ES Plumber Needed: My Water Heater is Leaking and I'm Standing in Water

Well my wife woke me up from a nap to tell me there was water in the kitchen and that our harvest gold water heater from the early 80's was gasping its' last breath ; leaking and flooding our laundry room. I turned the water off, hooked up a hose, and drained the thing. Now it's hissing like an angry snake. Is that just the air escaping from the pipes?

So has anyone had to replace a water heater lately? Has anyone used Lowe's or Home Depot for any kind of installation? Is it better to call a plumber and have them install it? Our damn house is becoming a money pit lately. :doh:

Step 1: Turn it off. You have switched off the power/gas haven't you?

Step 1: Turn it off. You have switched off the power/gas haven't you?

Yeah, better make sure you've done these things.

Step 1: Turn it off. You have switched off the power/gas haven't you?

Yeah turned off the power to the hot water, turned off the water to it, and drained it with a hose running outside a window. Thank god this didn't happen at 3am while we all were sleeping or it would have been pure hell.

Next question: I assume you've shut off the cold water side of the water heater?

(If all you've done is shut off the hot side, then the water heater's still pressurized, and will keep leaking. But I assume you would have noticed that it never drained, in that case.)

(Most of them have shutoff valves on both sides, but me, I'd leave the hot side open, and open a hot water faucet, somewhere, and drain the hot water pipes in the house.)

And I'd leave the drain hose connected. The shutoff valve may leak, allowing more water into the thing. Of the house pipes may drain water into it. And you are draining it into something that's lower than the water heater? (Or, if it has to go over a window, then down, you've started a siphon?)

All of that said, however, maybe the next thing to do, after you've shut off the water and and the power, is to get to Home Depot and buy another one before they close.

That stints I had the same thing happen to me. I had secco come and bring a water heater and they did everything I think you can only buy water heaters from Lowes they wouldn't install when I asked if they could

So has anyone had to replace a water heater lately? Has anyone used Lowe's or Home Depot for any kind of installation? Is it better to call a plumber and have them install it? Our damn house is becoming a money pit lately. :doh:

Yes ,got mine from Sears.

Much easier to call a plumber,but if you do it yourself get new flex pipes and have fun lifting the pos

Next question: I assume you've shut off the cold water side of the water heater?

(If all you've done is shut off the hot side, then the water heater's still pressurized, and will keep leaking. But I assume you would have noticed that it never drained, in that case.)

(Most of them have shutoff valves on both sides, but me, I'd leave the hot side open, and open a hot water faucet, somewhere, and drain the hot water pipes in the house.)

And I'd leave the drain hose connected. The shutoff valve may leak, allowing more water into the thing. Of the house pipes may drain water into it. And you are draining it into something that's lower than the water heater? (Or, if it has to go over a window, then down, you've started a siphon?)

All of that said, however, maybe the next thing to do, after you've shut off the water and and the power, is to get to Home Depot and buy another one before they close.

Yeah the water has drained, and it's not pressurized anymore. I reconnected the drain hose, good call because it was still leaking a little even with it shut off tightly.

And you are draining it into something that's lower than the water heater?

No, all I can do is run it up and out a window. No, haven't started a siphon but I think I've gotten most of it out. I'm heading to Lowe's or Home Depot tomorrow AM. I guess this could have been worse.

Thanks for the help Larry.

You can push on the water heater to see how much water is still in it. If most of the water is not out of it it is gonna be very heavy.

Do you have city water or a well? If you have a well you should check the tank for sediment and put a filter on your house so the sediment will not collect in the water heater.

lots of times they offer free installation.

Actually, check with your local utitlity company. Sometimes they offer promos. I think my father in law actually got a free gas-hot water heater. This was a few years ago though.

Get a Rinnai tankless water heater. Call a plumber to install it...most aren't that busy and looking for work since the housing bust.

Sucks you have to make a major home at the holidays. Best of luck.

Yeah the water has drained, and it's not pressurized anymore. I reconnected the drain hose, good call because it was still leaking a little even with it shut off tightly.

Odds are, the water has soaked into the insulation. Even if there's no water left to leak, you'll still get water dripping out of the thing, anyway.

But, leaving the hose connected and the drain open is just a cheap safety net.

lots of times they offer free installation.

Actually, check with your local utitlity company. Sometimes they offer promos. I think my father in law actually got a free gas-hot water heater. This was a few years ago though.

I was going to suggest the same thing. I pay a $7 per month rental fee for my water heater. They came out and installed it for free and all maintenance/repairs to the water heater are free.

Installing a water heater is probably one of the easier things to do in life. Basically you shut off the gas. and water.

Disconnect the water heater from the gas line and than the water line. Remove the vent from the top.

Remove the old water heater and set aside out of the way. Put the new one in, connect the water line, gas line and vent. using gas plumbers tape for the gas line and regular plumbers tape for the water.

Than follow the instructions for filling and lighting the new heater. check for any leaks and your done.

It will take two people to do this. You can do it yourself but it will go much faster and easier with two.

Well I got to ask. Where is it leaking at?

You could just have a bad blow off valve.Or a loose fitting.

lots of times they offer free installation.

Actually, check with your local utitlity company. Sometimes they offer promos. I think my father in law actually got a free gas-hot water heater. This was a few years ago though.

Good idea, I'll check into that.

Well I got to ask. Where is it leaking at?

You could just have a bad blow off valve.Or a loose fitting.

Well it was leaking down at base and around the seam in the middle of the heater. We bought the house in '04 and this water heater looks like it was installed when the house was built in '84. Most likely a little of everything is starting to fail on it. The water heater had been making some strange sounds for about a month or so and I had a feeling it was starting to fail.

I was going to suggest the same thing. I pay a $7 per month rental fee for my water heater. They came out and installed it for free and all maintenance/repairs to the water heater are free.

this is a good idea if you know you'll be leaving in less than 6 or 7 years. after that you're overpaying but I guess you'd have to figure in the interest gained. But what happens if you sell after a couple years? Is there a early payoff amount that you'd owe?

this is a good idea if you know you'll be leaving in less than 6 or 7 years. after that you're overpaying but I guess you'd have to figure in the interest gained. But what happens if you sell after a couple years? Is there a early payoff amount that you'd owe?

No, there is no early payoff if we sell. It's just $7 per month for as long as we would like to remain in the program ( I think smaller heaters are less per month but we have an 80 gal heater). The previous owner of our home was on this program, so we joined when we bought the home from them. They come out once a year for a checkup/routine maintenance for free. In the second year we were in the house the water heater had to be replaced, and they did that for free. It's worked out pretty good for us so far...

we couldn't get rid of joe the plumber just 6 weeks ago.

same thing happened to me recently. had to get a brand new water heater after mine started leaking slowly. I got my new one at Lowe's just a couple months back. Since then i've also had to replace my heat pump and outdoor unit as well. I just bought the house back before summer started and when we moved in we also had to put all new appliances in there. So i've upped the value of my home significantly in the 6 months i've lived there.