Washing Machine super loud noise at the start

The spin cycle is normally the loudest part of the washing program. To compare the sound of your machine with others, you should consider whether it's designed to be extra quiet or not, and whether it has a high-speed spin cycle or not.

My washing machine has a 1200 RPM high speed spin cycle, but it's designed to be quiet so it's not very loud anyway. It also has the option to run the spin cycle at a slower speed, which makes it even more quiet.

You can buy rubber washers designed to be placed under the feet of the washing machine, which will reduce the vibrations in your rack.

Although the spin cycle is noisy, you should listen if there is a banging noise or if it's just loud. If there is a banging noise the clothes may be unevenly balanced (overload?), or there may be something wrong with the suspension so that it can't absorb the vibrations.

It sounds like your washer needs its main bearings replaced. My top load Sears Kenmore HE washer had the bearing seals fail and allowed water to get into the bearings. Over the course of a few months the washer, in high speed cycles, sounded like a freight train passing by in the next room. It was LOUD just like you are describing.

A sure fire test to check if it is the bearings is to rotate the washer tub / agitator by hand, when the washer is OFF, for a few turns. If the rotation has a grinding or roughness feeling then it is almost for sure the bearings.

I took on the repair myself and purchased the replacement parts on line for ~50$US. It also took a special tool to press in the new roller bearings. I found out that the bearings were industry standard size roller bearings (my washer used two bearings each of which was a different size) so I went to a site that sells a bit higher quality bearings with known names than the brandless import types used in the original washer. The special tool was a bit expensive at ~85$US but made the install very easy.

My suggestion is to get your washer model number and do some Google searches. When I did that I even found that the results turned up several U-Tube videos showing the steps in the bearing removal and installation.

After the new bearings were in place washer runs better than a new one. The thing is now so quiet I'm never sure just when the last load of laundry is completed.