Another joy to house ownership

Something is always breaking or about to, this time the washing machine decided not to finish the laundry. In the old days you would turn the dial to drain, have the water pump out, then start over. New machines are computerized, so where they are and where they think they are can be different. It's about unplugging and rebooting. The use of a boat siphon pump took the water out of the machine. Having the water not drain lead to the possibility that the line between the house and the septic system may be frozen. A little digging, some new insulation (original was all rotted), 

a new heater cable 

and a lot of tracked in mud found the line was clear but now all the warming systems were new. Watching the machine as it worked through the various modes of washing laundry determined that the cold fill water would run for about 10 seconds then the valve would close allowing water to drip instead of flow. Switching the machine to hot water allowed the entire system to run correctly. I came up with the idea to take the back of the machine apart, swap the hot and cold water valves and buy a new valve. 

Doug suggested it would be easier and cheaper just to swap the incoming lines. 

So the machine is now set to run hot water, the hot water valve is working fine, but the feed line is cold water. All is well and it involved no disassembly or replacement parts. Sometimes you over look easy for complicated when you actually need working instead of replaced. 
If money weren't so tight, I would have gone the other way.

The second floor - South room

So, the new shelving has all been removed and the floor is underway.

The underlayment has been placed and the doors removed from the entrance and the closets which will need to be trimmed for clearance so they will work after the new floor is in place. 

The south room is done for underlayment and once I get the blade to cut the laminate. (very fine tooth), that will be installed.

A friend came over to help out and will be there when the new floor goes down. Pete just laid laminate in the house he is restoring so he decided to help out.

The Pergo Gold goes down fast and easy, and although the stuff is better to kneel on than the wood floor, by the end of install my knees were still unhappy with me.

That's Pete making sure he isn't in the photo.

Ready for laminate