Laundry Room

Yesterday, we got a plan in place regarding some of the work that needs to be done on the house. In order to stain the concrete floors, we need to have the appliances hauled away. In order to get the appliances hauled away in an efficient manner, we need to have some other appliances delivered. Since the laundry room is only going to be modified minimally, we decided to place the order for our washer and drier today, for delivery next week, at which time they will haul the old range and dishwasher away. We got a front-loading washer and dryer; they are supposed to use a lot less water than the top loaders, while producing cleaner laundry. (We are purchasing all of our appliances from Idler's, a local company with branches in SLO, Atascadero, and Paso Robles.)

There was a refrigerator that we really liked on the floor that had some minor nicks and dents in it, so we purchased that as well, to make sure that we would not lose out on it. It will have to reside in the garage until such a time as the kitchen and main floor are finished, but that is actually fine. (It will be a handy place to cache some cold beer and sandwiches, I guess...) We bought a Fisher & Paykel, which is a New Zealand manufacturer. The Kiwis must be a lot more minimal than most Americans regarding what they refrigerate, as it is a much smaller, more efficient unit than most of the big American models currently available. It has a water filter and ice maker, which usually are not features that we would be interested in, but if a water filter reduces the number of plastic bottles of water that we have to recycle, all the better.

Bottom line is this; I now have a deadline of next Saturday to whip the laundry room into shape. Since the room is below grade, there is an exposed concrete wall / foundation. It was painted, but with a paint that is not well suited to such a situation - it is bubbling off from condensation and moisture from the ground. I spent the afternoon scraping and brushing the old paint off the wall, then washing, prepping and painting. It looks a lot better! I cleaned the floor carefully as well, and wet-vacuumed it with the new shop vac.