Adding a Drain Pan to an Old Water Heater

[dsurfer21]

Hello All,

I just recently bought a home and the general contractor who inspected my home told me I have a ticking time bomb accident waiting to happen. There is an old water heater installed in my garage and nobody installed a drain pan underneath it. I believe the water heater has another year or two left max, or it could go any day.

I am nervous a water leak will make its way towards a wall and not onto the garage floor. I was told I might need a plumber to take apart all the piping and lift the water heater and install the pan. I was hoping to save money and do it myself some how.

I thought about cutting off the front of a large diameter drain pan and sliding the 1/16th thickness under the water heater and twisting so that the open end sticks out enough such that the water drains onto the garage floor and not towards the wall. I know the water heater is very heavy and I obviously couldn't get it to budge 1/6th inches upwards to slide something in underneath.

Is my idea not feasible? Does anyone have advice? Do I need to some how drain the water heater and lift a small amount and slide in my modified pan? I have included pictures of my setup. The drain pan has not been modified yet. Notice it is much larger in diameter than the water heater and if I cut off the front, it should still stick out past the flat section it is sitting on and drain the water onto the garage floor and not the back wall.

Thanks so much in advance.

 

[havasu]

They do make different sizes of water pans, but I have a bigger concern. Nearly every home in Southern California has exactly what you have and as far as I know, is completely legal and up to code, if the water heater is set in the garage. I could take a picture of my water heater about 50' away, and it looks exactly like yours does. I don't have a pan and don't intend on installing one. I really wonder if your General Contractor is needing someone to help make his new truck payment this month?

 

[dsurfer21]

They do make different sizes of water pans, but I have a bigger concern. Nearly every home in Southern California has exactly what you have and as far as I know, is completely legal and up to code, if the water heater is set in the garage. I could take a picture of my water heater about 50' away, and it looks exactly like yours does. I don't have a pan and don't intend on installing one. I really wonder if your General Contractor is needing someone to help make his new truck payment this month?

Hey thanks so much for responding. The general contractor had told me this prior to when I bought the home (he did the home inspection for me). He said he thought if the water heater went bad and leaked, water could puddle right onto the wall and then cause damage and a much bigger repair. A drip pan and pipe, or a really large drip pan would allow it to flow out onto the garage floor itself and not damage a house wall correct?

I had asked him if he could do the work for me and he said No because he isn't legally allowed to work on something he inspected in California. This makes me think he is being honest and not just trying to get an extra pay check.

Am I being over cautious to worry about a drain pan?

 

[havasu]

There is nothing wrong with your being over cautious. But, in my opinion to do all that work and not replace the old water heater at the same time is a waste. First of all, you will need to drain the tank. This is also a step in W/H replacement. Secondly, you will need to remove both the hot and cold supply lines. These would also need to be removed with a new W/H replacement, but they already look like they are leaking, and I would recommend replacing them soon. Thirdly, you will need to cut off your TPR copper discharge pipe. This would also need to be done with a replacement W/H. Whether you replace the old W/H or install a new W/H, you will need to solder up the TPR discharge pipe. Lastly, in order to remove the old W/H, you will need to disconnect the venting and hood, which would also be necessary with a W/H replacement.

All I am saying is if you want to consider being cautious, you might as well replace the old water heater, which will provide many years of worry free service, at which time you should install the drip pan. Also, a new W/H is usually more energy efficient, which will save you money down the road.

 

[dsurfer21]

There is nothing wrong with your being over cautious. But, in my opinion to do all that work and not replace the old water heater at the same time is a waste. First of all, you will need to drain the tank. This is also a step in W/H replacement. Secondly, you will need to remove both the hot and cold supply lines. These would also need to be removed with a new W/H replacement, but they already look like they are leaking, and I would recommend replacing them soon. Thirdly, you will need to cut off your TPR copper discharge pipe. This would also need to be done with a replacement W/H. Whether you replace the old W/H or install a new W/H, you will need to solder up the TPR discharge pipe. Lastly, in order to remove the old W/H, you will need to disconnect the venting and hood, which would also be necessary with a W/H replacement.

All I am saying is if you want to consider being cautious, you might as well replace the old water heater, which will provide many years of worry free service, at which time you should install the drip pan. Also, a new W/H is usually more energy efficient, which will save you money down the road.

Hi Havasu, I appreciate all the advice. The sellers had bought me a 1 year home warranty plan and it covers the water heater. I thought it would be nice to wait another year before actually replacing it since it would be covered under the home warranty plan in the 1st year of owning the house. My thoughts were to buy the largest diameter drip plan and cut off a small portion of the front such that I could raise the water heater 1/16th inch and slide and rotate the modified pan without spending very much. Do you think if I drain the water heater, I could possibly do this without having to remove pipes, etc?

