Petfinder.com forums :: View topic - Leaking Hot Water Heater OR....Moles? [ ]

Just for Hopers1 since she enjoys my hubby stories!

Thursday night hubby said he thought we had a slow leak in the water heater because there was some water on the floor of the garage.

I asked if it was water like when we get heavy rains and strong winds from the south so the hole in the vent cap above the hot water heater and furnace leaks.
This is more of a water "stain" than standing water. Hubby has had a new vent cap for it for 1 year now.

He said yes and, since we had heavy rain and strong south winds a few days before, I didn't think it was a problem.

Friday he asked me to contact some water heater companies approved by the gas company to get a quote for a tankless hot water heater of a certain brand.
I said sure - it's not like I do anything during the day - and looked up the gas companies recommended companies, did some research, found the ones that are preferred dealers for the tankless brand we want and did online quote requests.

Friday was hubby's short day (he works 80 hours in 2 weeks so he gets 1 Friday off and the next Friday is a shorter day). When he came home, Chance was playing with one of her dog friends so by the time they left, it was close to 5.

He then told me he had bought more shop towels to help keep the leak at bay. So this is the point I get alarmed because that doesn't sound like a little damp spot on the floor like he said it was.

We went down to the garage and when I walked over to look behind the trailer, the recycling bins and the 5 old Jeep rims hubby keeps forgetting to get rid of, there was a ton of water on the floor.
From the water heater all the way to the garage door.
There was water trickling out of the heater stand/safety pan's drain hole. Shocked

So I asked if any companies had called him or responded via e-mail.
He had me give them his work number and his gmail account to reply to because he wanted to schedule them when he could be there.
Right after I told him I'd done the quote requests, he logged out of his gmail account at work and had not checked it again.

So I went in to check his e-mail account on his computer.
One company had replied back to him not even an hour after the quote request was submitted.
I tried the number but they were gone for the day.

Last night he took a flashlight and could see the water heater is leaking from around one of the legs.

This morning he cleaned up the water and moved some stuff to keep it from getting wet. He noticed there was water oozing out from the base of the stand.

His theory........
A mole tunneled under the garage floor and tried to come up right under the water heater.
That mole hole created hydrostatic pressure.
The hydrostatic pressure caused ground water to come up through the concrete floor, but just under the water heater stand.
The ground water plus the *sudden* water heater leak caused the safety pan to fill with water. Confused

So I asked him.........
Do you think that the water heater has been leaking for longer than you thought since we haven't noticed a change in our water bill and the safety pan finally filled with water?
And the safety pan is water resistant, not water proof, so the seam at the bottom is probably allowing water to ooze out?

He still really wants to go with the sudden leak and mole hole theory.

Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2012 6:43 pm Post subject:

(where is the crying laughing smiley??) OMG!!!!!!!!! I am DYING here!!! This is one of those moments where I just have to say, I LOVE you 2nd, I love hubby, and I LOVE the mole!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2012 3:25 am Post subject:

The leak got really bad Saturday afternoon.
I came home to find the garage door partially open "to allow the water to flow out of the garage."
So I said it was time to shut the water heater down and drain it!

Did you know that our ground water temp is about 45 degrees? Hand washing was fairly painful!!!

Sunday the garage floor was almost dry.
Hubby's mole theory was proven wrong!
It was a sad day for the engineer. Laughing

I did some research and made a list of gas company certified contractors to try on Monday.

Hubby called most of them and then at 8:00 a.m. got hold of one that said they'd pull their installation manager off a job since we had an emergency situation.
They were here by 11:00 a.m. and started on putting in a new water heater!

They said they had never seen such a bad water heater installation.
They ended up having to replace everything up to the duct work at the "Y" where the heater and water heater duct work meet.

And everything fell under a flat rate so no matter how long they had to be here or how much stuff needed replacing, it was all one price.

And they had the good sense to fuss over Chance and take time out for doggy kisses!

They are also a certified contractor for installing gas lines so when we're ready to replace the glass top oven that came with the house with a dual fuel oven, they can run the gas line to the oven.

