Water Heater Burst In Attic

However the most common cause of leaks due to w h s in the attic is not the w h.

Water heater burst in attic.

When running pipes from a slab to an attic use an inside wall. If your attic is not built structurally sound the weight over the course of the 10 15 years will be an issue that could lead to problems if the water heater falls through. When the water heater located in this home s attic burst water rushed out of the unit and pooled. A typical tank type water heater is holding 40 to 50 gallons of water at all times in addition to the weight of the appliance itself.

A malfunctioning thermostat could cause the heating element to overheat the water making the volume inside of the tank too much for the seams to hold or a fitting may have corroded causing a major leak. It wasn t long before the ceiling could no longer hold the weight of the water and it crashed down onto the living room below. The pull down stairs to the attic allows access but is unlikely to hold the weight of anyone trying to remove a bad water heater. They tend to start with a small leak and grow.

Replace the hole thing with a tankless heater either in the attic or mounted outside. I am leaning towards this option. It s usually the cold water supply line due to sustained freezing conditions. Move quickly to disable a burst hot water heater.

Replace the water heater with a new one in the same location but with a wags valve to shut of the water if it leaks alarm in the drip pan. Leaks from a water heater can be major depending on where the leak is coming from damage can be to attic flooring insulation drywall and even flooring if it leaks a long time a 50 gallon water heater will overflow the pan and then some if it bursts or the bottom rusts out mold can form from the moisture in your attic. W h s as a general rule don t just burst open and flood. There should always be a catwalk built to the water heater for replacement and service with plenty of room for access to all sides of it for inspection and maintenance.

Move water heater to garage most expensive least likely option 2. Generally speaking however the main type of water heater that can burst is a storage water heater so if the water heater in your home has exploded it s likely to be a conventional water heater. Placing water pipes in outside walls greatly increases the risk of frozen and burst pipes in cold climates. This kind of weight puts a tremendous amount of stress on attic and ceiling structures.

One constant rule of the plumbing industry is that eventually all water heaters will fail and the best we can hope for is catching a problem early before it turns into a catastrophe.