I rather wait a year to do the water heater but I also am not sure a home warranty plan would cover water damage to the wall so I figured for only $11, I could buy a drain pan and modify it such that I only need to raise the water heater 1/16th of an inch. Any advice?

 

[havasu]

How old is the water heater?

Honestly, I really would not hassle the pan at this time and would wait for when you replace the water heater. Even totally drained, your old tank will have sediment and because the W/H is so bulky, it's still gunna be very heavy. And with cutting the pan, what are you accomplishing? Save your money, but please check out your supply lines and replace them with the stainless steel braided lines. Well worth the money!

 

[dsurfer21]

How old is the water heater?

Honestly, I really would not hassle the pan at this time and would wait for when you replace the water heater. Even totally drained, your old tank will have sediment and because the W/H is so bulky, it's still gunna be very heavy. And with cutting the pan, what are you accomplishing? Save your money, but please check out your supply lines and replace them with the stainless steel braided lines. Well worth the money!

Hi Havasu, again thanks so much for all the advice! I think the water heater is older than 5 years. The inspector had said I was on borrowed time and it is likely to go soon but others have said it could always hold up another year or two, who knows. I don't know how old it really is.

My biggest fear is the failure will end up with a pool of water along the back side where it would go into the wall.

Basically I thought I could cut off about 12-14 inches of length on the drain pan side only and navigate the cutout piece around the legs by lifting the water heater up 1/4 of an inch. Then when all three legs are inside the pan, I would rotate the pan so the cutout is towards the garage floor and since the pan is so large in diameter the cutout would be further forward of the flat surface the water is currently sitting on. The drain pan would be unmodified on the rear and sides of the water heater so there would be a barrier on the rear where the wall is. I thought for $11 bucks and draining the water heater and lifting 1/4 of an inch i could fit my customized pan and force any puddling of water to the garage floor and try to utilize my home warranty to replace the water heater if it fails within the next year. Am I crazy to try this?

 

[havasu]

You could accomplish the same waterproofing by simply waterproofing the drywall behind the W/H. Honestly, this makes as much sense as building another roof on top of your existing roof, just in case you develop a leak in the existing roof. If you W/H fails, it will most likely just stop working. The second biggest failure is springing a leak in your supply lines, which you will soon find out the pan will do you no good, since water will soak the drywall from the ceiling to the floor. Yes, water heaters sometimes explode, but again, that pan will not help you. Where your pan will help is if you develop a slow leak, and if the water slowly drips out and if the water accumulates within the pan and if it will drip safely away from the drywall. Yep, lots of ifs to consider.

It seems your mind has been made up with installing the pan. Good for you. It won't hurt anything, but if you think it will help you, all I could say is that there is a slim possibility it could help. Problem is you have now cut the pan. What happens when the pan leaks? You're back to square #1.

 

[dsurfer21]

You could accomplish the same waterproofing by simply waterproofing the drywall behind the W/H. Honestly, this makes as much sense as building another roof on top of your existing roof, just in case you develop a leak in the existing roof. If you W/H fails, it will most likely just stop working. The second biggest failure is springing a leak in your supply lines, which you will soon find out the pan will do you no good, since water will soak the drywall from the ceiling to the floor. Yes, water heaters sometimes explode, but again, that pan will not help you. Where your pan will help is if you develop a slow leak, and if the water slowly drips out and if the water accumulates within the pan and if it will drip safely away from the drywall. Yep, lots of ifs to consider.

It seems your mind has been made up with installing the pan. Good for you. It won't hurt anything, but if you think it will help you, all I could say is that there is a slim possibility it could help. Problem is you have now cut the pan. What happens when the pan leaks? You're back to square #1.

Hi Havasu, those are all great points. I was simply trying to put my mind at ease based on the comment from the general contractor saying that I need a drain pan there to eliminate a super costly repair if the W/H unit itself leaks. I wasn't really sure the most likely method of failure from a water heater but he made me think it was most likely to fail with a leak.

If I modify the pan, it will only be on the very front part that would overhang beyond the flat surface it is sitting on. The rest of the pan would be stock so only a manufacturer defect would cause a leak back into the wall.

I appreciate all your advice. Do you think its possible for me to get the water heater to go up 1/4 inch without damaging anything? Not sure the safest way to lift it up though.

 

[havasu]

It's going to be a tough job. All I could think of is to loosen the earthquake straps, then use a 2x4 as a prybar from under it, and work slowly and carefully. The W/H's don't like to be lifted from any single point, so do it carefully.

 

[dsurfer21]

It's going to be a tough job. All I could think of is to loosen the earthquake straps, then use a 2x4 as a prybar from under it, and work slowly and carefully. The W/H's don't like to be lifted from any single point, so do it carefully.

Ok thank you so much for the advice!