Ice-maker leaked--OY!

24 years ago

OK--NOW I know why we've never (willingly) had a refigerator with an icemaker. This one came with the house. I KNEW they were an accident waiting to happen! My husband walked into one of the rooms in his basement office today--to what looked like major water leak. The wall--the ceiling--luckily only minor computer equipment was under the wet spot--and it all belongs to the business he works for. In other words--no use calling our insurance agent. WHAT a MESS. We've pulled down the ceiling where the leak was--borrowed a wet/dry vac--and I'm renting a dehumidifier tomorrow.

We are reasonably certain that there is a problem with the icemaker. There was no water leaking around the plumbing TO the refrigerator (all visible once we pulled the ceiling down)--and a decent sized puddle UNDER the refirgerator. Too bad it STAYED under the refrigerator--the puddle Imean--if it had floowed OUT instead of DOWN I might have noticed it sooner. OR--if it had happended during the week DH would have noticed it. OY. I guess I call the appliance repair people tomorrow!

It could have been worse. DH leaves for CA tomorrow--and I never venture into his lair. Imagine the mess if we hadn't found it 'til NEXT weekend!

Melanie

ps--yes, we turned the water supply to the 'fridge off.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (6)

vatmark
24 years ago
Melanie,

Sorry to hear about your water leak. It definately could have been worse. A friend of ours refrigerator had some sort of faulty valve. They awoke to about 1 inch of water on much of their downstairs. They had just had brand new tile put in the kitchen which got destroyed and all of their hardwood floors had to be replaced as well as a leather sofa and love seat. Thank god they had good homeowners insurance. The claim was around $25,000. Even though everything was paid for by the insurance company it is still a hassel that noone wants to deal with. We were in the process of building a new house when this occured and decided to put a device called a water bug underneath the fridge. It is connected to our security system. If the fridge ever were to leak water, the alarm would sound and alert us that the water bug under the fridge has sensed water. Hopefully it will never happen but it gives some sort of piece of mind. Our fridge has an icemaker too and I know they are notorious for leaking. Good luck with your cleanup.
kframe19
24 years ago
Last year I helped a friend replace his kitchen floor.

The plastic tube leading from the pump to the ice maker broke. We just figured that the pump had given up -- until the floor started heaving.

When we pulled the fridge out, it was obvious that it had been leaking slowly for a LONG time. Lots of mold, rotted floor, etc.

To cap it all off, the fridge, harvest gold, which tells you how old it was, informed us that it didn't like its world being disturbed... The compressor started making HORRENDOUS noises when it ran, and pretty much stopped cooling.
Related Professionals
Bangor General Contractors · Saginaw General Contractors · Williamsport General Contractors · Bozeman General Contractors · Cornwall General Contractors · London General Contractors · Bloomington Basement Remodeling · Rockford Basement Remodeling · Trenton Basement Remodeling · Lewiston Basement Remodeling · Manhattan Bathroom Remodelers · DeRidder Bathroom Remodelers · Philadelphia Bathroom Remodelers · North Adams Bathroom Remodelers · Tacoma Bathroom Remodelers
FrancineDesmond
24 years ago
That happened to me! The water damage company the insurance sent out said this happens all the time! I've never known anyone it happened to, but I can sure see that it must happen all the time. How often do people pull out their fridge?

I'd much rather fill ice cube trays and get water out of my kitchen faucet than have my downstairs flooded again! We were lucky and caught it early but it still flooded the pantry, under the stairs and the front entryway.

So take it from people who know! Don't get ice and water in your fridge! Well, maybe if you want to inspect the waterline every six months or so you could save yourself from problems, but who is going to do that?
sandymc
23 years ago
My condolences! This just happened to us this summer, resulting in over $20,000 in damage and a very unexpected remodelling project. This is our part-time summer place, so we were away when it all happened. Thank goodness for an alert neighbor who noticed water dripping down our windows and on the outside of our shingles. We're adding a significant sum to the insurance payment and upgrading to hardwood and tile. Needless to say, I'm paranoid about the whole plumbing configuration and wonder what's so bad about filling ice trays. It sure beats the mess we're in right now.
blffu_sina_com
15 years ago
AGICO can present you the best solutions of tailor-made in your home ice making machine making systems. Each component of our ice machine commercial is produced of SU307 stainless steel, pure aluminum alloy or PE material, so none of our ice machine fall brief of the international certification standards of HACCP & FDA. The flake ice machine is dry, pure, powderless and unlikely to lump inside the lower an area of the machines.
brickeyee
15 years ago
Never use the cheap saddle valve that comes with most ice maker installation kits.

Solder in a real ball valve with adapters for small copper tubing.

The plastic tubing is not the most reliable either.

Copper tubing is much better.

Leave a coil of copper behind the unit to allow t to be pulled out and pushed back in without disconnection anything.