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In a corner of our bathroom, we have a washing machine with a dryer stacked on top of it (see the image below). We bought this flat with both of these appliances already present. Now, we want to replace the dryer with a newer one. I'm perplexed about how to do it.

There is no room to move the dryer or gain any leverage. The dryer is surrounded by a wall (left), a washing machine (bottom), and closet walls (top, right). There are no ways to remove the surrounding closet walls. The situation seems even more complicated than what I've read about in other questions:

My current hunch is to call some kind of a professional service. I thought to jump on here to check whether I'm missing something.

What am I missing? What could be a way of tackling this challenge?

Dryer on top of washing machine Stacked

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  • Is there a better reason for replacing than just wanting a newer one. Usually that reason only empties your wallet instead of fixing a problem.
    – crip659
    Commented Oct 28, 2023 at 13:24
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    Is there enough room to fully slide the washer/dryer straight out or were they literally "built in"? Slide a tape measure over the top of the dryer and measure the depth, then make sure you've got enough clearance to fully move it forward at least that far.
    – FreeMan
    Commented Oct 28, 2023 at 13:29
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    Also, are you 100% certain that the cabinets to the right of the dryer are unmovable? There are no screws anywhere that you could access to disassemble the structure?
    – FreeMan
    Commented Oct 28, 2023 at 13:47
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    that dryer looks pretty new ... why are you replacing it?
    – jsotola
    Commented Oct 28, 2023 at 18:29
  • What's the problem? It looks like the dryer just slides in, and you have plenty of headroom there to lift slightly if needed. Your biggest problem with simply be the weight. If you have a couple of strong guys it should be pretty easy. Now, I can't say anything about the duct connection since I can't see it.
    – Huesmann
    Commented Oct 30, 2023 at 14:18

4 Answers 4

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Check if the washer is on wheels/trucks. Pull both out as a pair, then take the dryer off the top once you can reach it properly.

If it's not on trucks, get some for next time. Looks like you've got room at the top to add an inch.

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    If it's not on wheels, lift the front of the washer just enough to slide those "furniture movers" underneath. They're the hard plastic "bowls" designed to make it easy to slide heavy things on the floor. They're sold in 4-packs for ~$10 here in the US. Two under the front feet would make it easier to get the whole stack out. Once it's out, get the other two under the back feet for future use.
    – FreeMan
    Commented Oct 28, 2023 at 13:28
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There are a few possibilities. Remove the drawers or doors on the side and above it. If there is a shelf above, then remove it. I think they will be removable somehow. Look for screw caps/covers

  • Then look behind the units. It is likely that for safety, the top unit is either hung off a bracket or screwed to the back.
  • Or as mentioned in the other answer both of them may slide out. Do this carefully and have someone handy supporting the top unit.
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  • I've tried looking again to see whether anything is removable, but it doesn't seem to be. But sliding it out actually worked (with some help from WD-40).
    – Mindaugas Mozūras
    Commented Nov 5, 2023 at 10:27
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Looks like you've got a couple of inches/cm of headroom above the dryer and adjustable feet on the bottom.

  1. Cut a couple of 2x4 (or similar, cheap framing lumber available locally) to the height of the top of the washer.
  2. Set these up as legs against the "far wall" (where your back was in the first picture), and cut a brace to go across the top of the two legs to hold them in position.
  3. Lift the front of the dryer and unscrew the leveling feet as far as they'll go, lifting the front of the dryer as high as possible.
  4. Cut a couple of thinner pieces of wood (I'd use a 1x2") long enough to go from the legs in step one, span the gap to the dryer, then as far under the dryer as you can reasonably get them.
  5. Cut another couple of pieces of 2x4 long enough to go from the legs in step one to the front of the dryer. Attach these under the thin pieces from step 4.
  6. Using the pieces from steps 4 & 5, create a slight ramp to the legs from step 1 & attach them to the the legs with the 4" dimension vertical (using the maximum strength direction of the lumber)
  7. Now, you've got a ramped bridge, lower the feet of the dryer to allow the dryer to sit on the wood instead of on the washer below.
  8. Start wiggling the dry out, using the wood to support it, until it's clear.
    • With a couple of 2x4 as bracing, I would be willing to duck under the supporting lumber to get a better angle on lifting the dryer out. I'd probably also attach a couple of extra supports near the front of the washer.
    • Without being underneath it, it might be difficult to get it wiggled all the way out.
  9. Lift the dryer down from the wooden supports once it's clear of the cabinetry.

This sounded like a much better plan in my head than it did once typed out. It would also be a reasonable thing that I'd try since I've got a garage full of random bits of lumber (and the tools & fasteners necessary to build this contraption), but might be unreasonable if you had to go buy everything new.

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There are some good ideas in the other answers, which might also work. With the help of my inlaws, we ended up sliding/pulling out both the washer and drier together. We also used WD-40 to help. I was a bit worried that it would ruin the floor, but everything worked out fine.

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