Ainslie’s Law: If it is mechanical, it will eventually break.
After decades of being a homeowner, I have learned that everything will eventually break. Roofs will leak. Hot water tanks will burst. Fridges will stop cooling. Cars won’t start. Plastic cracks apart and metal rusts through.
When I bought my house last year I knew my appliances were 20 years old an that I would need to replace them over time. Since they had lasted 20 years, I figured I’d get a few years of life from them before they broke down one by one.
Wrong.
My clothes washer started to leak first. Then, I was waiting for a replacement part to arrive from Amazon, my dishwasher stopped working.
On top of this, I started smelling gas in the kitchen.
Shit.
The dishwasher was beyond repair. It took two weeks and nearly $1000 to purchase and install a new dishwasher. I ended up needing to call in a plumber because my shutoff valves were all frozen shut and started leaking when I tried to close them (of course).
My clothes washer leak was repaired with an $80 part and some help from my neighborhood appliance guy. He said the tub is bent and the next time I have a problem, to buy a new washer.
My gas stove had a leaking valves and two leaking burners. Replacement parts would cost over $400. I bought a new stove instead of repairing the old one.
I am convinced that my built-in microwave is next to go. My dryer and refrigerator will undoubtedly follow.
Then last week, one of the burners on my new stove shorted out. Whirlpool is covering it under warranty. So far after two visits by a tech, I still don’t have the right replacement burner. But my fingers are crossed that he’ll bring the right part next time.
A week earlier, when I was moving a rug to vacuum, it was soaking wet. After some investigation, I determined that my dishwasher hose had leaked underneath my flooring and had soaked through the boards. Apparently my plumber neglected to use thread tape on the connection hose, the fitting was cross threaded or it came loose somehow.
If you’re a new homeowner (or an old one), count on things breaking. it’s going to happen.
I have learned some valuable lessons with this latest round of appliance headaches:
- If I cannot repair an out-of-warranty appliance by googling to diagnose the problem, order the parts and repair it, there is no reason to call an appliance repair guy. His cost for parts is very close to mine. Parts + labor will often exceed the cost of a new appliance.
- Lowes, Home Depot and Best Buy carry the same appliances, usually for the exact same price. There’s no point in wasting time comparison shopping or looking for deals beyond a quick internet search.
- Whirlpool owns a dozen brands including Whirlpool, Maytag, Hotpoint and Amana. The prices and some features are different, but the main components are identical according to my research.
- GE appliances was sold to a Chinese company Haier. Everyone I spoke to said to avoid them.
- Frigidaire was bought by Electrolux. My appliance guy said never to buy Frigidaire (too late for me since I had already bought a Frigidaire dishwasher).
- Everyone says to avoid Samsung and LG because repairmen cannot get parts for these.
- My Home Depot dishwasher experience sucked. The installers wouldn’t do the install because I had an L shaped counter. They wouldn’t remove my old dishwasher because I had “ raised floors” (laminate). I will never shop at Home Depot (for anything) again because of the abysmal experience I had trying to get my dishwasher installed.
- That said, I will do all of my own installations or hire a professional like a plumber or electrician going forward. Like Home Depot, Lowes subcontracts to the cheapest agents who will only do the simplest plug-in installations. This subcontracting of installations and service contracts to the lowest bidder has resulted in some of the crappiest service I’ve ever experienced.
Supposedly this “keeps prices low”.
My experience tells me it keeps the big box stores costs low, while delivering the absolute minimum in terms of customer service.
So when your appliances break, like me, you should be ready for T.U.F.