Appliances Can Cause Residential Water Damage

Many people assume that water damage, if it does happen, will come in the form of leaky roofs, maybe a burst pipe, or, in the worst-case scenario, a flood. However, there’s one other culprit for water damage that can hit a home in many different locations: the home appliances themselves. It’s possible for the items that help maintain our homes to damage them.

Here are the appliances that carry a risk of residential water damage.

Dishwashers
Dishwashers have hoses, pipes, and joints that can spring a leak. Depending on how serious the leak is and its location, it might start out as a small drip on the floor that no one can see, or it can turn into a burst that forms a pool on the floor, or, worse yet, in the walls, if the dishwasher is built deep into a kitchen counter.

Dishwashers can leak due to a break in the pipe, a gasket, or sealant erosion in some part of the mechanism. In some cases, even if it’s not a big leak, the introduction of moisture to an out-of-the-way spot can lead to a mold infestation, posing a health threat.

Air Conditioners
Water is a byproduct of air conditioners cooling a home. Depending on the type of air conditioner installed, that water may need to be carried away by pipes that run through walls and eventually lead outside, where it can safely drain. Ductless, mini-split air conditioners, for example, have individual cooling units in different rooms, meaning they require drain lines installed in the walls to carry condensation away.

Should those drain lines leak, any room with a ductless mini-split unit could leak somewhere in the wall or even ceiling. This means water damage is now possible within large portions of the residence.

Washing Machines
Today’s modern washing machines don’t use the 40+ gallons of water that older models used, but they still require large amounts to get the job done. However, washing machines are no longer confined to just the basement. It’s not unusual for many modern homes to have a dedicated laundry room on the main floor or even the second floor of a family home.

Washing machines are particularly tough on their hoses, so if you’ve never replaced them, and the device is 5-10 years old, give this some thought. Washing machine hoses draw a lot of water, so a leak or a break in the hoses or the machine itself can cause water damage quickly.

Water Heaters
For traditional water heater tanks, this is one of the most common causes of water damage due to appliance failure in a home. As the name implies, water heater tanks are large water storage units designed to hold water, keep it warm, and pump it through the home whenever required by faucets, showers, laundry machines, and others.

Faulty temperature or pressure relief valve functions can lead to bursts in the tank that can quickly damage the area.

Call Us Today For a Water Damage Estimate

If you need an assessment of water damage in your home, contact us. We can look at the damage and decide the best course to address the situation.