Hey /diy/ers. Mind if I pick your brains?
My Mom's water heater fell through the floor of her trailer.
What's the easiest way to get it out of the hole and either fix the hole or come up with a more temporary solution until I can get a professional in there? I was thinking of crawling under the house with a car jack and seeing if that can hold it up long enough. How stupid of an idea is that?
Pic related, that's what she sent me.
Thanks in advance.
>>935312
Here's another picture. Not sure how old the WH is.
>>935312
>How stupid of an idea is that?
You could try it.
Maybe you can lift it high enough and then slip 2x4s under it to sit it on, where the floor hasnt fallen through yet.
Im not sure how else I would lift that thing, other than typical bear hug removal of it, which would be difficult.
Turn off water.
Empty tank
Lift it up.
As for a temp fix. A base of some sort like cinder blocks and some plywood.
>>935325
I think that's my best option right now. Draining it first, of course, and then using a lever system to lift if. Gonna try the jack first though. She lives about three hours away though so I gotta drive a bit.
>>935326
Thank you very much. Idea on how to replace the floor and stop it from happening again?
>>935332
>Idea on how to replace the floor and stop it from happening again?
Reinforce the floor with dimensional lumber. Find plywood the correct thickness to match existing floor.
>>935339
Might not be a silly idea to find out where the leak is coming from and plug that while you're at it.
Update: I had her send me a picture of the element because she said that the WH isn't working. The element is soaked. So I'm going to replace the entire thing and fix the floor while I'm at it. Thanks, /diy/
>>935312
the water heater leaked and ruined the floor. prolly need a new water heater
also: mebbe think about putting some kind of drain tray underneath, and then running a proper drain hole through the floor.
there should be a bottom drain on the tank, and the blowoff valve should have a hose that runs out through a hole in the floor anyway.
Problem is, sometimes they install a piece of PVC pipe in that hole where the edge of the pipe sticks up above the surrounding floor an inch or so,,,, so then water that falls on the floor can't run down it. you should fix that.
also we note: water heaters are not heavy at all once you drain them
>>935357
Whoa there, take your common sense somewhere else. This is DIY
>>935312
just wondering OP, is that an electric water heater or is it natural gas or propane? Might want to make sure if its a LP or gas heater that the line set going into it were not damaged thus leaking gas. I know some trailers use LP for ranges and water heaters.
>>935418
If you look at the picture its clearly electric.
>>935382
>The element is soaked.
it's supposed to be. if it isn't and you turn it on it will burn up like a fuse
Jesus H. Christ. This is why I hate inspecting trailer parks. There is always a water heater thats rusting, leaking, rotting, and causing rot and mold to all materials on that side of the trailer. Its the equivalent of a maggot infested roast in the refrigerator asking what the best air freshener would be to cover the smell.
The yellow sticker in the second pic says
>based on a 1994...
I can only assume thats the energy efficiency rating estimation. If that water heater is anywhere near 20 years its gotten about 10 years more life out of it than the manufacturer ever designed it for.
Fucking replace it now. Thats smarter than some halfassed temporary solution. In order to do that you'll want to turn it off, let the water cool over a day, drain it, disconnect all the fittings, then get your buddy to muscle it out of the hole.
Get your protective equipment out, and crawl under the house, tear out all that particle board subfloor including the subfloor you can't see as covered by the vinyl. Its the equivalent of putting toast in the toilet and that water heater has been pissing on it for months. You'll also have to replace the underbelly paper and insulation.
Replace all that rotted and water damaged material with a higher quality plywood subfloor. Put in a drain pan so in 20 years the leaking water heater will at least drain out of the house without damaging it.
Replace all the fittings/connections and pipes while you're at it. Its cheap insurance to prevent water leaks.
>I'm too poor to do all this
Fuck you, spending money is better than mold and rot literally in your mom's living quarters. Ask her if she bought a home warranty plan. Sometimes they'll assist with the plumbing bill and replacement for the water heater.
>>935479
This is good advice, but like you said, not everyone has enough to replace it.
A good solution would be downsizing the unit itself. I doubt you need a full sized water heater for a home of that size anyway.
if you empty it it'll be light enough to drag outside. it's probably broken and a fair amount of floor is going to need replaced. it's not going to be optional unless you want a text from your mother that she fell through the floor
>>935479
This. Experienced mechanic here and /diy/er of many years who has done trailer repair for landlords and home renovations for myself.
Turn off the power, then check to make SURE the power is turned off (some trailers have nigtastic wiring not according to any code on this Earth) with a meter or appropriate test light.
Make a strong fix. The trailer concerned is probably junk but you can get creative when reinforcing deteriorated areas. Post MANY pics for advice from top and bottom after removing old heater.
Do NOT forget to install a water shutoff valve before the heater connection.
That will let you have water pressure to the rest of the crackhouse while you work.
>>935382
Get rid of that POS. It has a cold water intake at the bottom. If her water is even mildly mineral, there will be tons of scale building up inside the WH tank. Because the cold water line is a the bottom, that scale will eventually tumble back into the cold line, then all kinds of unhappy problems will pop up. Switch her to a modern WH with the cold in on the top.
>>935312
>mom's trailer
If this isn't b8, you need to flip a few extra burgers and buy your mom a proper water heater. The fuck is wrong with you?
If b8, good job, I replied.
>>936742
Good point. Get a top feed heater for that reasons and because it's also more convenient to work on.
>>935388
>the water heater leaked and ruined the floor. prolly need a new water heater
that WH looks like its toast. you are going to need a new one. its leaking already and it'll only get worse, not better.
if its electric (which it looks like it is) they are cheaper and easier to replace.
>>935388
>water heaters are not heavy at all once you drain them
mostly true. unless you have a decade or more of hard water scale/minerals built up in the bottom half... they can get pretty heavy then... source: experience.
