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Water heater roof vent Graven Water 06-15-2008
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Posted by Graven Water on June 15, 2008, 7:38 pm
I have a weird kind of leak. Water comes up through the cracks in the
floorboards when it rains.

The subflooring underneath isn't wet. So I thought maybe it's coming from
the roof. There's a water heater vent which goes through an interior
wall, near that spot. I thought maybe rain is leaking down the side of
the vent and spreading out onto a board at the bottom of the wall, and
channelled along tongue and groove channels in the flooring.

But when I got up on the roof with a tar-gun, there weren't obvious leaks
around the side of the vent. It would maybe leak a little (which I sealed
off), but it didn't look too bad.

But, is the water heater vent supposed to have a cap on it? There's a
strange 4-sided crinkly thing around the sides of the top, but no cap.
I don't understand how, even if it were lacking a cap, water could get
into the floorboards. I'd think that rain would go down into the water
heater, if it were falling into the vent - not end up in my floorboards.

The vent for my gas house heater *is* capped, though.

What should the water heater vent look like?

thanks
Laura


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Posted by Erma1ina on June 15, 2008, 9:09 pm
Graven Water wrote:
>
> I have a weird kind of leak. Water comes up through the cracks in the
> floorboards when it rains.
>
> The subflooring underneath isn't wet. So I thought maybe it's coming from
> the roof. There's a water heater vent which goes through an interior
> wall, near that spot. I thought maybe rain is leaking down the side of
> the vent and spreading out onto a board at the bottom of the wall, and
> channelled along tongue and groove channels in the flooring.
>
> But when I got up on the roof with a tar-gun, there weren't obvious leaks
> around the side of the vent. It would maybe leak a little (which I sealed
> off), but it didn't look too bad.
>
> But, is the water heater vent supposed to have a cap on it? There's a
> strange 4-sided crinkly thing around the sides of the top, but no cap.
> I don't understand how, even if it were lacking a cap, water could get
> into the floorboards. I'd think that rain would go down into the water
> heater, if it were falling into the vent - not end up in my floorboards.
>
> The vent for my gas house heater *is* capped, though.
>
> What should the water heater vent look like?
>
> thanks
> Laura

I'm not saying that the water you described is coming from a leak from
the water heater venting but . . . as for whether or not it is possible
for rain to fall inside an uncapped vent and end up OUTSIDE the vent
pipe connected to the heater, I think it's possible.

The vent piping is designed to exhaust heated gas UP, from lower to
higher, without its leaking out. It is not necessarily designed to
prevent fluid (gas or liquid) which is flowing DOWN, from higher to
lower, from leaking out. The vent pipe sections connect to one another
by overlapping, with the bottom (female) of the higher section(s)
overlapping the top (male) of the lower section(s). If rain is blown
into the vent, it can flow down the inside of the higher section(s) and
end up flowing down the outside of the lower section(s). Once on the
outside of a section, the water stays on the outside of lower
section(s).

Is there any place (attic or basement) where you can see if that may be
happening? If you can view (one of the) lower vent sections, you may be
able to see vertical traces where water has flowed . . . or not.

Posted by Johnny on June 15, 2008, 10:09 pm

"Graven Water" wrote
>I have a weird kind of leak. Water comes up through the cracks in the
> floorboards when it rains.
>
> The subflooring underneath isn't wet. So I thought maybe it's coming
> from
> the roof. There's a water heater vent which goes through an interior
> wall, near that spot. I thought maybe rain is leaking down the side of
> the vent and spreading out onto a board at the bottom of the wall, and
> channelled along tongue and groove channels in the flooring.
>
> But when I got up on the roof with a tar-gun, there weren't obvious leaks
> around the side of the vent. It would maybe leak a little (which I
> sealed
> off), but it didn't look too bad.
>
> But, is the water heater vent supposed to have a cap on it? There's a
> strange 4-sided crinkly thing around the sides of the top, but no cap.
> I don't understand how, even if it were lacking a cap, water could get
> into the floorboards. I'd think that rain would go down into the water
> heater, if it were falling into the vent - not end up in my floorboards.
>
> The vent for my gas house heater *is* capped, though.
>
> What should the water heater vent look like?
>
> thanks
> Laura

Laura,

Can you post a couple of digital pics of the roofing material surrounding
the boot of the stack?

I wouldn't waste money yet, on buying a new cap. The cap you describe
sounds similar to what I've seen. If water is getting into the vent, I
don't see how it could find it's way back out b/4 it enters the heater.



Posted by Don Young on June 15, 2008, 10:56 pm

>I have a weird kind of leak. Water comes up through the cracks in the
> floorboards when it rains.
>
> The subflooring underneath isn't wet. So I thought maybe it's coming from
> the roof. There's a water heater vent which goes through an interior
> wall, near that spot. I thought maybe rain is leaking down the side of
> the vent and spreading out onto a board at the bottom of the wall, and
> channelled along tongue and groove channels in the flooring.
>
> But when I got up on the roof with a tar-gun, there weren't obvious leaks
> around the side of the vent. It would maybe leak a little (which I sealed
> off), but it didn't look too bad.
>
> But, is the water heater vent supposed to have a cap on it? There's a
> strange 4-sided crinkly thing around the sides of the top, but no cap.
> I don't understand how, even if it were lacking a cap, water could get
> into the floorboards. I'd think that rain would go down into the water
> heater, if it were falling into the vent - not end up in my floorboards.
>
> The vent for my gas house heater *is* capped, though.
>
> What should the water heater vent look like?
>
> thanks
> Laura
>
There are different designs but the cap should prevent rain from entering
the vent pipe. Rain in the pipe can find its way onto the floor pretty
easily.

Don Young



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