First ten minutes
Do these in order. Skip any step that puts you in standing water near electricity.
Close the cold supply valve
It is on the pipe entering the top of the tank. Closing it stops the tank from refilling. If it will not turn, close the main shutoff for the house.
Shut off energy to the heater
For a gas unit, turn the control knob to off or pilot. For an electric unit, switch off its breaker at the panel, but only if you can reach the panel without standing in water.
Open a hot faucet upstairs
This relieves pressure in the system and lets the tank drain more slowly through the leak point rather than spraying.
Move belongings off the wet floor
Boxes, rugs and furniture legs wick water. Get them up on blocks or out of the room.
Photograph the tank label and the leak
The data plate shows the age and model. Your insurer and any plumber will want it.
Useful to know
- Where tanks usually fail
- The bottom seam from internal rust, or the fittings and relief valve at the top
- How to read age
- The serial number on the data plate usually encodes the year; manufacturers publish how to read it
- Relief valve discharge
- Water from the side pipe can mean high pressure or temperature, not a failed tank; have it checked
- Drain pan
- Helps with small drips but cannot hold the contents of a failed tank
Where the water goes in a typical Lakewood basement
Utility rooms in older ranches and split-levels were often walled off later, when the rest of the basement was finished. The floor drain, if there is one, may be in a corner far from the tank, and the concrete may slope away from it after decades of settling. Water from a failed tank finds the lowest path, which is frequently under the wall into a carpeted rec room or bedroom rather than into the drain.
Because the utility room wall usually sits on the slab with a wood bottom plate, that plate and the drywall above it often get wet even when the neighboring carpet looks only slightly damp. The carpet pad on the far side of that wall is usually the first material that needs to come out.
Before the replacement goes in
- Have the wall plates and drywall around the utility room read for moisture.
- Pull back carpet in adjoining rooms to check the pad and tack strip.
- Ask the plumber whether the floor drain is clear and whether a pan with a drain line would help.
- Ask whether a water leak sensor or automatic shutoff valve makes sense for the new unit.
- Confirm whether the replacement needs a permit from the City of Lakewood or your local building department.
Common questions
Can a water heater that has been in a puddle be reused?
If the tank itself is leaking, it needs replacement. If water came from elsewhere and the heater sat in it, controls and burners may be damaged, so a qualified plumber should inspect it before it is used again.
General information for Lakewood, not a quote or professional advice. In an emergency, call 911.