My neighbor's front-load washer was leaking water from the front of the machine every time it ran. He called me to ask if I knew any good repair companies in the area. I wanted to look at it first: turned out there was a little half-circle notch ripped out of the giant circular rubber gasket around the mouth of the washer.
Looking online, the cost of a new gasket was around $100-150 for OEM. So probably almost 300 for a repair person to replace. He also said he wouldn't mind replacing THE WHOLE WASHER, that "it was time". I literally denied the request as if I had a say. We watched some youtube videos and found one guy who fixed the same exact problem with some roofing polyurethane in a caulk tube and some wax paper. It basically fills the gap with a similarly rubbery material. Total cost: $5
My neighbor was so reticent to try it, even seeming a little cranky while we did the job. But it worked, and he's been doing laundry for a few weeks now with no leaks, and let me tell you, he is pumped. He said he feels like Macgyver.
So a $5 fix for someone who without me may have spent over 500 on whole new appliance and dropped the old one in a landfill in full working order. Any I possibly made a new frugal convert. Gotta say, it felt good :)
