When the water heater lets go
Tank water heaters usually last about 8 to 12 years. When the tank rusts through, it can dump its whole load and keep refilling until someone closes the valve. In Gainesville homes, heaters sit in garages, closets, basements, crawl spaces and sometimes attics, and an attic heater that fails will soak the ceiling below.
If yours is leaking:
- Close the cold water valve on top of the heater, or the main shutoff for the house.
- Turn off the power at the breaker for an electric heater, or set a gas heater to "pilot" or "off."
- Move what you can out of the water and take photos.
- Call for a crew to remove the water and dry the area, and a plumber to replace the heater.
Signs of a slab leak
Homes built on a concrete slab can have water lines under the floor. When one starts leaking, you may notice:
- A warm spot on the floor, if a hot water line is leaking.
- Damp carpet, cupped hardwood or loose tile with no leak in sight.
- The sound of running water when every faucet is off.
- A water bill that jumps without any change in use.
- The water meter dial moving when nothing in the house is running.
A plumber finds and repairs the leak. The restoration crew deals with the wet flooring, baseboards and drywall.
Hidden leaks in Gainesville homes
A lot of newer Gainesville homes, from the subdivisions off Dawsonville Highway and Browns Bridge Road to the neighborhoods spreading toward Oakwood and Flowery Branch, sit on concrete slabs or have finished lower levels. Water lines run under the slab or inside walls where you cannot see them, so a leak can soak flooring and drywall for weeks before anyone notices.
Water heaters are one of the most common sources of sudden water damage around town. Plenty of homes built in the 2000s still have their original tanks, and those are well past the age when tanks tend to fail. A heater in the garage may flood the garage and the room next to it. A heater in an attic or upstairs closet can bring a ceiling down. A heater in a crawl space can fill the space under the house without anyone seeing it.
Hard freezes add stress, too. Over Christmas weekend 2022, when northeast Georgia got close to zero degrees, more than 1,000 Gainesville water customers reported a pipe break or leak at home, and some of those showed up later as hidden leaks behind walls and under floors.
If your water bill climbs for no reason, check the meter with everything off. If the dial is moving, water is going somewhere. Call a plumber to find it and call us if the floors or walls are already wet. Crews cover all four Gainesville ZIP codes and the rest of Hall County.