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My 4 gallon water heater burst at 2am in my Bloomington rental and I had no shutoff valve
So I get a call at 2 in the morning from my tenant in Bloomington saying water is pouring down her hallway. I drive over there half asleep and sure enough the old water heater in the closet is spraying water everywhere. Here is the kicker, there is no shutoff valve on the cold line going into it, just a straight pipe, so I am standing in two inches of water trying to find the main. I finally found it outside under a bush buried in mud and killed the whole house. The damage was about $3,800 in flooring and drywall plus a new heater. What I want to know is how many of you have run into rentals with no local shutoff on the heater, and do you just eat the cost of adding one or make the tenant deal with the main? I am never renting another place without checking that first.
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the_jessica28d ago
Dealt with the exact same thing at a duplex I own two years back. No shutoff on the heater line and the main was out by the curb under a pile of rocks, took me forever to dig it out while water was running through the place. After that mess I started putting a $15 ball valve on every heater I touch, it is cheap and saves you from standing in a flood at 2am. Your tenant should not have to deal with the main in an emergency like that, that is on us as owners to make it easy to kill the water fast. I check for that valve first now before I even sign papers on a place, lesson learned the hard way same as you.
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