Inconvenient!!!

[ed4copies]

Power out for 18 hours and about 14 inches of water in my basement shop.

Distracted!!! But we will survive!

Anyone know if the water heater will be permanently damaged--it is electric, about 50 gals. I expect the guts were underwater--starting to drain now, any hints on what to do when the water is gone?

 

[jttheclockman]

Use insurance and get new one. Contacts could have been corroded and at some time could stick and either not shut off or will not start. Electrical parts are not made to be submersed under water. Also not a good idea to be walking in the water because it can become a hazard. That circuit may not have tripped.

Whenever a basement is flooded it is a bad idea to be walking down there in fear of electrocution. My sister's house always got a flooded basement when we had very bad storms. I always told her never walk down there. Her good friend came over to help clean up and decided to walk down there and she said she felt tingling. I could not get there fast enough to pull the meter and she was so very lucky because the whole panel was under water. I had to replace all breakers and clean that panel before they could turn anything on. Had receptacles to replace and many other things to do. She had a gas furnace and boiler and that had to be replaced. Washer and dryer needed to be replaced. To this day I remind her friend never to do that again . My sister has since moved from that house but still she is reminded.

Mold and mildew if sheetrock walls, Soaked insulation. Pretty much alot more to be concerned about than a water heater.

OH yea by the way good luck. Hope no tools were laying in the water.

 

[mark james]

I had a business with 18" of water. Wicked up the drywall 32". We had a company come in and "perforate" the walls, place fans and dehumidifiers in each room (6). We had to have the walls cut out up to 48", all insulation removed, etc. All electrical below the water line was toast - plugged in anything and it would shock you... Didn't try a second time!

The dryers and perforating the walls were the most important. If there is not a lot behind the walls (e.g., electrical, a few well spaced holes may enable the drywall to be OK (I say with caution). For my experience, my day care center had mostly melamine cabinetry, and those were all trash after the swelled. About $55 K in renovations, my cost after FEMA Flood Insurance kicked in their portion.

I do have great sympathies.

 

[JohnU]

Sorry to hear about the flood Ed. That sucks!!! I hope it all goes down quickly for you with minimal damage. Here's a link on Heater floods.
http://waterheatertimer.org/Flooded-water-heater.html

 

[magpens]

Sorry to hear about this calamity, Ed and Dawn !!

Will be thinking about you and hoping for your safety, etc. !!

( This is not what you really can call "Casual Conversation: !! )

 

[Charlie_W]

I would push for replacing the water heater. In addition to John's comments, the water is between the tank and outer jacket. Regardless of what type of insulation is in the water heater, water has no place there.
Good luck.

 

[monophoto]

Take advantage of the catastrophe to replace the water heater with a tankless unit. More efficient, newer (so fewer years until it wears out), and tankless water heaters are wall mounted so that they will be protected against future basement flooding (unless it is much worse than 18").

 

[Penchant 4]

Even if the water did not reach the heating elements, the insulation between the liner and the outer skin is probably no good. If you consider tankless, do the research. They often, (always, if the water supply is highly mineralized) also require conditioning to remove the minerals before the water gets to the tankless unit.

Sorry to hear about this happening to you. Best of luck in getting it resolved.

 

[DrD]

Man, sorry to hear of your dilemma! Ed, in all seriousness, the next thing I would do is get my insurance man out to look at it. If there is insurance coverage - or not, my next call would be to Serve-Pro. I've used them twice - once after a furnace fire, and the other after tornado damage and it was nice; they restored everything back to normal.

 

[wolf creek knives]

Take advantage of the catastrophe to replace the water heater with a tankless unit. More efficient, newer (so fewer years until it wears out), and tankless water heaters are wall mounted so that they will be protected against future basement flooding (unless it is much worse than 18").

Even if the water did not reach the heating elements, the insulation between the liner and the outer skin is probably no good. If you consider tankless, do the research. They often, (always, if the water supply is highly mineralized) also require conditioning to remove the minerals before the water gets to the tankless unit.

Sorry to hear about this happening to you. Best of luck in getting it resolved.

