The Joys of Homeownership

As long as it didn't get up to your outlets, you should be ok.

Some drywall, paint, trim, carpet and padding will take care of it.

The sucky thing is, if you sell the house, you'll be required to disclose water damage history to a potential buyer.

Good luck.

 

A good ol fashion shop vac should get the place dried out a bit.

Also, if your water heater is in the attic, they make an aluminum trey with a drain to prevent such disasters. Not really applicable if it's at ground level.

What is the square footage of the affected areas, and your deductable? That would give a better idea if you should file a claim or not.

 

I simply CALLED my insurance company ONCE to INQUIRE if I am covered if I had a leaky pipe that may affect my foundation. No work was ever performed and the insurance company never distributed any money to anybody regarding this issue.

When I bought a new house, at least half of the insurance companies I called wouldn't accept us as customers because we had made a claim about a leaky pipe. I can't tell you how angry that makes me.

As a side note to anybody reading this, replace your water heaters with tankless systems for exactly this reason. It'll cost you $2-300 more but you'll never have to worry about this story happening to you ...and you NEVER run out of hot water no matter how long you shower.

 

I've looked into these - they have their own disadvantages. I'm still debating putting one in possibly in the next 2-3 years, though.

 

Actually, it will cost you about 4-5 times that.

When I built my home, I put a Rinnai Continnum 2532 NG, which has the highest flow rate PG on the market.

It takes YEARS to make up the cost of it in gas savings.

I like it regardless. Damn thing sounds like jet turbine when it fires p.

 

You misquoted me a bit. I said it'll cost $2-300 MORE than a standard water heater installation. A normal water heater is ~$250. The tankless I got was around $500, I think.

It sounds like you bought the most expensive model on the market. I bought the least expensive model from home depot that is only rated for one major appliance at a time. (The reason for this is because I have an old house and my pipes are small and won't carry the amount of water rated for the expensive units anyway so why bother).

ANYWAY, having the cheap model, rarely do I ever notice the decrease in hot water flow. Only time it's an issue is when my wife runs the tub for my duaghters bath while I'm cleaning up dishes from dinner. So I go clear the table or put away leftovers while the bath is filling. After the bath is full, I instantly have hot water again. Minor incovenience, IMO. In two years, it just hasn't been an issue for us. So I'm actually very happy with our less expensive model.

blah blah blah

I wouldn't rip out an old water heater to put in a tankless ...but if I had to replace my tank, I'd just upgrade to tankless have the peace of mind that I'd never have a disaster like the thread-starter described ...particularly if the water heater was in the attic or in a location that could cause major damage if it broke. The cost of the heater at that point seems trivial.

 

That sucks...My boss just went through this...He's claiming as it leaked all weekend long...He dryed out the baseboards and sheetrock to eliminate mold and that was expensive...He had real wood floors so that's expensive...Depends on how much it costs to replace and how much your deductible is...

 

i had something like this similar happen to me last week, except it was the toilet that wouldn't stop overflowing

needless to say 2 hrs later 2 of my bedrooms and kitchen were flooded in. i asked around for opinions and finally went ahead and put new carpet in the bedrooms and laminate wood in the rest of the areas, i left the tile in the wet areas. it cost me about $3500, including labor. they did a great job on it. i decided not to use the insurance co either.

gluck, its a pain

 

nah. i'm thinking someone gave him an estimate of $500, but that's just me.