Replies

1. 
   PatMcG | Sep 09, 2004 01:59pm | #1

   If it's one of the newer, front load washers check the manual. Some of them advise installation on masonry floors only. (Think basement or pad.)

   Installing the washer on a plumbed plastic drain pan, along with a single lever control for the 2 water valves is cheap insurance. The pans are advertised in FHB, I think.

   A top load washer in good repair shouldn't vibrate much unless the load becomes unbalanced. How about those rubber and cork pads that HVAC guys put air handlers on?

2. 
   SEBDESN | Sep 09, 2004 04:59pm | #2

   I have a stacked front loader in my kitchen, in a closet. It is in the middle of the house but right over an 8" wall in the basement. I did not put a floor drain, but did put hardiebacker thinseted down to the double 3/4" subfloor, and put a 12" porcelain floor tile pan with sides and a small curb in front of it.The thing is amazingly stable when it spins. Those things spin real fast! It took a couple tries to get the level correct, the key is to get equal pressure on all 4 feet. If one is not tight even though its level it will try to launch itself. The venting is the real PITA however...There are several threads on that around.Good luck.

3. 
   Piffin | Sep 09, 2004 06:22pm | #3

   Adding mass is the best solution I know of.

   Add the fact that any washer on the second floor will eventually overflow or leak ( just ask Mr Murphy - this is probably the kind of event that inspired Murphy's Law) and you have a perfect opportumnity now to pour a flood pan with drain to seat theese appliances on up there.

   The mass of the crete will absorb much of the vibration and spread more of ther residfual over that entire floor space instawed of on only a couple joists.

    

    

   Welcome to the
   Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
    where ...
   Excellence is its own reward!

4. 
   BillBrennen | Sep 10, 2004 02:58am | #4

   ripvw,

   If you want to stop the washer's vibration from transferring to the floor system, you have a few options as to general strategy. First is to obtain a quiet, low-vibration washer, which is known as source control. Second is to place it over a rigid, heavy surface, such as the concrete pan mentioned by another respondent already. This is known as mass-damping, but it is only effective with a lot of mass, hundreds of pounds worth. Another strategy is decoupling.

   An easy way to decouple the washer from the floor is to place a 32" square of 2" thick low density upholstery foam and 3/4" plywood over that, glued to the subfloor, no fasteners. When the machine jiggles, the foam adjusts and the shock is not transmitted to the floor system. This can be used in conjunction with mass damping for a better system, but the decoupling is the main component of the system. Washers already have a lot of mass.

   The effect is like that of a spring suspension on a car, except in your situation the bumpy road is on top (the washer vibration) and the passengers are below (the resonant floor system you don't want excited by the washer's antics.

   I have used this method with great success to isolate vibration sources including a large rotary phase converter. It is easy and it works. If you also do the drain, which I recommend doing, be sure not to short-circuit the isolation pad with the drainpipe. A flexible hose will solve that, provided it is at least 4"-8" long between rigid drain pipes at either end.

   Bill

1. 
   RIPVW | Sep 11, 2004 02:49am | #5

   thanks, all give one or both ideas a try,  but what do you mean by low density foam?

   camping pad type...cheapest type - not high density??  RIGHT???

1. 
   BillBrennen | Sep 11, 2004 03:01am | #6

   Sorry not to quantify the density. The black foam squares on new glass units are what I consider high density flexible foam, and the stuff used in a typical sofa is low to medium density. Foam meant to be slept upon is in the right range for your application.

   Bill

1. 
   Piffin | Sep 11, 2004 03:04am | #7

   Seems to me that something that soft would compress to nothing while the vibrations eat it up to shorten its lifespan. Wouldn't something like an ensolite padding be better? We did use that for under a device or two in one house 

    

   Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

1. 
   BillBrennen | Sep 11, 2004 03:20am | #8

   Hi Piffin,

   The soft foam seems puny until you laminate the 3/4" ply on top of it. I don't know about time to degrade. All I know is that the one under the 3 phaser has lasted 4-5 years under up to 22 hours a day usage. You'd have to have a lotta laundry to use your washer that much. Top labs use alternating layers of thick, soft foam and thick, dead aluminum slabs to mount their precision optical equipment. The mass squeezes the foam almost to nothing, and they do 5 layers of each material, alternating them.

   Ensolite might work, but I suspect it would transmit audible frequencies. You want a layer that will not resonate above 20 Hz in a home setting.

   Bill

2. 
   Piffin | Sep 11, 2004 03:45am | #9

   actually, one of those applications was under a base woofer on an upper floor as a built in for home theater surrond sound. it dfampened the sound acceptably on the lower level. Suggestion came from the audio guy.

   The other application was where we hung a heat exchanger from a floor system in a crawl space. The motor creatd a mild hum that translated to an annoying thrummmmmmMmmmmmMmmmmmin the floor above, which was a library room needing some quite. The ensolite pad did the trick here too.

   Ensolite is easy to get and will not absorb water either. 

    

   Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

3. 
   BillBrennen | Sep 11, 2004 09:23am | #10

   Piffin,

   Thanks, that is good to know about. There are probably many viable solutions out there, utilizing the same physics. Most of us only ever see or use a few of them. That is why I love this forum.

   Bill

5. 
   ClaysWorld | Sep 11, 2004 09:55pm | #11

   A little cheap insurance for the water end of it is to spring for wire wrapped burst proof hoses.

    If I was the insurance industry I wouldn't offer a home owner a policy if they couldn't  show proof of use. I guarantee you and I pay for the non use of them.