Adventures in Home Ownership

So, PJ and I are home alone without kids this week (they’re all on vacations with their other parent). What do we do? Homework…both kinds…PJ’s in class and there are always chores to be done.

On Monday night we were in the utility room discussing ways to rearrange / clean up the space. I noticed what appeared to be dirty water spots on the dryer and mentioned it to PJ. Nothing was leaking, no water spots on the ceiling, etc. I devised a way to test if the water spots were new or old and then threw a load into the dryer.

On Tuesday evening, I was down in the laundry room and while re-fluffing the laundry (that I had put in on Monday night and forgot), I noticed my test showed fresh water spots.

I called PJ (my knight in shining armor). He came to investigate. We ruled out the master bath (shower and commode are not in the right place) and the dishwasher. Then PJ saw the water dripping. It was from the humidity that happens when the dryer is running. For some reason it was leaking down the outside of the dryer vent-hose-thingy.

It was before dinner and we needed to eat, so we ate, and I went to run an errand. When I came back, I found that PJ had dismantled the dryer, hoses and ducts. It was a sight for sure! He showed me what had started our lint collection / humidity problem and it was the COFFEE CAN that was used as a connector. Um..yeah, can we say jerry-rigged??? Anyway, I pulled on some gloves and helped clean out lint (soaking wet) from the inside of the dryer and the bent connector and then I dragged the shop-vac all around the utility room trying to suck up as much lint and dust as I could while PJ pushed the 8ft duct pipe out the exhaust hole in the house. I should have taken pictures of this whole thing, but I was too busy vacuuming (really, there was a lot of lint!).

Tonight, we’re going to one of the local big box hardware stores to get the necessary duct pieces so PJ can put everything back together. Ah yes, this is why we love home ownership…we should be footloose and fancy free this week, but instead, we’re doing homework. *sigh* At least it’s not the dryer and we don’t have to buy a replacement yet! I'll try to remember to take pics tonight!