wdk450
Well-known member
Gang:
We just got back last night from a 3 week escape in the Bighorn. Before leaving the house, I routinely closed all of the interior doors to minimize damage in case of fire, something I got from being in the Navy. We came home to a musty smelling house, and the pocket doors to our small (6' X 8') laundry room were stuck. When we pried the doors open we were greeted by a steambath, with water droplets on the ceiling and all wall surfaces, mildew spots all over, blistering paint, and just a little water on the floor. The suspect for all this was obviously the square electric hot water heater. Removing the lid, I found a steel re-enforced outlet hose had a very small leak with mainly steam escaping. To make matters worse, our back door to the yard had to be forced open to get air flow into the area, and now I can't close it (the wood has swollen).
This could have been a lot worse with a MAJOR pipe leak. Many years ago we had this happen in a bathroom sink connector pipe and came home to flooded floors and carpeting. I guess the bottom line is that I will now SHUT OFF THE WATER SUPPLY BEFORE WE LEAVE FOR AN EXTENDED TIME.
We just got back last night from a 3 week escape in the Bighorn. Before leaving the house, I routinely closed all of the interior doors to minimize damage in case of fire, something I got from being in the Navy. We came home to a musty smelling house, and the pocket doors to our small (6' X 8') laundry room were stuck. When we pried the doors open we were greeted by a steambath, with water droplets on the ceiling and all wall surfaces, mildew spots all over, blistering paint, and just a little water on the floor. The suspect for all this was obviously the square electric hot water heater. Removing the lid, I found a steel re-enforced outlet hose had a very small leak with mainly steam escaping. To make matters worse, our back door to the yard had to be forced open to get air flow into the area, and now I can't close it (the wood has swollen).
This could have been a lot worse with a MAJOR pipe leak. Many years ago we had this happen in a bathroom sink connector pipe and came home to flooded floors and carpeting. I guess the bottom line is that I will now SHUT OFF THE WATER SUPPLY BEFORE WE LEAVE FOR AN EXTENDED TIME.