We plan to rent this house to tenants for the summer season each year. On the old house I learned the hard way that one-week vacations mean that nearly every week I get a new set of thoroughly unfamiliar people operating the appliances. The two possibilities that keep me awake at night are leaks and fires.
Sure, I have left instructions for tenants. I even printed "welcome and here's some things to remember..." binders for both units in the old duplex. But I really can't expect people to begin their vacation by reading a washing machine manual.
You may have noticed in the photos that many of the outside decks are covered with cast fiberglass. I learned that the fiberglass installers that do this also put in floor pans for the washers and dryers. This may be a more common practice than I know. Is this is just another Jersey Shore oddity? Comments here please!
The pan is designed to contain leaks that can occur when one of the water supply hoses fails or the machine itself springs a leak. Since this can happen when no one is around to shut off the water, the pan has a drain that takes the flow down and away from the house for as long as necessary. This is definitely not rocket science. All it needs is gravity to work, which I find more reassuring than the various electronic shut-off devices. Still, I'd like to hear from anyone with experience with those.
As shown in the photo, the pan is large enough to hold both the washer & dryer and includes the dryer exhaust vent duct to the outside. This "is the way it's always done" according to everyone I ask, but I can figure no advantage to putting the dryer in the pan. In fact, if it was a 240v electric dryer, I could see some real risks.
The dryer vent deserves its own story (soon).
I will still be a little uncomfortable with this set-up until I can install a water sensor connected to the network. I plan to eventually have this and the other sensors report regularly via the Web* and also alert me via email when things go awry.
*now that will be TRULY boring!