Your water heater is above your bed.

Why it’s up there

Floor space. A forty-gallon tank in a closet is a closet you can’t use, so a lot of Houston houses built from the 1970s on put the tank in the attic, next to the furnace and the air handler.

Nothing is wrong with that while everything works. The problem is that when a tank fails, it usually fails slowly, and nobody looks in the attic.

The five-minute check

1. The pan. There should be a metal or plastic pan under the tank. Look in it. Rust stains or standing water mean the tank or a fitting is weeping.
2. The pan drain. A line should run from the pan to the outside of the house. Find where it comes out. If it’s been dripping, you’ll see a stain on the siding or the soffit.
3. The relief valve line. The pipe from the side of the tank should also run outside or into the pan. If it drips, the tank is overheating or the valve is worn.
4. The vent. On a gas tank, the metal flue on top should be firmly connected with no gaps. A loose flue can spill exhaust into the attic.
5. The age. The sticker shows the manufacture date. Past ten years, start budgeting.

When to replace instead of repair

Rust on the bottom seam of the tank means it’s done. A dripping valve or a corroded fitting is a repair. If it’s past twelve years old and needs anything at all, it’s usually smarter to replace it on your schedule than on its schedule.

An attic replacement at Six-Ten is the posted tank price plus $350 for the second person, the new pan and the drain line. Every water heater price is here.