A word to the wise

[xsubsailor]

If you have a hot water heater in the attic, don't procrastinate on replacing it before it goes bad.  I woke up with a house full of water this morning ( actually just half a house) . 

[Ronald_55]

I woke up to a basement full a couple years ago. That was bad enough. Sorry to hear you are having to deal with that. 

[Fourtyfive]

Yeah, my son’s froze a pipe in the attic and did the same thing.

[Dane]

Call your insurance company.  Water damage can be quite expensive to properly remediate.  Mold starts in 36 hours or so.  The last water damage I worked was 4 sheets if drywall damaged and cost over 4k to remedy.

[felinesNfreedom]

On 4/5/2019 at 12:40 PM, xsubsailor said:

If you have a hot water heater in the attic, don't procrastinate on replacing it before it goes bad.  I woke up with a house full of water this morning ( actually just half a house) . 

I've never understood water heaters in attics. I work in the restoration business and make sure you have someone properly dry the structure so you have no worries with mold. 

[Ronald_55]

@xsubsailor

If the water heater has to stay in the attic, think about putting a tray under it and an alarm sensor. Possibly a sump pump to empty the tray too. 

[Magiccarpetrides]

No water heaters above the first floor and no washers and dryers above the first floor either if at all possible...I have had other family members with similar experiences....water ain't no joke!

[peejman]

4 hours ago, Ronald_55 said:

@xsubsailor

If the water heater has to stay in the attic, think about putting a tray under it and an alarm sensor. Possibly a sump pump to empty the tray too. 

Plumb the tray into your house drain lines, or run a line out of the house somewhere you can see it. 

[peejman]

5 hours ago, felinesNfreedom said:

I've never understood water heaters in attics. I work in the restoration business and make sure you have someone properly dry the structure so you have no worries with mold. 

Water heater in the attic saves energy in warm climates as it's already hot up there. 

[felinesNfreedom]

43 minutes ago, peejman said:

Water heater in the attic saves energy in warm climates as it's already hot up there. 

It also floods the house if it burst or leaks. Cost more to install in the attic too. Not worth the trade off, if it's in the garage it's warm in there too

[WFM]

My daughter lives in her first floor condo in a three story building. Her condo was flooded when the condo above hers had a hot water heater rupture. It took two months to replace all the hard wood floors and drywall and get it back to normal. Worst part is the neighbor has no responsibility for any damage. Over head water heaters are an accident just waiting to happen.

[ken_mays]

You can buy water alarms that are wireless enabled and can send you an email or text if they detect water.   I'm looking into that for my own water heater.

[tnhawk]

9 minutes ago, ken_mays said:

You can buy water alarms that are wireless enabled and can send you an email or text if they detect water.   I'm looking into that for my own water heater.

Detecting water doesn't shut off water.  Activation of a water alarm doesn't stop the problem.  When I had my home built, hot water location was a concern to be addressed.

Edited April 8, 2019 by tnhawk

[analog_kidd]

In the Samsung Smart Things product line, they sell a water detection sensor and a water main shutoff motor. You can link them together thru the app to shut off the water if any water is detected.

[ken_mays]

22 hours ago, tnhawk said:

Detecting water doesn't shut off water.  Activation of a water alarm doesn't stop the problem.  When I had my home built, hot water location was a concern to be addressed.

True, but knowing is half the battle.  I'd rather know it's happening immediately rather than 8 hours later.  And you can also buy a remote control water valve too, I believe.