Flooring – Should we reinforce our laundry floor to prevent our washer from walking

flooringlaundrysubfloorwashing-machine

We have an LG front loading washer that vibrates violently and walks when it goes into the spin cycle. Our house is wood framed, built in 1991, and our laundry room floor is vinyl.

We've had multiple service calls and while the inner drum was replaced, the last call verified there was nothing wrong with the washer itself. I've confirmed it's level and we've also tried turning on LG's SPINSENSE mode (recommended for use on wood floors or flooring with less support) and rubber feet – neither of which remedied the issue. We're basically down to low spin speed for everything and even still there is walking.

We're now at the point where we're exploring different options to reinforce the laundry room floor:

  1. Re-adhere the sub-floor from above with additional screws then replacing vinyl with ceramic tile
  2. Reinforce the floor from below with 4×6 beams going perpendicular to the main support joists

Before going any further with hiring a contractor, we were wondering if either (or both) of these options would resolve our issues. We've heard similar stories of front loaders walking in cement basements, so not sure if a stronger foundation is the solution, or if we should just go with a top loader.

Thoughts?

Best Answer

this is a common problem and is most easily remedied by one of two approaches (and this is entirely assuming the unit is in good working order and the harmonic balancer is in good shape and balance)

1) restrain the unit - just mount angle iron or wood or whatever around the base to keep it from moving. just ensure that you have a thick foam pad or strip around the base where the appliance "rubs" the restraint frame. this will absorb some of the vibration and damp the transferred vibrational energy.

2) replace the leveling feet with urethane elastomer vibration dampers (sorbothane or some such product - these are not just rubber feet). they simply thread into the holes where the leveling feet were (just buy the right thread or some adapter to make it work). they come in many different heights, styles, etc. and though expensive, are far cheaper than reinforcing the floor or any such approach. see here for details:

http://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-vibration-damping-mounts/=12buqho

fyi - i have done this for many customers machines and have even used a set on the washer we owned before our current unit - it fixed the problem essentially instantaneously