Washing Machine Installation

A washing machine needs four things in place:

• A cold water feed: A supply pipe ending in a washing machine valve, a small lever valve with a threaded hose connection. Most UK machines are cold fill only and heat their own water.
• A waste connection: Either a standpipe with its own trap, or a spigot on the sink waste.
• A socket the plug can reach without an extension lead, ideally in an adjacent cupboard.
• A firm, level floor with space for the machine, the hoses and the door to open.

1. 1

   Remove the transit bolts: these lock the drum for delivery, and a machine run with them fitted can be damaged. Keep them for moving house.

2. 2

   Connect the inlet hose to the cold washing machine valve, tightened as the manufacturer advises, with the rubber washer in place.

3. 3

   Connect the waste hose: hooked into the standpipe with the U-shaped guide supplied, or pushed onto the sink waste spigot and secured with a clip. The hose must not be pushed too far down the standpipe, or it can siphon the machine empty during the wash.

4. 4

   Level the machine: adjust the feet until it is level both ways and does not rock, then push it back without kinking or trapping the hoses.

5. 5

   Test: turn on the valve, check every joint, then run a rinse and spin while watching the waste.

The waste is where most problems start:

• Standpipe: A vertical pipe, typically 40 mm, with a trap at the bottom, set at the height the machine manufacturer specifies. Too low and the machine can siphon; too short or narrow and it can overflow when the pump runs.
• Sink waste spigot: Convenient, but the sink and machine share one trap. A non-return valve or anti-siphon fitting stops dirty water flowing back into the machine, and the waste hose should loop up to the height the instructions give before dropping to the spigot.
• Shared wastes: If the sink fills with grey water when the machine drains, the waste needs upgrading or there is a partial blockage further down, which our drain unblocking and cleaning service clears.

Moving the washing machine to a utility room, under the stairs, a garage or the other side of the kitchen means running a new cold supply and a new waste. The supply is teed off the nearest cold pipe through our pipework installation and repair service, with a new washing machine valve. The waste needs a steady fall to a drain or soil stack. Where it cannot reach, a new connection outside may be needed through our drain installation and replacement service.

Pipes in an unheated garage need frost protection, and a machine on an upper or timber floor benefits from a drip tray and a firm base. If a new socket is needed, it is installed and certified through one of the routes the building regulations allow, through our domestic electrical installation service. Converting a garage into a utility space is part of our garage conversion service.

• Integrated washing machines: Fitted inside a kitchen unit, with the matching door hung on the hinges supplied with the machine. The plinth may need trimming for the door to clear.
• Stacking with a tumble dryer: A dryer can only be stacked on a washing machine of a compatible size, using the stacking kit the manufacturer recommends, so it cannot slide off during a spin. A vented dryer needs a vent to the outside. A condenser or heat pump dryer can often drain into the same waste as the washing machine instead of using its water tank.

Often, yes. If a working valve and waste are already in place, many people swap a machine like for like themselves, following the manufacturer's instructions. You need a plumber when there is no supply or waste, the old valve is seized or dripping, the waste overflows or smells, or the machine is moving. A leak that has gone unnoticed under the floor is traced through our leak detection and pipe repairs service.