. Does he have the instructions which will probably explain the fitting procedure?

Bob

 

[JakeS]

Can anyone advise what is likely to be behind the board.

Is it bad that my first thought was "well, probably water"?






As to the removal of the washing machine, one wonders how they got it in there in the first place! What else comprises the housing for this thing? Could it be possible to, for example, remove whatever is over the top of the washer? Other than that, I'd probably see if I could get hold of one of those lever wheels and whether there was anything on the underside of the machine solid enough to lift it up by inserting the lever wheel down the centre between the two chipboard blocks, if I'm correctly understanding how this is assembled.

Also I expect you've probably done this already, but I'd advise your son to turn the stopcock off as soon as he hears leaking water next time! Odds are he'll probably need to replace the washing machine anyway, I've yet to see a repair on an old washer last more than a month.

 

[Deejay]

AfternoonAl

Lons said Or... Is there anything stopping the machine feet sliding forward?

Has it been wedged up against the underside of the worktop by raising the adjustable feet?

Just a thought.

Cheers

Dave

 

[No skills]

Sounds like those supporting bits of chipboard need to be destroyed, never seen or heard of a w/machine installed like that before but I've never had dealings with a 'built in' machine.

I'm sure at 30 years of age your son knows plenty, just nothing important :wink:

 

[beech1948]

Before my son gets too badly thought of he is quite bright but like most 30 yr olds has had no exposure to real stuff like fixing the washing machine or even man handling one.

I blame the parents....OOHHHH!!!

Moving on.

Washing machine is now extracted. Only took 52 hrs, 87 phone calls from all over the UK and my son "just bloody doing it"

Turns out that whoever the idiot was who installed the kitchen must have been a few mm too short to fit the cabinets as normal and built the kitchen around the appliances so there were no gaps at either side, the w/m top was badly dinged in and was very firmly against the worktop undersurface.

The boy simply chiseled the supporting wood blocks under it out somewhat and let it slump down an inch. It seems the two cabinets at either side so tightly gripping the w/m that it would barely move and there were piles of softwood wedges, chipboard packing all holding it inplace .

Brute force and ignorance pulled it out.

Problem was a perished seal on the hot fill pipe. Told him to replace both hot and cold, test before replacement etc etc.and he should use appliance rollers as well.

Now the only problem is how to get the bloody thing back in. I've got two hydraulic rams he could use.

Al

Thanks for your interest

 

[Graham Orm]

I'm in Manchester and fit kitchens for a living. Happy to help if required. Sorry I'm a bit late to the party.

 

[Lons]

PTFE spray or vaseline might help to ease the machine back in Al. Sounds like the original job was a real botch up.

Like Graham, I also fit a lot of kitchens and it's unthinkable to fit a machine so tighlty that it can't be removed for servicing. Had an engineer called out he would almost certainly have refused the repair but still charged for the call out.

Your son is no different from the majority of todays 30 year olds btw so don't be hard on him - bet he's a wizz with technology though :lol:

Bob

 

[No skills]

If I live long enough I hope to teach Noskills 2.8 as much as possible - the safe money is on her not being the slightest bit interested

 

[RogerS]

....
Your son is no different from the majority of todays 30 year olds btw so don't be hard on him - bet he's a wizz with technology though :lol:

Bob

Very true...I tried to find the article I recently read that said something like only 1 in 5 30 year olds have even the basic tools ..or something like that...and rely on parents to do their DIY for them.

I did come across this weird website while searching....all about DIY Dentistry ! http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-destritry/

EDIT: Found the reference http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2013/ma ... on-parents

 

[beech1948]

Grayorme,

If you pm your contact details I will pass onto son with a strong hint.

Lons

Thanks for PTFE idea.

No Skills

My daughter is 33 and can use most tools, repair a chair and mend an old car..the boys though huh!

Al

 

[Graham Orm]

Grayorme,

If you pm your contact details I will pass onto son with a strong hint.

Lons

Thanks for PTFE idea.

No Skills

My daughter is 33 and can use most tools, repair a chair and mend an old car..the boys though huh!

Al

PM'd