Oh yes, if only everything could be perfect. My belief is that, if you are talking houses, the word "perfect" never applies. That is my view, having worked for several years as a home inspector in Bellingham. Here is an example -- I often find water heaters that are installed in finished living space and the tank has no pan with a drain to the outside underneath it. The inspection report language goes much like this: The water heater is installed over finished living space and has no catch pan and drain installed. While the probability of this becoming an issue increases proportionally with the age of a water heater, should the tank develop a leak, a pan and drain will route any water outdoors so interior damage would be minimized. Recommend that client consider having a pan with a drain installed by a qualified party, such as a plumber. For an illustration of a typical pan and drain, see the illustration below: That photo, of the model tank, shows a great water heater installation. But, in older homes and many condos or houses with basements, the water heaters we find in finished areas, more often than not, have no pans or drains. It is not always easy to figure out a way to get around this problem. Obviously, if a person is buying a condo, the association is not going to take kindly to the new residents running pipes through shared areas. And a tank in a finished basement may be too low for gravity to be effective. The pan would not drain. Rejoice, there is a decent option. Install a pan under the tank. Make sure the pan is big enough that it will accommodate an inexpensive water leak alarm. The device is inexpensive and the alarm will sound even if small quantities of water are detected. Now, these devices require new batteries each year -- remember to put in a new battery on Christmas day or your birthday. Of course, if you are not around to hear the alarm if it goes off, then that is a problem too. These affordable units are available at any number of Online and hardware stores. If we are rating ways to thwart the dreaded water heater leak, I think the best remedy is tried and true -- a pan and drain to the outside. Second best would be a pan under the tank with a water leak detector inside the pan. And, last of all -- not as good as the others but better than nothing -- would be simply putting a water leak detector on the floor beside the water heater. It would sound if there was even a small leak so, hopefully, major interior damage could be avoided. If you are away from home when a leak occurs, all bets are off. If you wish to spend some money, to get around this one, a plumber can sometimes install a WAGS valve which is designed to stop the flow of water if there is a leak at the tank. You can google the term "WAGS valve" for more information. It is an imperfect world, sometimes second or third best is as good as it gets! Steven L. Smith Bellingham WA Home Inspections
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This is great advice for home buyers it will certainly save a lot of problems if a leak were to happen. Thanks for sharing this information.
Thanks for the tip
Steven: this is a great post and I learned something. Jack Nicholson would approve.
Thanks for the tips.
I have been thinking of writing this for some time. Just got to it.
Steve, I think water heaters are one of the most common leaking plumbing fixture I can think of.
Steve
A little off topic, but I was wondering what you thought about the TPR drain line discharging to the drain pan as shown in the illustration. It says it is allowed under the IRC, yet I have never seen a professionally installed unit done this way. (just those installed by weekend warriors)
Harold,
Some of the plumbers around here do install it that way, based on having seen it at a few new houses. I once talked to a plumber about it, he did not seem to have a problem with it. I guess it will keep the thing from exploding, and it is visible if it is leaking, so that is why it is okay. I have called them out when the thing was too high above the pan or too low so there would be a cross-connection if the tank leaked.
That's a great tip Steve. I have never seen the under the pan container. How much weight can they hold?
It must be that every house I've owned has had water heaters with no drain pans, because I have had leaks and just thought that's what happens (!). This is one of those "duh" moments for me -- thank you! :)
Good advice Steve. I have only seen alarms on sump pumps. This is a great idea.
It is true that there are many situations in which a drain pan and drain line are not an option. A water alarm is a good option. However, if no one is home to hear it the damage continues. There is a new product called the Water Cop that will actually shut the water for the water heater down so that water can't continually leak and cause endless damage. A local plumber can advise and install.
Good tip.