Water heater
A water heater holds forty gallons. All of it is now in the building.
Close the cold inlet valve on top of the tank, switch the heater off at the breaker or the gas valve, and keep away from wet electrics. A tank failure empties its whole contents at once, usually into whichever occupied level sits beneath it, and the water carries sediment that stains what it touches.
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Shut it down in this order
Close the cold water inlet on top of the tank first — that stops the refill. Then kill the heater itself: the breaker for an electric unit, the gas valve for a gas one. Leave the tank alone otherwise; draining it is a plumber’s job and not urgent once the supply is closed.
A heater that failed while running can leave the element energised in a wet cupboard. The breaker is the safe way to stop that, and it is worth finding out today which breaker it is rather than during the next emergency.
Why this floods differently from a pipe
A burst pipe sprays until someone closes a valve; a tank dumps its volume in minutes and then stops. That means the water is gone by the time you notice, and the damage is horizontal — it travelled under partitions, into the base of the drywall and along the underside of the flooring, rather than down a single wall.
Practically: the wet area is wider than it looks, and a moisture meter will find water in rooms that appear untouched. This is exactly the case where drying by opening a window fails, because the water is inside the material rather than on it.
Sediment in the tank comes out with the water. It stains carpet and grout, and it is the reason a heater flood often smells faintly metallic.
Sudden failure against a tank that had been weeping
A tank that split is a sudden and accidental escape of water, and standard wording answers for the damage it did. A tank that has been seeping from a fitting for a year is a maintenance matter, and the resulting damage — plus any mold — falls into the gradual-loss exclusion.
The evidence is usually visible: rust trails, a chalky ring on the floor, or a pan under the tank with a tide mark. Photograph what you find before the old unit is carted away, because once it is gone the argument becomes your word against an assumption.
Either way, the replacement heater itself is normally yours to pay for. What is in dispute is the flooring, the drywall and the contents.
Who decides what happens next
A tank failure reaches four kinds of people differently.
- 01You own and live here. Replace the heater through a plumber, and get the building dried by a restoration crew. Keep the two invoices apart; they are answered differently.
- 02You own it and rent it out. The heater and the building are yours. Ask the tenant to photograph before anything is moved — they are on site and you are not, and those photographs are what the claim rests on.
- 03You manage the building. Where the tank sits above other units, the damage below is what matters and it is rarely the same policy. Establish which unit the water came from before anyone starts pulling out flooring.
- 04You rent here. A failed heater is the owner’s to replace. Report it in writing, move what you can out of the water, and claim your own belongings on renters insurance if you hold it.
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What to ask before you agree to anything
Ask these of whoever turns up. A contractor who answers them plainly is the one you want; a contractor who will not is telling you something.
- 01Is the replacement heater part of your work, or do I need a plumber separately?
- 02How far has the water actually travelled? Show me on the meter, not by eye.
- 03Is the subfloor wet, and how will you know when it is dry?
- 04What are you doing about the staining the sediment left?
- 05How many days of equipment are you quoting for, and what happens if it takes longer?
- 06Is the licence you hold the right category for both the drying and the plumbing, or only one of them?
Have this ready before you call
Three facts move the first minute past the formalities: what happened, when it started, and whether water is still moving. These add the detail that decides what gets loaded on the van.
- Whether the heater is in a cupboard, a loft, a garage or a basement
- Gas or electric, and roughly how old
- What is directly below it: another room, another flat, or ground
- How far the water travelled, in rooms rather than feet
- Whether the supply is off now
- Whether a pan or tray was fitted under the tank
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Where these figures come from
Every number on this page is published by someone other than us, and each link goes to their own text rather than to a summary of it.