Not looking for advice. Just a DIY badassity (but not really that badass) thing I wanted to share.
We have a front loading washing machine that started leaking, and found out there was a tear (actually 4 total, but the others were in places that didn't cause leaks) in the rubber boot seal, right at the bottom. This is the diaphragm that connects the rotating drum to the door opening. I bought an OEM replacement online for $100 (off-brand would have been $70) and then started looking up YouTube videos about how to install it.
Videos from more professional/official sources all tell you to remove the top and front panels of the washer before getting to the seal, which means I'd have had to lift off the stacked dryer in my cramped space for access. I definitely didn't want to do that and assumed there must have been an easier way because it didn't make sense at the time I bought the replacement that I'd have to disassemble the whole machine.
After looking around more, I found videos made by repair guys who get the entire job done in 5 minutes without disassembling anything unrelated to the seal. It just requires working in cramped confines of the door opening. There are only two bands that wrap around the rubber boot, one at the opening and one at the drum. They come off very easily, but take a little more time to get back on properly. I found having a third hand to help get the last band back on was necessary. Overall, took me 20-30 minutes for the entire job, plus 45 minutes watching videos.