ETA:
And I almost broke my nose while they were here!
I was putting some stuff up in the kitchen.
We have a cabinet door on the back of the cabinet peninsula.
The counter top on that side is a breakfast bar style so it sticks out. And it is formica-laminate style so the bottom of the counter top has an edge to it.
I realized there was something at the back of the cabinet so I couldn't put the wok where it goes. I moved forward so I could reach it.
But I forgot the bridge of my nose was level with the bottom edge of the counter top and rammed into it.
After I picked myself up off the floor, I made sure I hadn't cut myself on that edge and that my nose wasn't broken.
Grabbed an ice pack and snuggled up with Chance who was looking at me like I was an idiot!
I have a slight dent there and a noticeable line across my nose 12 hours later. It's a little sore when I touch that spot.

Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2012 12:04 pm Post subject:

Was hubby crushed to be proven wrong? Laughing

Sorry you hurt yourself. Sounds like something I would do. I am always hitting my head on something at the house. Hurts so bad and makes me SO mad! Evil or Very Mad

Posted: Tue Jan 31, 2012 2:20 pm Post subject:

I think he was a little crushed! The new stand is just a stand so now he'll be able to keep a lookout for moles. Wink

I have a little bruise on my nose so it's not too bad.
I usually end up hurting my toes, not my head!

And I confess, I had been distracted by the installation manager who had just walked back into the garage.
He could've been a close relative of my dentist. Embarassed

Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 6:00 pm Post subject:

Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2012 8:03 pm Post subject:

Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 11:36 am Post subject:

See - this proves my point. Some critters can simply not be domesticated. They should stay in their native habitats. Not sure what that is for engineers but . . .

This morning a glass fell off the kitchen counter & shattered. My youngest & I were in the kitchen (both barefoot) along with the dogs. My concerns, in order of importance, were getting kid & dogs out of kitchen, getting me shoes, cleaning up glass. Hubby comes in & starts with failure analysis. “How did it fall? I thought it was pretty far from the edge.”

?????

I really could not care how it fell. It fell. Let’s make sure no one gets hurt, clean up broken glass, then you can analyze why it happened. Failure analysis is not necessary until all the glass is off the floor - trust me on this.

Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 7:49 pm Post subject:

If I would have suggested the mole theory, there would have been much eye rolling and a long, drawn-out, droning explanation of why that couldn't be possible!

Engineers are.... special. Wink

Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 9:40 pm Post subject:

OMG!! I am laughing so hard right now!!! Funny, funny, funny!!!!

2nd.. if the manager was even closely related to your dentist.. I GET IT!

Ok, maybe I will start sharing stories about my better half some day... Oh, the stories I have. LOL!

Thank you all for the laughs! Again, best thread are the ones 2nd starts about hubby (sorry hubby!). Wink

Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 9:47 am Post subject:

I needed the laugh. Spouses are ...special creatures.

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 12:05 am Post subject:

That's a great story.
I totally get the engineer thing. I did not marry an engineer, I married a mechanic instead, (although not an automobile mechanic). My Uncle is an engineer.

Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 12:26 am Post subject:

A day or 2 after the install, I found a square nut laying on the floor under the stand. I figured it was one they dropped when the put the stand together and just hadn't seen it because of where it was laying.
I left it where it was so the hubby could see what he thought based on the position.

He looked at the bottom of the stand, said he thought it was just a nut they had dropped and said he would pick it up.

A few days after that Chance and I went out through the garage to clean my vehicle's windows. I found *another* square nut laying under the stand.

I told hubby when he came home and he said he'd go look at it. We went out there and he looked at it laying there and started trying to figure out where the 2nd nut had fallen from.
He couldn't figure out where this 2nd nut had come from and said I should contact the company that did the install the next day.

I told him I'd put the 2nd nut with the 1st one so I would be able to give the 2 nuts to whoever they sent out.

He then told me he hadn't actually picked the 1st nut up off the floor. Confused

I pointed out that there had only been 1 nut on the floor so if he had *not* picked the nut up several nights before, we didn't have a problem.

He hadn't thought of that. Shocked

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 1:20 pm Post subject:

Perhaps we married twins separated at birth? That sort of thing happens at my house all the time.

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2012 7:57 am Post subject:

Dammit. I was hoping the moles were leaving you the extra nuts. Instead it was a simple engineer issue.

Moles doing it would have been more interesting. That it was the engineer just made it normal. Sad

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