There’s not a whole lot you really need to know about your washer and dry hookups. However, since all of our 55+ communities can accommodate a wash machine and a dryer, lets talk about some of the nuances related to them.

This might be more helpful to someone who has yet to move in, but if you’re already living in one of our senior communities, you might like to know some of the options available to you in that laundry room.

What do I need to know about my washer and dryer hookups?

You have options

When you take a tour through one of our models, you’ll likely notice that we don’t showcase any actual laundry machines. There are so many styles, that we don’t even want to hassle with trying to sell you one.

But what you might notice even more so, is the fact that as a standard, we supply hookups for an electric washer and dryer, not gas.

There are however many people who prefer to use gas instead of electricity. This is quite all right. We do offer the option of adding a gas line to this area of your home. If you haven’t bought yet, this is a great time to decide if you want gas or electric.

Naturally, if you order a gas line before we sheetrock, the cost will be less. However, even if the walls are all sheetrocked and painted, you can usually still add a gas line after the fact.

Hooking everything up

We do not hook these appliances up for you, however we can offer some advice. If you are bringing an appliance from an old home, there can be some differences in the types of electrical hookups.

Many older homes, used a three prong plug for the 220 volt outlet. There may also be some other configurations out there, but the standard plug is currently a 4-prong outlet. It wouldn’t hurt to take a picture of our outlets and compare them with the outlets from the house you just came from.

If they don’t match, then you will need to do one of two things: Either you must buy a new pigtail (the cord coming off of your dryer) that matches the current type of outlets; or you need to find an adapter, if they make them, that can convert your old plug into something that will work for the newer outlets.

A word of caution, and I only say this because it has happened, don’t pull on the levers or valves for your water until after you have hooked up your wash machine. You will spray yourself with water and flood your house.

Lastly, is the drain hose. In most of our homes, the water hookups are next to the drain. Sometimes the drain cap gets taken off before you move in, sometimes it is still on.

This drain cap has frustrated a great many people. Here is how to avoid getting frustrated by it: When you try to take it off, turn it clockwise to pull it off. You’ve always heard “righty-tighty, lefty-loosy,” well, not in this case. You may need a pair of pliers to grip it if it’s super tight.

That’s all for your washer and dryer hookups. It’s all pretty basic, but there are those couple of quirks that some of you might run into. If you’re buying all new appliances, then you shouldn’t have a problem, especially if you have the delivery guy installing them for you.