I had to learn the hard way....This may save your home (and pets!)

[MoonandBean]

Read this:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2335869_prev...ndry-room.html

There are a number of safety switches you can have installed on your washer so that the water isn't running when the washer isn't in use. I HAVE ONE and didn't use it. Thank God Sunny, Moon and Bean are ok and that the house didn't burn down from the water hitting the electrical outlet.

Here's Sunny's take on what happened (taken from her dogster diary )

I will start out by saying that I am fine. BUT...it was a close call and mommy is still pretty shook up. She keeps hugging me and getting all teary eyed. Here's what happened:

Mommy forgot to turn the safety switch on the washing machine to the off position. I guess the safety switch prevents water from coming out the hose should the hose break. Mom never really understood the likelihood of a hose actually breaking. She always thought it was just a "one in a million" kind of precaution. Well...guess what? Hoses break quite often on washing machines. It seems that the water runs through the hose whether the machine is on or not and that constant pressure can cause the hoses to burst. When the safety is on, if the hose breaks, no water will come out. Mommy did laundry on Sunday. She forgot to turn the safety to the off position. The water ran through the hose from Sunday until Wednesday, at which point (mom doesn't know the time)..it burst. Mom came home at 4:30pm and saw water in the garage. Hmmm...she thought..."Did I leave the de-humidifier running and it overflowed?" No. She opened the door to my basement and heard ssssssssssssssssssssssssss (hissing, but not cat hissing, water spraying from a burst hose spraying). The whole room was steamy because the water was hitting the boiler. I was in my crate 5 feet away from the laundry room. I was anxious and hot. Mommy ran and shut off the water. Then she let me out of my crate and of course, I ran into the laundry room and through the 2 inches of water on the floor. Everything in that room was soaked. The water was even shooting right into a power outlet. Bean's bag of dry food was blown up like popcorn...BOL! My parents spent 4 hours cleaning up the mess. The laundry room is in an unfinished part of the basement so it was pretty easy cleanup with the wet vac. My crate is in the finished part and only a small part of the carpet got soaked. Mommy was SOOOOOOOOOO grateful that it wasn't worse. If the hose had come off completely, the water would have poured out instead of just spraying and the flooding would have been so much worse. I might have actually been standing in water in my crate Mommy says she can't even think about it. AND...Thank God no fire started. Again, mom can't think about it. She kept hugging me. She took the day off from work yesterday to make sure everything was ok and to spend the day with me. We went for 2 walks, I had a great spontaneous playdate with a little mutt who lives down the street from me (Gidget) and I got a package from my friend
Star so I got to play with some new toys. I really enjoyed mine and mommy's retreat day! Mommy promises promises promises to always check the safety before she leaves for the day (has to add that to her list of other things she already checks, iron, heat, stove, my collar's off, etc...). This morning mommy went off to work (a tad anxious) and came home to check on me after an hour. She needed to make sure the christmas tree was off and that I was ok and not anxious in my crate after my scary day. I was fine!

Love,
Sunny (less scarred than mommy)

[lvpets2002]

OMG I would have been like Horrified.. Oh I am so glad You & the Babies are all Ok & the house is still standing.. Yes I am sure a lesson well learned..

[jennielynn1970]

I had no idea there was a safety switch. I'll have to go find mine, and I guess find a manual, lol. I just got the washer and dryer last year, so I'm guessing the washer will have a safety switch??

[MoonandBean]

I'm not sure if they come standard with the newer washing machines or if you have to have it installed by a plumber. This is the exact one we have:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...%3Den%26sa%3DN

We had it installed when we finished the basement. Of course, I have to remember to flip it to off when I finish doing laundry.

[sasvermont]

I went directly to my washer and turned the valve to the off position.

I have that same false sense of security when it comes to things like this....

And to add to this: I had Sears come out to service my washer. Part of the service agreement is to do preventive maintenance. They removed the front of the washer, below (called the kick plate), and cleaned a screen.... and found coins, nails rusting, splinters, broken earings..... and then.... THEY WENT TO THE DRYER. I have always cleaned the lint trap and the vent. They dropped the front of the dryer (below, called the kick plate too) and it was filled with lint too! Who knew? They said it was just a matter of time until a fire started as the lint and dust was near the heating element. I have since read that if the lint trap is not in the front of the dryer, you should remove the back of the dryer to clean the guts of the dryer and if the lint trap is in the front, then the front of the dryer should come off. I assume they mean the kick plate on the front. Then you remove the lint trap to get behind it.

SO FOLKS, DON'T TAKE YOUR LAUNDRY FACILITY FOR GRANTED. BOTH PIECES OF EQUIPMENT, INCLUDING THE VENTS AND SHUT OFF VALVES AND HOSES, ALL NEED TO BE CHECKED AND MAINTAINED.

Thanks again for letting us know about this. I have always heard about the hoses failing, but never knew anyone to have it happen.... Now I do..... And I will always turn off the incoming water when not in use.... Thank you, thank you.

SAS and her pets

[MoonandBean]

Thank you too. Now, I'm off to clean the dryer

[Taz_Zoee]

I have never heard of the safety switch either. Our laundry area is in the garage, down two steps from the house. So flooding wouldn't affect the house. BUT having the things maintained and cleaned out to prevent a fire....now that's something I must look into. Although, we never leave the dryer running if we are not home. But still, I will look into anyway.

Thank you for the lesson, and I'm glad everyone is okay!

[Freedom]

Dear Sunny, for a young gal, you sure do lead an interesting life! I am so glad that you are fine and that Moon and Bean are ok too. Mom, now, she must have a afew extra gray hairs in there somewhere.

I will be sure to investigate about this switch.

I know we bought a brush and cleaned all the dryer vent about 4 years back. Not sure if the front of the dryer was taken off or not (Dad was already into the job when I arrived to help) Great stuff, thanks to all.

[krazyaboutkatz]

How scary. I'm glad that everyone is fine and that the mess was easy to clean up. I live in a condo and we have 4 large buildings in the complex. Each building has it's own laundry room so I don't have to worry about washer and dryer maintenance. Hopefully the company does it though. The dryers have the lint traps in front and I always make sure to clean them out after I've used them. Many people don't even bother.

[cyber-sibes]

Whew, how scarey! Glad you are all okay! I'd never heard of hoses coming off before, but I will check mine now. We have friends that lost their whole house when a fire started in the dryer - fortunately they were out, so no one got injured. I'd very careful to keep the lint vent clean, I even clean the outside vent where the air blows out of the house. You'd be amazed how much lint builds up in there! Guess I better go clean the bottom part, too. Good tips, thanks everyone.