Farewell sweet laundromat

March 8, 2010

This date represents the finale to my greatest nightmare: the laundromat. As of today, I have a washer and a dryer in the house. My two shiny warriors, who have waited ever so patiently in the basement since Black Friday, are at this very moment, happily humming away three weeks worth of grime. I feel serene.

I am grateful. What would we have done these past four months without Launderland and the ever so modest Elmwood Laundry? These being my mats of choice. I would hit up Launderland if I was feeling grouchy, it's closest to home and I could fool myself into thinking I could get it done quickly. It's proximity to Bakesale Betty is an alluring plus, although the line is usually longer than a wash. Elmwood was chosen if time was less of an issue—stopping by Nabolom Bakery in hopes of catching the jug band, or simply strolling down College Ave. to pretend I was having a leisurely Sunday.

Which couldn't be further from the truth. I was in hell. Absolute turmoil. Every single time. Ask Mike. I'd turn into a frown and a grumble all day until it was over, precious hours lost. I despise the laundromat, and there is little that I'll miss.

Except of course, the excuse to purchase a guilt-free Big Gulp at the adjoining 7-11.

One Step Forward...

Last week was supposed to be momentous, and it was all about laundry.

The washer and dryer were upstairs in the kitchen. As such, this pair of appliances took up valuable space, not to mention, destroyed the floor below with water damage. Silly really because the house has a full basement just begging to be put to work. So we hatched a plan to move it all downstairs. There's already a dedicated space next to the water heater (an outdated behemoth we've also decided to upgrade) with plumbing and a drain. Genius!

We lined up a plumber to install our new hookups and replace the tank with a tankless. Before he can work, our responsibility was to get some electrical in the space. The tankless needs it's own breaker and the washer/dryer do to. We found a great electrician on Angie's List, an adorable husband and wife power duo. They came, they installed, we're so close!

Next I wanted to paint Drylock on the foundation wall behind where the washer/dryer and newly refinished sink (it's all done and being ever so patient) will be positioned then seal the concrete floor with a high gloss that we ultimately plan to put everywhere. Once this was done and the plumber was done, we'd be up and running. One section of our house would be COMPLETE and I would never set foot in a nasty Berkeley laundromat again.

Sigh...

After the electric super hero team left, Mike and I were doing our usual stand-around-the-basement-think-out-loud contemplating our big plans for the space. And my eyes started focusing on the framing atop the foundation. There was an awful lot of plaster built up where once upon a time, some patching had certainly occurred. You see, this space is directly below the main bathroom (I have BIG plans for a laundry chute!) which means water water everywhere. We already knew that bathroom floor needed repair but had never considered there might be damage along the exterior wall behind the stucco. I took a step toward that plaster and with my bare hand gave it a little tug.

And there you have it, a huge piece came off and what's back there? Oh you know, my best friend, Dry Rot. The next day we headed to the Oakland Tool Library (best invention ever) got ourselves a crow bar and other goodies and made our way down for more demo. It didn't take 15 minutes to remove all that rotten plaster and unearth the rotten 2x4s and the rotten wood board behind that. It looks like this:

Bummer! The plumbing is on hold until we can repair this. At this moment, I could get on a soap box about inspectors but I won't. The house is old, was neglected, and we knew that. But no more surprises okay? Shake on it.

PS - I thought I'd leave you with a shot of said water heater. Sexy right? Nice "earthquake bracing." Is that a flexible gas line I see? Is that up to code? That's right, it's not!