DAMN!! My water heater just sprang a leak. Or at least I

[yellowdogintexas]

just discovered it.

DAMN DAMN DAMN

just had to vent.

[MrScorpio]

1. Shit

Time for a new heater

That really sucks

[spacelady]

4. You are correct Mr. Scorpio, water heaters are rarely repairable. n/t

[radwriter0555]

2. Still have your homeowners' warranty? Or is it less than 5 years old?

Either one should take care of the problem pretty quickly.

[Robeson]

3. Is it in a pan, and do you have it piped to go outside in case it...

...bursts? If not, keep an eye on it, and make sure the new one does when you get it.

[jmowreader]

5. Here's what you do...

Pretend it's Saturday night on the frontier: everyone wash up quick.

Then cut off the power to the water heater and turn off the cold water going to it.

Then drain the unit. This will keep the water from eating your floor.

Tomorrow, go to your favorite water heater store and get a new one.

Then p-mail me and I'll tell you how to install it. It's easy.

[yellowdogintexas]

6. Thank you all for the advice and comments!!! I love DU

I surfed a bit and found a link to a referral service for folks who need stuff done and done NOW, not LATER. I filled out the questionnaire and went to bed, already knowing I would have to take a day off from work.


This morning I had a phone call from Rescue Rooter, the guy came right out and gave me an estimate, etc. He looked it over and said there was a leak around a valve and he would just try to fix that, but when he unscrewed it, the thing shattered, with half of it still stuck in the heater. So much for that idea.

So he is about to finish up the project. I had him fix a leaky hydrant valve that I could not turn all the way off while he was here, also. Since I had to take a whole day off for this and the water was turned off anyway, seemed like a good plan.


My HW heater was installed in 1992. I quit paying on the homeowner's warranty a long time ago, maybe 4 years or so and this is the first thing I have had to have looked at since then, so I am still ahead of the game. There are a blue million code and inspection things that Fort Worth requires, that were not in effect when the old one was instlled. It has to be on a stand, the gas line has to be inspected and signed off on, the vending had to be upgraded, etc. It is a gas water heater so I would not have dared try to install it myself.

All will be well, we will get a shower soon and I can do other things with the rest of my day.

Since it is in the garage in a closet, and the leak was trickling out of the valve insert, I just had a slow stream of water running down my garage floor toward the big doors, which have been open all morning. No big flood dangers or worry about floor damage. I KNOW what they can do, a friend of mine had a water heater in the attic (? why??) and it ruptured; flooded their living room. Years ago in a different house, the bottom fell out of mine, and it was like a river running from the heater straight to the storm drain in the basement. I was paying for all this water of course, but I hit the cutoff valves real quick and it just emptied itself. This is much less nasty than that.

I am also replacing an old less efficient heater with a new, 10 more gallon size, energy star rated one. Just wasn't in my plans right now. I had actually thought about having it done when I have the gas stove installed later this year, since they will share a common wall. Oh well, that is the way things go sometimes.

[ucmike]

7. 13 years is pretty good for a water heater.

you got your money's worth.

[yellowdogintexas]

8. UPDATE: Rescue Rooter is my new hero

and the new water heater is wonderful, and fully installed.

Still has to be signed off by the Fort Worth Inspector, but it works.