I highly recommend a tankless heater. I've had mine for over 6 years and it's been no trouble. I'm on a well and I do have an in-line filter (cost around $10.00 every three months for the filter) that I had put in and the filters are available at Lowes or Home Depot. There is a flushing system the plumbers can do but I haven't had to have mine flushed until this year, and that's just for preventive work. I've never run out of hot water with this system although my system is propane I can't speak to an electric system. But, it's worth looking into. Sorry to hear about your problems and I hope you get back to normal soon. Best of luck.

 

[monophoto]

They often, (always, if the water supply is highly mineralized) also require conditioning to remove the minerals before the water gets to the tankless unit.

YMMV, but in our area, putting in a water softener is a wise move regardless of the kind of water heater you choose. In our former home, we had an electric water heater, and had to replace the heating element (always the bottom element because that's the one that does most of the work) every two or three years. The problem is that minerals from the water plate out on the heating element, causing it to overheat and eventually burn out. Heating elements aren't expensive, and replacing them is a simple DIY project, but I found that getting the seal around the heating element to hold back water pressure was a hit or miss situation. Lots of bad words were said - - -

Our new home came with a gas water heater. We had a water softener installed even before we moved in, and our water heater lasted 18 years before we proactively replaced it. We've only had the tankless unit for a few months - we see a reduction in our gas bill due to the improved efficiency, but I understand that they do require more maintenance than tank-style systems. Our kids are grown, but if you have teenagers who take endless showers, a tankless system is an asset because they never run out of hot water.

We also have a reverse-osmosis drinking water filter system that feeds a separate tap in the kitchen. That was also a great investment - its amazing how good coffee tastes when the flavor isn't distorted by bad flavors in the water. Those systems do require maintenance, but its a simply DIY project to replace the filter set once a year.

 

[wood128]

Sounds more like a living in Florida experience, except we don't have basements. Get a new water heater , tankless and get a pump to get that water out . Beware of mold buildup !! Use your insurance to get things fixed the correct way. Not worth the risk for future problems in your basement/shop and maybe health issues. Take care Ed and Dawn and I will be praying for you both.

 

[Displaced Canadian]

Most local codes require wiring be replaced if it was underwater.

 

[leehljp]

And another "Tankless" recommendation. When we lived overseas, we had a tankless at the kitchen, one each of the 3 bathrooms too. INSTANT hot water, no wasted cold water running to get to the hot. Never ran out. Loved it. IN that high cost environment (country) the individual tankless paid for themselves in a couple of years by the savings of not running for 15 to 30 seconds to get to the hot.

 

[ed4copies]

Today, the water is pumped out, just a few small puddles that are now "down the drain". Fans running, no real smell, lots of clean up to do (my shop was not neat, everything that can float moved, so I have a lot of cleaning--only one wall was "finished", I will probably just remove it and go back to empty basement look--could have been much worse.

 

[howsitwork]

Ed sorry to hear of the problem, glad you are both safe.

just to add to the above beware of mould and fungal growth over next few weeks / months even worse than dust for your lungs and health.

Over here they call tankless systems combi boilers and when we change I'm moving to one of those but current one works fine so .... not yet.

 

[Lucky2]

Ed, I'm sorry to read about your basement water issue, I personally know what a nightmare it can be. And to call it "inconvenient!!!", is a lot more mild then I thought it was. I went through it twice in my previous residence, and the basement was completely finished. And on both occasions, I was away from home and my EX had to handle the mess. To say that she wasn't happy when I called her, would be a huge understatement. I agree with the removal of the water heater, and any other electrical items that were submerged. Plus, any drywall or insulation that came in contact with the water.If there was drywall on the wall that was effected, it with have to be removed also. There is nothing much worse for supporting the growth of mold, you don't want to inhale those mold spores. If there was enough damage contact your insurance company. If not, don't even mention it to them, they don't need to know about it if you are not making a claim. And if the insurance companies you deal with, are like the ones around here. They are always looking for a reason to either drop covering you, or, hit you with an insurance up-charge. Take care, and good luck with whatever you decide to do to clean this mess up.

Len