How do I reinforce my Bouncy Laundry Room Floor?

Question

The Maytag Man has guaranteed me that if I reinforce the floor under my laundry room my front load washer won't "walk" around the room anymore. The machine is made to--I don't know--- dispense it's energy through the bottom he says which has been causing my floor to vibrate excessively which is making the machine move and sound like a hurricane in my home. I am pretty handy, but am at a loss on how to even start this "simple" project. PLEASE HELP ME!!!!! the machine has actually ripped a hole into the new vinyl flooring. I am at my wits end. I have a crawl space.

Answer 1

A few things you can do is put some cross pieces of 2 x 6's between the studs under your laundry room, also get some cement blocks and put them under the floor to help reinforce it.

The other option is to rip up the floor completely and replace all the material. It is possible that the wood might be warped or worn in.

Answer 2

Washer "walking" is more than likely caused by an unbalanced or unlevel machine or the height adjustment feet are too high more than a bouncy floor---I would double check the level of the washer---front to back and side to side and run it through a couple full cycles with and without a clothes load....front-load washer's have a very high spin rate to extract the most water and need to be balanced and leveled very well. The tensioners on the drum may need to be adjusted also. And make sure the height adjustment feet are screwed in all the way tight to the bottom of the washer before adjusting them. If the floor is excessively weak or not supported properly, you could try to bolt or nail extra joists along side the original ones under the laundry area---floor joists should be at least 10-12 inches tall and if yours are not or if you have the newer truss-type joist, they could be too weak for the weight and vibration of the newer front-load washer's. Adding additional joist's alongside the original's and maybe adding some posts under the floor area or the washer will definitely stiffen it up. A local contractor or Home Depot commercial dept. should be able to give you some idea's on how to go about stiffening the floor if necessary.

Answer 3

2 different things you can do...Ask the "Maytag" man for a lag bolt kit...you basically screw the unit into the floor using dbl threaded self tapping lag bolts...#2 is to put a 3/4" sheet of plywood under your unit. This will stiffen the floor, I worked for the Herrin Illinois Maytag laundry plant for 20 yrs, They were purchased by Whirlpool (2006) and they closed the plant throwing over 1700 employees out of work sending jobs to Mexico (*Cheap labor"). I recommend buying a G.E. unit in the future.