Water Heater Leak

[AJ]

Background:

Appears to be a very slow/small leak under my water heater. The outer housing is preventing me from seeing the exact spot, but water is coming out of the bottom. Very slowly, enough to get on the basement floor, not enough to create a river longer than 2 feet before it evaporates.

Question:

Is this a common symptom of a water heater problem I can fix? Or, am I about to have a catastrophic failure and need to install a new one ASAP. Ideas? Thanks.

[GrizzlyAdams]

How old is the Water Heater? If its out of warranty then it is probably time to replace it. We had a pipe crack on the top that was leaking down the side and onto the floor. Looked like it was coming from underneath. Fixed it and a year later the tank went. Probably 8 years old. Was told they don't last much longer after the warranty. Sometimes you get lucky and they last a little longer but if you are having problems now they will get worse. Our basement was flooded twice. Not fun drying it out. Best to get it checked out sooner than later. Hopefully its something minor but don't wait. Good luck

[DTro]

I would heavily lean towards saying that it's time for a new tank.

Probably corroded through.

[Eric Wettschreck]

She sounds shelled out to me.

Time for a new one.

[backlash 1]

Sometimes a small tank leak can get BIG in a hurry. Change it out NOW.

[Northlander]

I agree. I had one with a very tiny leak for about 3 months. I would just keep a small tin under it. Then one day I came home and stepped in the basement carpet and it was soaking wet. Went and checked and sure enough the hot water heater had rotted through and water was all over. I had to pull all the carpet out, fix the bottom 8" of tongue and groove and replace some things that were on the floor.

Replace it they arent that expensive and pretty easy to put in.

[jeffreyd]

"Shelled Out", wow have not heard that term since I moved from Nebraska. Brings back some great thoughts.

[zamboni]

The casings cracked- its shot.

[AJ]

That was a pretty consistent response. Thanks to all. Time to go pay the piper, I guess. What a fun purchase...

[Eric Wettschreck]

It's not really that bad. $350-ish at Menards and it's a done deal.

Granted 350-ish will buy a lot of beer but sometimes ya just gotta swallow it and pay the price.