I am not a licensed plumber, but have worked in plumbing a lot over the last 25 years . My rant is water heaters, and why the plumbing code board members have not mandated a code REQUIRING drain pans, with drain piping, to be put under water heaters in new homes ?? My friend from work called me last night at 6:30 , in a panic. The family room in the basement was flooded, the gas water heater tank had ruptured at the seam along the bottom. Another guy I worked with last year , the same thing. Two more people I know I worked with 5 years ago, same thing. ALL of them had extensive damage to carpeting, drywall, wooden furniture legs, and to anything in the house that was on the floor, when the tank started leaking.

So, what is up with the Plumbing /Pipefitters Code Board not taking some incentive to help people out here ? They mandated supply water shutoff valves at/under all sinks, commodes, years ago, because if the need to ever service the appliance ever came about, there is a means of service disconnect at the appliance, to prevent flooding and to not have turn off the service to the whole house, just to change a faucet. Why do they keep allowing new water heaters to be installed without pans, KNOWING the tanks will eventually come apart, and flood peoples homes ??

Licensed plumbers out there , how about a word/memo, to your code board members on this ? Maybe the board isnt aware of the problem .... Yeah, I know , the builders of new homes will whine about the addtional costs of the water heater pan and getting it piped to a exit, but hey, add it in to the selling price of the home, like every thing else. If need , take away some glittery things out of the home, and put in something to help keep the home from being flooded from the INSIDE. EOR and all jmo

 

I totally agree with you, in my county you have to have a pan under the water heater, but it doesn't have to be piped any where Which would hide a warning leak. Also the pans are cheesy, we put heavier pans under our house plants. Also it should be code that the relief pipe should have a support bracket on them as half of the reliefs leak from the weight of the pipes on them. Also I'd like to see a ball valve on every WH for a shut off. Not the cheesy washer and seat valve thats going to be useless in 5 years, and restricts the hell out of the water flow.

 

The new IPC code (international plumbing code) which should have been adopted nationally april 9 2004. Requires a ball valve on the cold side, not a stop & waste valve, and a pan piped indirectly in to the waste system if the water heater is located above living space.

 

I also agree, a drain pan is a good idea,,with a drain piped off ,,I have always found that an electric water heater is trouble,,sure they work,,for awhile,,but always seem to have problems with em,,shut off's (if equipped ) dont work,,or plastic piping, fittings (in a mobile home) starts to leak, heating elements burn out, then the tank starts leaking,,,AAHHHH,, .

Then ya remove the heater,,and the floor is roted out cause its been a slow leak for a year or 2, and no one has found it,,till it quit or blew a seam,,oh what a great experience replacing them,,,hope I never have to do another .

Yeah a Pan is a great Idea,,,,DO IT THIS TIME !

Later,,,,,,,,,,Mark

 

Sorry, there's been no official, national adoption of building, let alone plumbing codes. It's still all up to the local yokels. (though many of them reference the various code-writing agencies, then add a few of their own).

Drain pans are definitely a good idea, though.

Jason

 

I agree. I am a independent claims adjuster and the average claim pay out on a water heater claim is about 2k (thats if the water heater is on lowest floor level, the homeowner is home, and it is discovered in a short period of time).

If the heater is in the attic it alot more.

I have one claim right now where the heater tank burst and the home owner is deployed to Iraq. Right now the estimates are running from 26,000 to 33,000 for water damage and mold clean up. Dwelling only. No coverage for contents that were damaged.

The insurance industry has the cash to change the plumbing codes like they do with auto safety (air bags, ABS braking). Wish they would, but then I would take a cut in pay due to fewer claims filed.

An average week I work about 10 claims a week and 2-3 are water heater related.

 

Well, I got rid of the problem to some degree during our remodel. Instead of the galvanized house by Watts or other fine brand, I poured a pad and built a little room on the side of the house for the Electrical panel, a second for the water heater and a third for a central vac unit, sprinkler timers, cable connects etc.


If you do this right, you can keep it under the eave. Mine stick out which causes a break in the gutter, but no big deal.

Depending on what type of siding you have, this is possible as an add on, but mostly this would be a remodel or new build deal.

I suppose in cold country, you'd have to do some extra insulation etc etc.

Anyway, if that hotwater heater blows up now, it's going to mostly blast the neighbor's kid's bedroom.....

 

The problems I see is the water heater tanks rust and have a gradual leak.

The tanks are located in a storage room, attic, or wall cavity with access panel, so the homeowner is not aware of the leak.

The tank finally rusts enough to discharge enough water like you put a garden hose in the house and turned it on full blast. The homeowner wakes up or comes home from work and finds the carpet is wet in half the house.

I have only inspected a couple of water heaters that have exploded due to bad pressure relief valves in 15 years.

 

pans under the heater are required now when over a finished ceiling. i can't remember if thats UPC or just our regional building code. a pan is a great idea if theres some place to run the drain to. i have put in pans when there isn't a drain then dropped one of those little water alarms in the pan. won't help much if they are out of town but at least theres some warning. they also make a water sensor that operates a solenoid valve on the supply to the heater. at least if they are out of town they will lose whatever is in the heater but probably won't flood the whole house. we are required to install a floor drain within three feet of a water heater or boiler here that helps a lot if the floor is slopped to the drain.

 

Great thread guys. What is the typical lifetime of a gas fired water heater?

 

I don't know if this is "typical" for gas , but when I sold my home, the hot water heater was 15 years old and showed no signs of leaking. Twice a year I would open up the valve and drain off a couple of gallons of water to try and get rid of any sediment. At my moms house (built in 1964), she is on her third gas hot water heater (original and 2 replacements).

 

Anyone have any experience with the new style of tankless water heaters ? Seems like those are really the way to go, If they are as advertised. Which few things really turn out to be.........

 

My mom's house was built in 1952, gas hot water heater lasted 38 years with well water running through it. Cut it open and it had to be at least half filled with lime sediment. Second one only lasted 6 years before it started leaking.

My new house (modular) has the hot water heater in a closet in the utility room. Sits on a pan with a drain hose that runs to the outside. First time it leaks it will be reinstalled in the basement next to a floor drain.

 

i think the biggest factor in water heater life is water quality. with the amount of use, thats heating cycles (expanding /contracting) being second. of coarse the quality of the heater factors in there too. around here a good heater will usually last 15 to 20 years with the occasional 30+ one also. in the next water district south of us where they have nasty water they are lucky to get more than 10 years out of them. the tankless heaters are nice but you have to size them correctly or theres a definite shortage of hot water. i haven't done any retro-fits with one yet because the cost of installing one correctly to code scares off most people. I've installed a few on new homes and they have all worked really well. the last house we did needed three of them to meet the demand.

 

Good post ,Weadjust

The irony of all of this is , we get little flyers in our homeowners insurance bills telling us about how to be SURE and get smoke detectors installed, furnace inspections done regularly, etc, to help cut the loss of lives and property. Has any of the major insurance companies ever done a national claims survey to see what ruptured water heaters are costing them, and then how much of that cost is being passed back down to the homeowners , in their HO insurance rates ?

My friend two nights ago fortunately had the extended 10 year optional home warranty . The water heater was flooding the place, when he and his wife got in from work at six pm. They called the insurance agent , he had a plumber there by 10:30 pm with a new heater. Can you imagine that bill ? a plumber at your house working at midnite, with carpet restoration crews too ? My friend said his costs were going to be about 80 dollars total. Yet, most all ruptured heater floods are preventable by sitting the heater in a $20 pan and hooking it to a $5 drain pipe,