# How hard is it to install a second washer and dryer?



## Nellie (Oct 18, 2006)

For the DIYers here, on a scale of 1-10, 1 being an easy 20-minute job and 10 being "I shoulda hired this out", how hard is it to install an *additional* washer and dryer in a laundry room with plenty of wall space and pipes available?

I would need to add in valves and drainline, exhaust pipe, electrical outlets for both appliances, and possibly a new breaker for the dryer.

The existing room is 17' 3" long, with a laundry sink at one corner, immediately next to it is the existing washer, then the existing dryer, with 7' 9" to the hot water heater in the other corner, all along one wall.


----------



## Oggie (May 29, 2003)

4.358

Edited to add: I'm going to increase that to 6.437 for an average homeowner because the existing wiring for a dryer doesn't help much. The new dryer requires its own dedicated breaker and outlet, so it's like a totally-new install wiring wise.

The drainage is the other potential complication. Two washers draining at the same time is a whole lot of water. The existing drain pipe might not be able to handle it. You wouldn't have to worry about that if the washers never ran in synch. But, any code is going to call for the drainage to handle the full flow potential.

As long as you have access to the pipes, the water supply side shouldn't bee too complicated.

The dryer vent is pretty much just a hole in the wall.


----------



## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

I'd have an electrician come do the wiring, since the dryer is 220 v. and that's nothing to play with. He'd make sure the breakers can handle the load, too. The plumbing shouldn't be too hard, nor putting in the exhaust. Give it a shot, and if it gets to be too much, call someone. That's how I do most of the home repairs around here, and I'm sometimes surprised at how much I can do!


----------



## Sawmill Jim (Dec 5, 2008)

Mom_of_Four said:


> I'd have an electrician come do the wiring, since the dryer is 220 v. and that's nothing to play with. He'd make sure the breakers can handle the load, too. The plumbing shouldn't be too hard, nor putting in the exhaust. Give it a shot, and if it gets to be too much, call someone. That's how I do most of the home repairs around here, and I'm sometimes surprised at how much I can do!


Every happy Homesteader needs to learn simple wiring They make hoses with wyee on them for a warsher . Dryer most take 30 a dp and if you use the four wire plug you would use 10-3 wg wire . :hobbyhors

Me on a scale of 1 to 10 i'd say -1


----------



## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

See, that's why you call an electrician. It's a whole different language that many of us don't speak.


----------



## Jakk (Aug 14, 2008)

My brother is a plumber and my ex DH knows electricity and wiring. They hooked up a second washer and dryer for me in a day. With four kids it was the BEST THING EVER!


----------



## Nellie (Oct 18, 2006)

Sawmill Jim said:


> Every happy Homesteader needs to learn simple wiring They make hoses with wyee on them for a warsher . Dryer most take 30 a dp and if you use the four wire plug you would use 10-3 wg wire . :hobbyhors
> 
> Me on a scale of 1 to 10 i'd say -1


Is this English? :teehee: Can somebody translate it into Housewife?  Seriously, in knitting and crocheting, we have Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced patterns. Are you saying this is a Beginner job? For someone who has never done plumbing and only wired telephones jacks 27 years ago?


----------



## Nellie (Oct 18, 2006)

Jakk said:


> My brother is a plumber and my ex DH knows electricity and wiring. They hooked up a second washer and dryer for me in a day. With four kids it was the BEST THING EVER!


Well YEAH!... and I have 8 kids still at home...... :banana:


----------



## mrpink (Jun 29, 2008)

Nellie said:


> Is this English? :teehee: Can somebody translate it into Housewife?  Seriously, in knitting and crocheting, we have Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced patterns. Are you saying this is a Beginner job? For someone who has never done plumbing and only wired telephones jacks 27 years ago?


his "30 a dp" should read 30 Amp. his "10-3 wg" should read 10-3 awg.
if you still have trouble hire out the electrical work.
the rest of it I would say would be a 4 to 6 depending if you wanted the professional look (water supply and drain hook-up in the wall) as oggie said the vent is just a hole


----------



## Nellie (Oct 18, 2006)

I can use a T with the duct work so both dryers vent through the same hole, it runs under the house. And yes, we would need a second drain pipe, although both washers are front loaders and don't use nearly the water. 

This sounds to me that for a total newbie it would be very difficult, but someone who knows electrical and plumbing, just at a DIY level, it would be easy. 

Oggie, you crack me up, you know that, right? 6.437. What part is the .437???


----------



## DanielY (Aug 25, 2011)

The washer would not be difficult for someone that has done some DIY successfully before. Just gotta keep asking questions till you get all the parts put together. The dryer is another story. You must have a dryer on it's own 30 amp circuit. Nothing else can be on that circuit. Otherwise just hook it up so it looks like the other one.


----------



## Oggie (May 29, 2003)

Nellie said:


> What part is the .437???


