Health & Safety: Simple Things You Can Do To Prevent Water Damage

As my former wife screamed from the house for me to “get in here now.” I thought there must be a fire in the house, and I ran from the back yard. My dog was running along beside me enjoying the sprint as I looked for smoke. We ran into the house, still seeing no […]

January 26, 2010; 3:02 PM • by Dave Daniels

As my former wife screamed from the house for me to “get in here now.” I thought there must be a fire in the house, and I ran from the back yard. My dog was running along beside me enjoying the sprint as I looked for smoke.

We ran into the house, still seeing no smoke, and I called for her. “In the laundry room,” she called back, and I ran down the hall, turned the corner to see what I thought was smoke coming from the room.

Still running, I entered the laundry room and immediately both feet went flying up in the air as I landed on my back in a quarter inch of hot water. My dog was standing there looking at me, trying to figure out if I was playing a game with her, as water drenched me. Looking at the ceiling light, I couldn’t understand why hot water was coming from the light until I got on my feet.

Looking toward the washer, I saw the water was coming from a burst hot water hose and was spraying all the way up to the ceiling light. I reached into the hot water and turned off the spigot stopping the drenching. Next, I saw the water flowing out onto the hardwood floor, so immediately I grabbed all the dirty laundry and started throwing it down to soak up the flooding water. Within a few minutes, we had used all the dirty laundry, towels, and bath mats and etcetera and successfully prevented an insurance claim.

Looking at the reason for the leak, I saw a bulged out area of the hose which had weakened and finally burst. The cold water hose was in the same condition and had the same bulging area destined to blow at a later date. The condition is very common and similar to an aneurysm on the wall of an artery, just a weakened side wall ready to explode.

Most clothes washers come with cheap rubber hoses that eventually fail. Take a look at yours and you may find one or both showing signs of weakening and bulged out areas ready to fail.

Now even if they are new hoses, it’s good idea to go to your local hardware store and make a wise investment. Purchase a set of reinforced hoses and use these to replace the other hoses. These reinforced hoses look like they have a wire wrapping around them. You can ask for assistance from a store employee in making your selection.

Burst water pipes do happen and it’s important that everyone in the house know where the water shut off is located. Most new houses have a shutoff in the garage, but some are under the house. So in the midst of an emergency, someone can quickly locate the shutoff and reduce the amount of damage by stopping the flow.

Cleaning your gutters can prevent water from backing up under the shingles and damaging your roof, and downspout extensions directing water away from the house can keep it out of the basement and crawlspace.

A few minutes spent reviewing these suggestions can mean the difference in avoiding an insurance claim and even the inconvenience of a temporary relocation while repairs are made to your home.

January 26, 2010 3:02 PM 0