Washing machine shaking and moving: what to check first

Are the transport bolts actually out

Every new washing machine ships with three or four transport bolts that clamp the drum rigid for the journey. If even one is left in, the drum cannot float freely on its springs, and the whole cabinet judders and walks as soon as it spins up. This is the single most common cause of a new machine that shakes badly, and it is entirely down to installation, not the appliance.

Look at the back panel. You should see either bolts sitting flush with round holes around them, or plastic caps that have been pushed into those holes after the bolts were removed. If you see a bolt head still sitting proud, with a gap behind it, it has not been taken out. Unscrew it with a spanner, pull out the plastic spacer tube that sits behind it, and keep the caps that came in the bag to plug the holes afterwards.

If you bought the machine second-hand or moved house with it, do not assume a previous installer did this properly. It costs nothing to check, and it is the first thing worth ruling out before touching anything else.

Are all four feet resting on the floor evenly

Even with the bolts out, a machine that rocks on three feet instead of four will shake. Push down on each corner of the top in turn. A corner that gives more than the others, or a machine that rocks diagonally, means one foot is not carrying its share of the weight.

Most feet on modern machines screw in and out and lock with a nut against the base. Loosen the lock nut, turn the foot until it just touches the floor with firm contact, then tighten the nut back against the cabinet so the foot cannot creep. Do all four, then check the machine sits flat with a spirit level on top, both side to side and front to back.

Do this with the machine empty and the drum still, since a full drum shifts the weight and can hide an uneven foot. It takes a few minutes and no special tools, and it solves a surprising number of shaking complaints on its own.

• Check for rocking on each of the four corners
• Loosen the lock nut before adjusting a foot
• Screw the foot down until it makes firm, even contact
• Tighten the lock nut back against the machine base
• Recheck with a spirit level, both directions

Is the floor itself rigid enough underneath it

If the bolts are out and all four feet sit flat but the machine still shakes hard on spin, the floor underneath may be the real problem. Timber floors in older wooden houses in Kalamaja or Nõmme can flex slightly between joists, and a washing machine's spin cycle finds that flex and amplifies it into a visible wobble.

In panel flats the floor itself is usually solid concrete, but bathroom tiles laid on an uneven screed, or a raised timber platform built to hide pipework, can behave the same way. A quick test is to stand where the machine sits and rock your own weight side to side. If you can feel the floor give underfoot, the machine will feel it too.

There is no simple fix for a soft floor beyond strengthening it, which is a job for whoever built it rather than the machine's problem to solve. In the meantime, moving the machine to a spot over a joist or a more solid section of floor, even by a short distance, often reduces the movement noticeably.

What is dangerous and what can safely wait

A machine that walks far enough to pull its water inlet hose or the drain hose taut is worth stopping and dealing with straight away, since a hose torn loose mid-cycle floods the room. Likewise, if the machine has worked its way close enough to a wall or a cabinet to trap the power cable, switch it off at the plug until it is moved back.

A machine that shakes but stays in place, doesn't strain any hose, and doesn't bang against anything, is unpleasant to listen to but not urgent. You can run loads as normal while you sort out feet or bolts at a convenient time, as long as you keep an eye on it during the first few spins after any load size changes.

Persistent violent shaking over months, even after bolts and feet are sorted, is worth having looked at, since it can eventually work bearings or suspension springs loose from vibration alone, turning a floor problem into a machine problem.

When it is worth calling someone out to reinstall it

If you have removed the bolts, levelled all four feet with a spirit level, and the machine still rocks badly on spin, the fault is either the floor or something in the installation that needs a trained eye, such as a drum that has come off one of its springs during transport. That is a reasonable point to ask for help rather than keep guessing.

Our appliance installation service, from 55 € per job, covers checking and correcting exactly this: bolts, feet, level, and hose connections, done properly the first time. If the issue turns out to be a supply or drain connection rather than the machine itself, our plumbing work from 45 € per hour covers that too, and either way you get a fixed figure or an hourly rate agreed before we start.

We work across Tallinn and Harju county, and call-outs within Tallinn are 25 €, deducted from the bill if the job goes ahead. It's often a fifteen-minute fix once someone is looking at the actual machine rather than guessing from a description.