Our water heater in the garage just failed in Arlington

[John]

Hi all. Our water heater in the garage just failed in Arlington, it split at the bottom and flooded the garage and part of the laundry room next to it. Water went under the wall into the drywall. Plumber’s coming for a new heater, but what about the wet walls and floor? Does that need special drying? I want to get this handled before it turns into a mold problem. Insurance is already notified. The heater was about twelve years old, so I guess it was due.

[Konstantin]

Yes, definitely get it dried properly, water wicks up drywall and hides behind baseboards. When our water heater went in Lake Stevens, we called Encore Construction after the plumber. They checked the walls with moisture meters and thermal imaging and found the water had traveled farther than we thought, about four feet into the laundry room. They cut the bottom of the drywall, set up dehumidifiers and fans for a few days, then patched and painted. The garage floor was fine once dried. They billed insurance directly for the mitigation. If your heater is old, have the plumber add a drain pan and a leak sensor with the new one, cheap insurance for the next time.