Water heater leak repair in Dallas, TX houses, apartments and rentals, from Oak Cliff to Lake Highlands and Far North Dallas. We trace the water to a relief valve, a top fitting, the spigot at the base or the tank, fix the part, and replace the heater when the tank has failed. Calls answered 24/7.
Water heater leak repairs in Dallas, TX are usually one of two jobs. When a relief valve, the base spigot or an upper fitting drips, we replace that part and keep the heater. When the steel tank itself leaks, we install a new heater at a much higher cost, so finding the source comes first.
The nipples and shut-off valve above the tank
The Census Bureau puts the median year built for Dallas homes at 1981, the oldest of the ten Texas cities with their own page on our site. Older installs often still have galvanized nipples and a gate-style shut-off at the heater, and both rust and weep with age.
Supply lines in unheated garages and attics
NOAA's 1991-2020 normals at Dallas Love Field show 23.1 nights a year with a low of 32 F or colder, and a severe winter storm once brought a federal disaster declaration covering Dallas County. A line that cracks on a hard night may not show water until the next thaw.
Hall closets in apartments, condos and townhomes
Only 244,060 of the 590,237 housing units in Dallas are detached houses, according to the Census Bureau. In many of the rest, the heater stands in an indoor closet with no floor drain, so a leak spreads to carpet, tile or the unit below within hours.
The spot a Dallas heater stands in changes how fast the water spreads and how we reach it. The repairs are the same ones described on our statewide leak repair service page.
A gas heater in a garage usually sits on a raised stand, which puts the spigot and the relief pipe within easy reach. We drain the tank down, swap the leaking valve or fitting, and check the flue and the gas connection before we relight it.
In a closet we look at the drain pan first, because a full pan usually means a slow leak that has been running for days. We fix the source, and if the pan is cracked or missing we show you before the next drip reaches the floor.
A leaking attic heater usually shows up first as a brown ring or a soft spot in the drywall below. We clear the pan's drain line, follow the drip back to the heater and repair it from the attic platform.
Steel that has rusted through can't be repaired. We drain and remove the old heater and install a new gas or electric unit, tank or tankless. A replacement usually needs a plumbing permit, which in Dallas comes from Development Services, Permitting & Inspections.
Texas treats heater work as plumbing, and each city sets its own permit rules. These are the checks worth making before anyone swaps a heater in Dallas, TX.
Dallas issues its plumbing permits for heater replacements through Development Services, Permitting & Inspections. The state plumbing board's consumer advice is to confirm with the city's plumbing inspectors, before work begins, whether a given heater swap calls for a permit plus inspection.
Texas Occupations Code section 1301.255 has the state board adopt both the Uniform and the International Plumbing Codes, lets each city amend them, and calls for a plumbing inspector to inspect the work. A new heater in Dallas has to pass the code as the city applies it.
A Master Plumber number from the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners starts with the letter M. A number that starts with A, T or J is a different license level, and a search on the board's website shows whether a license is current and has insurance on file.
Under Texas Occupations Code section 1301.051, an owner may do plumbing on the homestead they own and live in with no license required. A rental unit you don't live in falls outside that exemption, which matters in a city where most housing units are not detached houses.
These four steps stop most of the water in a Dallas closet, garage or attic. Our guide covers the first steps when it leaks for each type of heater.
The valve sits on the cold line coming down into the heater. If an old gate valve won't turn or keeps dripping, close the main shutoff where the Dallas Water Utilities line enters the house.
Turn the gas control knob to off, or switch off the breaker for an electric heater. If there is a gas smell, leave the house and phone your gas utility once you're outside.
For an attic or upstairs closet heater, look at the ceiling under it for a brown ring and set a bucket where water drips. In an apartment, tell the neighbor below and your landlord.
With the cold supply closed, opening a hot faucet lets the pressure out of the tank, and a leak at the upper fittings slows to a drip.
We pick up calls 24/7, nights and weekends included. Close the cold supply first, then call us with the heater's location and fuel type.
Call (512) 325-0362We answer leak calls from every part of Dallas, TX and from the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs around it. Four nearby cities each get a page of their own below, and other Texas cities are on our service areas page.
Nearby cities with their own page
Plano, TX housing is younger than Dallas housing, with a median year built of 1993 according to the Census Bureau. Read about a leaking heater in Plano.
McKinney, TX has the newest housing of the ten cities we cover by name, with a median year built of 2007, so many of its heaters are on their first or second tank. Read about McKinney water heater leaks.
The NOAA station at Six Flags in Arlington, TX records an average of 36.9 freezing nights each year, so garage lines there need the same freeze care. See our page on Arlington leak repair.
Fort Worth, TX wants a plumbing permit even for a heater repair, along with any change or move. Read about leak repair for Fort Worth homes.
Dallas renters, owners and landlords ask us these when a heater starts leaking.
Usually your landlord. Under Texas Property Code section 92.052, once you give notice and your rent is paid up, the landlord has to try diligently to fix a hot water device that can't reach 120 degrees. If you own the unit, call us directly.
Yes, once water reaches the ceiling, a light fixture or wiring. Close the cold supply, switch off power to the heater and keep people out of the room below. A slow drip into a working pan can wait for daylight.
Usually not right away. Shutting the cold valve and switching off the heat stops most leaks. Draining a full tank of hot water through an old plastic drain valve can scald you or snap the valve, so we drain it once the water cools.
Often, yes. When a pressure-reducing valve or backflow device closes off the supply, heated water has nowhere to expand, and the plumbing codes Texas adopts generally call for an expansion tank. The city inspector confirms what applies to your house.
Tell us whether the heater is in the garage, a closet or the attic and where you see water, and we will talk you through closing it off before we arrive.
Call (512) 325-0362