DIY: Washer Dryer Riser

She Says:

As I've mentioned before, one of the things on my laundry wish list was a custom riser for our washer and dryer.  We looked at buying the factory risers, but they were soooo expensive, and just didn't seem to be that useful.  After some web surfing inspiration, we decided to design our own.

The first step was actually the most fun... shopping!  I found three of these laundry baskets (one for lights, one for darks, and one for reds) at Target, and we designed the openings around them.

He Says:

Washers and dryers are heavy.  I chose a 1" thick hardwood ply for the project.  It's a big box with internal dividers, not too difficult.  Like all the cabinetry we're doing in the house, it's a ply box then faced with a poplar face frame.  The face frame is assembled with pocket screws and glue while clamped in a simple 90 jig clamp, then finish-nailed to the front of the cabinet box.

She Says:

I filled in the nail holes and other imperfections with wood filler, then sanded the whole piece with 120 grit paper and my beloved Mouse Sander.

Then I took a tack cloth over the whole piece, and brought out the paint!

Here's one point where HoneyDo and I disagree.  I love to work with oil based paint.  For anybody who doesn't know the difference, oil base is more forgiving on the application side (it goes on smoother and dries more slowly, so you have more than one chance to lay down the perfect brush stroke), and it takes everyday wear and tear much better than latex- no chipping.  It's a must for cabinetry, and really any wood furniture that anyone will be living around.  HoneyDo, however, despises it because it takes so long to dry- 24-48 hours to be able to touch it, and I like to give it a good week before i really test it out (say, placing a washer and dryer on top of it).  If you couldn't already tell, HoneyDo is, well, a Do-er, and he always ends up in the wet paint I am patiently watching dry.

Anyhoo, over the course of a couple of days, I gave the riser two coats of paint.

We used our trim color, Spice Delight from Olympic, but again, since I can't get oil based paint from Lowe's and Sherwin-Williams is often more helpful anyway, I got them to color match it.

We then had the obligatory fight over whether or not the paint was actually dry, and finally put the riser in place.  I will let him tell you about getting the front end washer and dryer up on the riser...

He Says:

It was freaking hard.  I think I pulled at least 3 or 4 somethings in my back.

She Says:

And here she is!

Very useful: brings the washer and dryer up to waist height, so I don't have to bend over or kneel down to transfer loads (renos are hard on the knees, so every little bit helps!) and I've got a great place to hide dirty laundry (or clean if I just don't feel like folding it, which is *always*).