How To Hide Your Ugly Washer Hookup – An Easy DIY
A simple and creative way way to that ugly box cut out in the wall where your washing machine hook-ups are located. This easy diy will still give you easy access to your hoses when you need it.
This is my laundry room mid-renovation. Notice anything glaringly ugly? Well, aside from the fact that the whole space is looking pretty blah at this point.
When we were remodeling our laundry room and trying our best to make it a pretty space, there was one glaring thing that literally drove me crazy – and that was the ugly box cut into the wall where the washing machine’s hoses and drain are connected.
If my machines were located in a laundry closet, I probably wouldn’t have done anything to hide the ugliness. But, my machines happen to be located in a very open room and no matter how great the rest of the room looked – that hole is where my eye went every single time I stepped into the space.
Laundry room plumbing is kind of like an electrical cord. It’s a very necessary thing, but it isn’t pretty to look at.
If you have a washing machine in your home, you probably have a hole in your wall like this one too. Not only is it where the water lines to the washing machine are connected – it is often times also where the drain pipe runs to.
This simple diy project will hide the washer hookups as well as still giving your drain pipe access to the washing maching hookup box.
There was no way I was going to go to all the trouble of prettying-up my whole laundry area without figuring out a way to hide that ugly hole in the wall. Here’s what it looks like today.
This project isn’t rocket science. It’s just an easy solution to solve an very ugly eyesore. Let me tell you what I did:
STEP 1:
Measure the size of your opening – height and width.
Then gather these supplies:
- 1 – 1″ x 4″ Board – The board should be at least as long as the total of the height of both sides of the box plus the width of the box.
- 1 – Single board that is wide enough and tall enough to act as the cover for the front of the box.
- 2 – Small blocks of wood to brace the corners
- 2 – L brackets and screws
- 2 – Hinges with screws
- Wood glue
- Wood screws
- 4 Clamps
- Spray paint color of your choice (not shown)
STEP 2:
Considering the measurements of your opening, make the following cuts:
Cut 2 – 1×4 boards that will be the finished height (sides) of the frame
Cut 1 – 1×4 board that will be the width of the frame plus the thickness of the two sideboards. This board will be the top of the frame and needs to be long enough to go all the way across the opening plus the top edge of both of the side boards.
Cut 2 – Small square blocks of wood for stabilizing the corners.
Cut 1 – Board that will serve as the cover of the box so that it will completely cover the assembled frame.
STEP 3:
Assemble the frame. If you examine the picture below, you can see how all of the parts of the frame are put together. I glued all of the places where the wood is joined and then added some wood screws for reinforcement.
The two small stabilizer blocks of wood are a little difficult to see in this photo, but if you look closely, you can see them under the clamps.
The board at the bottom of the frame (in between the side pieces), farthest away from the clamps, isn’t attached – it’s just there to temporarily hold the legs apart until the glue dries.
STEP 4:
Once all of the glue has dried, remove the clamps. Attach the board that is the cover to the top side of the frame using the hinges.
STEP 5:
Spray paint the inside and outside of the completed box and allow it to completely dry.
STEP 6:
Once the paint is dry, it’s time to mount the box. I forgot to take a photo of this step, but you should be able to easily understand what to do.
Attach the L brackets to the wall, above the open box for the washing machine hookups. If the location of the of the hook-ups doesn’t allow you to mount them in studs, you’ll want to use wall anchors.
The box hangs by sitting it on top of the brackets and lifting the front cover to attach the it to the L brackets. You might need someone to help you hold the box in place while you attach it.
Voila! No more ugly washing machine hose connection hole in the wall, but the faucets are still easily accessible.
SIDE NOTE: As you can see, the box for my washer hoses is located to the side of my machine, instead of behind it. So, in my case, I have to actually pull my washing machine forward to be able to open the box from the front.
FAQs
I’d have to do something different there. Having the washer connections recessed into the wall is intended to conserve space. The box sticking out from the wall defeats the purpose of having them recessed in the wall. If you have extra space in your laundry room that’s just going to waste anyway, then this solution appears to work just fine. In my house, where space is a premium, a thin, flat piece of laminate, acrylic, or sheet metal screwed into the wall and painted to match the wall color would be the way to go.
WOW!
Hiding a washer hose?
Seems so minor. It’s a laundry room!!
Keep it clean an tidy. Do you entertain in the laundry room?
I don’t entertain in there, but I sure do spend a lot of time in there, so there’s no reason it can’t be pretty! The location of mine was a real eyesore since and looked like a black hole in the wall.
Great idea but, I would have painted it the same as the wall color.
Excellent!
I really like your bright laundry room. I have an ugly wire shelf over the machines. Cabinets would be such an improvement.
Clever idea, to conceal it even more, paint it the color of your wall.
That’s a great suggestion. Thank you!