Well, the .037 part is those color-coded wire twisty nut thingies. I can never seem to read the chart on the box right and end up trying to twist on the wrong size.

Of course, if you have a straight-run new wire installation with no additional junction boxes or complications, you might not need them.

The unforseen complications account for at least the .4 part.


----------



## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

> The unforseen complications


Like when *cats* come in the hole you cut for the dryer vent?


----------



## Nellie (Oct 18, 2006)

You mean like this, Oggie?


----------



## Oggie (May 29, 2003)

And now, we know the real reason for the second dryer.

I'm going to raise my estimate to 14.938 on a scale of 1 to 10.


----------



## Guest (Sep 23, 2011)

Nellie,

For a non-do-it-yourselfer it's too difficult. If you have some experience it's not that hard. Do you have a knowledgable friend who could help for a sixpack and a pizza? 

The dryer will need it's own vent pipe all the way out. If you hooked the two together the exaust from one dryer will come back in the other dryer. 

That the dryer circuit is thirty amp at 220 volts means that the dryer needs twice the voltage than normal lights and outlets circuits and more amperage (power or amount of electricity) than normal circuits which are usually 15 or 20 amps. You will have to check the breaker box to be sure there are two empty spaces for breakers right next to each other because the new dryer requires a double 30 amp breaker which will take up two spaces. The wire needs to be 10 guage to be big enough to handle 30 amps without heating up and starting a fire. The guage is the diameter of the wire. The smaller the number, the bigger the wire. Therefore 10 guage is bigger than 12 guage and 12 guage is bigger than 14 guage. Usually, you would use 12 guage on 20 amp circuits and 14 guage on 15 amp circuits. You need to run a white neutral wire, a green or bare ground wire, and 2 hot wires (black and red usually but any color except white or green will work), . Check the wiring of the existing dryer. This is how the new one should be wired.


----------



## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

What size is the main electrical entrance? A lot of older houses only have a 100 or 150 amp entrance. Even with individual circuits, two driers running at the same time WITH other normal household loads ... especially a stove and electric hot water heater (which would kick in due to the water usage)... could not only trip the main breaker, but stress the connections at the meter box. Even if a house is wired copper, it often can have aluminum coming in at the meter.

When you start a big project, you really need to examine ALL possible problems. Scale of 1 to 10 on this? Physical work and connections 3. Knowing what will happen 7. Knowing how many cats fit in a drier... only Oggie has that much knowledge.


----------



## Sawmill Jim (Dec 5, 2008)

Nimrod not maybe correct Older dryers were hooked up using 10-2 wg not 10-3 wg 

Harry you are right if main box is 100 amp you could be in trouble one house i had if the dryer and stove was on you better turn everything else off :awh:

You can use duplex breakers 

30 amp double pole means it is two 30 amp breakers penned together side by side 10-3wg Most times is a sheathed cable one brand name is (Romex )it is four #10 wires usually solid wire (AWG =Amearican Wire Gauge ) Some cable has a red black white and a bare . In this case Red and Black go to breaker white to neutral bar and bare on ground bar . If using a for wire plug the dark copper colored screws will be the red and black whit will go on the silver and bare will go on the green . One dryer will most time pull 17.5 true amps after start up the water heater about the same .

I do have a amp meter . My girl use to be my helper i sold all this stuff at one time and her and i installed it of a night . She is in Ok now i miss her . Sorry WG means with ground


----------



## sewsilly (May 16, 2004)

I didnt' need a second dryer, since I hang everything on the line and seldom use the ONE dryer, but the second washer was/is/forever shall be a blessing! 

Whatever you have to do to get it, you'll be glad!

dawn


----------



## Guest (Sep 23, 2011)

Sawmill,

You are correct that older dryers don't need the white neutral wire because they have no items that use 110 volt. The new dryer I hooked up a few weeks ago has a light inside and I think the timer uses 110 volt also. Anyway, it needs a 3 wire plus a ground wire. The plug on the dryer may tell you that you need a neuteral wire if there are 3, equal size, prongs on it.


----------



## Sawmill Jim (Dec 5, 2008)

Nimrod said:


> Sawmill,
> 
> You are correct that older dryers don't need the white neutral wire because they have no items that use 110 volt. The new dryer I hooked up a few weeks ago has a light inside and I think the timer uses 110 volt also. Anyway, it needs a 3 wire plus a ground wire. The plug on the dryer may tell you that you need a neuteral wire if there are 3, equal size, prongs on it.


Awh it is the new code all four wire on new construction even some of the old ones really needed 4 wires the 110v items run off the bare working as a neutral whitch in effect left the case of the machine un grounded and could get a tingle now and then :run:

Now should you ever need 3 phase i can walk you threw a great converter that is home built provided your house is on it's own transformer or not according to what you want to run .:teehee:


----------

