Prepping Appliances: Washer, Dryer and Refrigerator

Appliances are the part of a move that punishes procrastination. A washer that wasn't drained leaks inside the truck. A fridge moved warm arrives smelling like something died in it. None of the fixes take long, but they all have to happen a day or more before the crew pulls up to the house.

The other thing about appliances is that some of the work isn't yours to do at all. Water lines you can handle with a wrench and a towel. Gas sits in a different category with different rules, and knowing which is which saves a pointless argument on a Tuesday morning in your own kitchen.

Start the appliance list a week out

Write down every appliance that's leaving, including the ones you forget about. The basement chest freezer, the mini fridge in the finished attic, the second washer somebody installed in the garage of a split level. Then read the sale contract, because the range and the dishwasher often convey with the house while the washer and dryer don't.

Measure the doorways on both ends before anything gets unhooked. A standard refrigerator runs around thirty-six inches wide with the doors on, and plenty of older colonial kitchens in Montclair or Cranford have a thirty-inch doorway into the hall. Doors come off the fridge in that situation, and that takes tools and time.

Who disconnects what

Appliance prep falls to you in most cases, so ask early what the crew will and won't touch. Booking a licensed moving company doesn't automatically mean somebody shows up to cap a gas line, and that's a separate trade with its own paperwork. Confirm the split in writing when you get the estimate.

Electric hookups and water lines are homeowner territory. Gas is not. In New Jersey, disconnecting and capping a gas dryer line is a licensed plumber's job, and doing it yourself puts you on the wrong side of the code and probably your insurance. Book that visit before you book the truck.

The washer needs a day, not ten minutes

Shut the hot and cold valves behind the machine first. If they're the old multi-turn type and haven't moved since the house was built, expect a drip and expect to need a wrench rather than fingers. Have a bucket and two towels on the floor before you start. Something always comes out of a hose.

Run a short spin cycle with the drum empty once the valves are closed, which clears the pump and the internal hoses. Then disconnect the fill hoses, drain them into the bucket, and pull the drain hose out of the standpipe. Tape the hoses inside the drum along with the power cord so nothing goes missing.

Transit bolts on a front loader

Front-load washers ship with shipping bolts that run through the back panel and lock the drum to the frame. Without them the drum swings on its suspension and can damage itself over a rough stretch of Route 1. They came in the carton, and most people threw them out the same week the machine went in.

If you can't find yours, the model plate inside the door gives the number you need, and a replacement set comes from an appliance parts supplier. Ordering takes a few days, so check for the bolts two weeks ahead. Top loaders don't need them, though taping the lid shut is still worth doing.

Dryers, electric and gas

An electric dryer unplugs and that's most of the job done. The cord ends in a heavy three or four prong plug on a dedicated circuit, and you want to look at the outlet in the new house well before moving day. A place wired in 1968 may have a three-prong receptacle for a four-prong cord.

The vent hose comes off the back and does not travel attached. Pull it, then vacuum out the lint that's been living behind the machine for years. Take the hose only if it's in decent shape. Flexible foil duct is the kind most inspectors dislike anyway, so replacing it at the new house is a small job.

The refrigerator and the day before

Empty it, then defrost it, and give that a full twenty-four hours. A freezer with frost buildup turns into a puddle inside a truck, and the water finds the cardboard underneath it. Prop the doors open overnight with a towel in the bottom, and wipe it dry in the morning rather than trusting that it drained itself.

Unplug it at least a day ahead, then coil the cord and tape it to the back. Shut the water line to the ice maker at the valve behind the unit and disconnect the supply tube over a pan. Ice makers hold water you won't see until the fridge tips onto a ramp and it runs out.

Upright on the truck, then let it stand

A refrigerator travels upright. Laid on its back or its side, compressor oil migrates into the cooling lines, and that's the sort of damage that shows up a week later as a unit that runs but never gets cold. If it absolutely has to go down a narrow staircase on its side, keep that stretch short.

At the new house, plug it in and then wait. Common guidance is to let it stand as long as it spent tilted, and at least a few hours after any move, so the oil settles back where it belongs. Load the food once it's been cold for a while, not the moment the truck pulls away.