CONCORD — If you discover a leak in your water heater, the first thing you should do is turn it off to prevent further leakage. However, in order to do so, you’ll need to know the correct procedure. Here’s how it’s done:
1. Turn off the water heater’s shut-off valve. Typically, this is found on the right-hand side of the tank. Grab the valve handle and rotate it a quarter-turn; this should stop water from entering the tank.
If the shut-off valve isn’t working, you may need to shut off water to your entire home (depending on how bad the leak is). Every homeowner should know the location of their home’s main water shut-off valve—it’s either just outside the home or at the sidewalk. This shut-off valve can also be used to prevent water damage in the event of a broken pipe or other major leak.
2. Turn off the gas. There are two ways to turn off gas to a water heater, the primary being the gas shut-off valve on the tank itself. Just like the water shut-off, give this valve a quarter-turn. If the valve isn’t working, you can shut off the gas via the water heater’s thermostat. Simply rotate the dial until it reaches the “Off” setting, which will extinguish the pilot light.
3. Call a plumber. Before calling, locate and write down your water heater’s model number and serial number. This information will let your plumber know what to expect before arriving.

How to Stop a Water Heater Leak

Learn how to fix a leaking water heater with expert tips. Identify causes, follow step-by-step solutions and prevent future leaks for a worry-free home.

How to Stop a Water Heater Leak by Alex Diaz

by Alex Diaz of {BR} Water Heaters Masters, Inc.

Inspecting Your Water Heater

Video: How to Shut Off a Water Heater

in the event of a leaking water heater
you'll need to know the proper procedure
for shutting it off today we're in
conquered with diamond certified expert
contributor Alex Diaz of water heaters
Masters to learn more so you've
discovered that your water heater is
leaking all over the garage so here's
some tips professional tips on how to
prevent the water heater from actually
leaking even more so we're going to
climb up
here so the first thing we're going to
look for is the actual shut off to the
water heater and most water heaters have
a shut off on the right hand side in
this case it's this yellow handle which
is a ball valve what you want to do is
you want to go ahead and grab the ball
valve and then do a quarter turn it's
called a quarter turn valve that'll stop
the water heater or that'll stop water
from coming into the water heater and
the very next thing we want to do is
we're going to step down
here the very next thing we're going to
do is we're actually going to try to
turn off the gas and there's two ways to
turn off the gas one is the primary and
the secondary so we're going to talk
about the primary the primary is this
one here it's also a quarter turn valve
so we're going to go ahead and turn that
off that'll shut the gas off the very
next thing let's say this valve is not
working we're going to go by the
thermostat so if you come down here you
have a thermostat and this thermostat
also has a capability of turning off the
gas and one way to tell where the gas
will be off there's a setting that tells
you off so you you have a pilot off
button so you want to go ahead and focus
on the off button and what you want to
do is you want to rotate this dial all
the way to the off button once you have
this off then this status light will not
continue to run now that you have the
water heater under control the very next
thing you're going to do is you're going
to get two in pieces of information
you're going to get the model number and
the serial number you want to make sure
you write that down and that way you
could call a local plumber thank you and
have a great day
to learn more from local top rated
companies visit our Diamond certified
expert reports at experts. Diamond
certified. org

Video: How To Shut Off Your Water Main

in the event of a catastrophic leak or
other water related emergency you'll
need to know how to access and shut off
your home's water M today we're in
conquered with diamond certified expert
contributor Alex Diaz of water heaters
Masters to learn more so you've
discovered that the water shut off to
the water heater doesn't work so the
next thing you do is let's say you can't
shut it off at the at the water heater
what you want to do is you want to look
for main shot off to the home and it's a
good thing to know where the main shot
off is in the home um if you don't know
where it is usually it's in front of the
house or behind a bush or usually one
way to find out exactly where the main
shot off is you actually could line it
up where the main shot off to the house
comes in and if you draw a straight line
all the way through you'll find this so
this right here is the water shot off
this turns off the entire main to the
whole house and in this particular case
this is a what's called a ball valve
shut off a full port ball valve so what
you want to do in this case you want to
turn this handle up this way that shuts
the water completely off to the home so
in case of an emergency or you have a
leak inside the house a contractor
ruptured a pipe accidentally this is
where it go this turns off the entire
water to the whole house and hope this
helps thanks
again to learn more from local top rated
companies visit our Diamond certified
expert reports at experts. Diamond
certified. org

Video: Inspecting Your Water Heater

water heaters are easy to ignore but the
truth is they should be inspected on a
regular basis today we're in Concord
with diamond certified expert
contributor Matthew hecha of water
heaters masters to learn why as a
homeowner here's some things you can
look for when inspecting your water
heater first earthquake bracing in the
bay area we have earthquakes very
important probably the most important
thing to look at make sure you have
straps a standard 30 40 or 50 gallon
water heater should have two straps one
on the lower third and one on the upper
third these straps should be anchored to
the wall and two studs or oppose
something strong or even a concrete wall
these tanks weigh over 500 pounds if
they shake loose in an earthquake and
they're not strapped in those water
lines could rip loose the gas line can
rip loose create a lot of water damage
fire all that another thing you can look
at will come up here another inspection
you can do is your connections on top
your cooling your hot lines you want to
make sure there's no moisture into water
no corrosion this is dry up here you can
see that there's no signs of any leaks
the washers must be good this is fairly
new it's only a couple years old you got
your shut off up here you can look at
that see if there's any drips any
corrosion everything looks good so we're
good up here but you could still have
another leak so what we want to do is
come down here and if it's in a pan you
want to look at the pan you may need an
inspection mirror you can you can look
behind the tank with an inspection
mirror or a flashlight or you can just
look inside the pan see if there's any
moisture in the pan if there's no pan
and look at the the floor where it's
sitting on if everything looks dry and
you're not getting a drip from your
drain valve everything looks good you're
good to go if you see a small leak could
be the drain valve or one of the flex
line is on top good to repair that as
soon as possible that could damage the
tank it could damage the substructure
those are easy repairs if you catch them
quick if you don't you may have to
replace your water here so it's
best it to inspect your water heater
likes it every six months a year would
be pushing it but I'd say every six
months keep keep an eye on it if you see
anything call your local plumber to
learn more from local top-rated
companies visit our diamond certified
expert reports at experts Diamond
Certified org
you

Alex Diaz: From Planes to Plumbing

Matthew Hechim: Water Heater Master

Companies Rated Highest in Quality and Helpful Expertise