water heater replacement in attic

[ilikeme]

Originally Posted by trbstang

I rue the day I have to replace my two in the attic (17+ yrs, knock on wood), and according to a co-worker who had one replaced recently, they are running about $1,300-$1,500 or so. She got a few estimates off Angies List and was satisfied. She is out today otherwise I would ask her. No way I can spend that much to install a $350-400 unit, so I will be doing it myself, but luckily I have 3 sons to help with the heavy lifting!

Good luck on it.

I just had mine replaced last week. It was almost 21! Still worked but took forever to get hot water in the sinks and showers. Also sounded like a thunderstorm was going on in the attic whenever something with a large constant draw such as a shower was running. It was so full of sediment the plumbers could not drain it with the valve at the bottom and had to pump out most of the water from the top. It still had a lot of water and was extremely heavy from the sediment when they were bringing it down the attic ladder. The new one is so quiet I don't even notice it unless the attic door is open. It is right by it and above my office.

[milrtime83]

Originally Posted by 77030

FWIW, and not that you asked, I would never own a home with a water heater in the attic.

I have had a water heater fail before, and it produced prodigious amounts of water. Even if you were home and caught it quickly, it would do a ton of damage. Imagine if you were out of town? Like we were. Fortunately, it was in a garage... Still made an enormous mess.

If you have gas, maybe go tankless?

In the attic, there should be a pan under it that drains to the outside. If it somehow cracks down the side and a big gush of water comes out you'd still be screwed, but a small leak should't be a problem.

[77030]

Originally Posted by milrtime83

In the attic, there should be a pan under it that drains to the outside. If it somehow cracks down the side and a big gush of water comes out you'd still be screwed, but a small leak should't be a problem.

The one I had fail was on a home built in 2004. Not in the attic, in a garage. It was a catastrophic failure where the cold water line went into the top of the heater. Not a drip, and no pan was going to contain it.

If something like that happened in an attic, you would most definitely be screwed.