Every time I cleaned the floor in the laundry room, I hated that the floor was worn out in front of the washer and dryer. I am not sure why I hated it so much, maybe I knew I needed to replace it, and I recognized it would not be a fun DIY project. To replace the flooring, it would be required that I remove both the washer, dryer and laundry tub. I do not like to move the dryer. It is not that it is heavy, no, it is that damn dryer vent. Every time I move the dryer, I struggle to get the vent properly installed. When they built the house, they gave little consideration to venting out the dryer. You literally have a clearance of less than a quarter of an inch from the dryer to the back door. If the builder just added, maybe, six inches to the width of the laundry room, I would not be writing about this predicament.
You cannot use the traditional 4-inch vent hose. I needed the depth in the back but still had the ability to swing open the back door. I had to purchase a special vent so I could push the dryer closer to the back wall. I also have a small space to work with to install the vent to the outside opening. The last time I moved the dryer was when we bought a new washer. The old washer was 27 inches wide, and the new one was 28 inches. A critical inch that I needed to find. That required shifting the dryer one-half inch and jamming the laundry tub tighter against the side wall.
Regrettably, I must replace the flooring. We have a house with many floors. We have 9 different floors. Yes, nine different floors. 5 different wood floors. 3 different vinyl floors. And carpeted bedrooms. Efiwym, my wife, and I wanted to eliminate at least one different floor. The laundry room already had a different vinyl floor. However, we replaced the powder room floor with faux wood grain vinyl flooring. We agreed we wanted that same vinyl flooring in the laundry room. We bought that flooring from the big box home improvement store where you can get an 11 percent rebate. It was time to go shopping.
Unfortunately, after visits to two stores and searches on the Internet, the flooring could not be found. This flooring was exclusive to this home improvement store, and they have several stores nearby. I opted to make finding this flooring my own personal project.
I took an unusual day off that did not coincide with Efiwym’s time-off schedule. I was on my own and I was determined to find that flooring. I started by going to a store 40 minutes away from home. I did not call ahead of time and just when to the store. Something was guiding me that day because, there it was: the faux wood grain vinyl flooring. I heaved it on my shoulder and before I left, I needed some adhesive and a new trowel. An associate helped me pick the right adhesive and trowel. I headed home enjoying my achievement. So proud. I would share my success with Efiwym when she got home.
When she got home, I showed her my prize and she inquired, “Why did you go to that store?” She asked then, “Weren’t there any stores closer?” I was stunned. I just found our “Holy Grail of vinyl flooring, and she seemed worried about gas and my time. Nonetheless, I had a project to do.