Water heater behind stackable W/D

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

I have a 1930s house that was moved to a new location/foundation in the 1970s.

There is a gas water heater in the crawl space. It is getting old (about 15 years) and probably coming up on time for replacement. It sits in a dugout (that also housed a boiler at some point in the past.) I am concerned that this dugout is too deep and too close to the foundation, and may eventually compromise its integrity. There are some signs of erosion.

Therefore, I want to remove this WH and fill in the dugout. My hope is to install an electric tank WH somewhere on the main floor of the house.

Simultaneously, I want to move the washer/dryer out of the kitchen so I can gain some counter space..

There is a closet below the stairs that I have in the crosshairs for this project. In the front portion of the closet there is plenty of overhead clearance to fit a stackable W/D. Towards the back of the closet the ceiling slopes downward, but there should still be plenty of space in the closet *behind* the W/D to fit a 50 gallon water heater.

This wouldn't be permanently enclosing the WH. It would be in the same closet space as the W/D. But in order to access the WH for maintainence or replacement, the W/D would have to be moved out of the way first.

I have never had to access the water heater. If the W/D have to be moved out of the way every 15 years or so for WH replacement, this seems like an acceptable inconvenience to me.

Is this allowable? Is this advisable? Are there any concerns I've missed?

Thanks!

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Comments (6)

Architectural Notice
6 years ago
What if the WH springs a leak or needs repair?
Owen Evans
Original Author
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
I would plan on putting a pan with a drain under the WH, and a leak alarm.

I am not planning to have a wall between the WH and the W/D, so if the WH needed a repair or replacement, I would just disconnect the W/D and move them out of the way to access the WH.

I suppose another consideration would be the shut-off valve on the cold water inlet of the WH. As the water lines to the WH would run through the crawl space, I would put the shut off valve down there. The crawl space is relatively easy to move around in - about 3-4 feet clearance, except for the dugout area mentioned above, which has about 7 feet of clearance.)

Of course the power could be disconnected by a circuit breaker on the main panel.
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Owen Evans
Original Author
6 years ago
OK, According to IPC 2015 edition, the shut off valve can't go in the crawlspace because (1) it would be too far, and (2) it would not be on the same floor.

503.1 Cold Water Line Valve

The cold waterbranch line from the mainwater supply line to each hot water storage tank or water heater shall be provided with a valve, located within 3 feet the equipment and serving only the hot water storage tank or water heater. The valve shall not interfere or cause a disruption of the cold water supply to the remainder of the cold water system. The valve shall be provided with access on the same floor level as the water heater served.

Plan B: The pantry is right next door, so put the valves near the wall with the pantry, and put an access portal through the wall to reach the valves from the pantry.
boba1
6 years ago
With a "stackable" washer & dryer, there has to be two people to mount the dryer on top of the washer as well as remove the dryer from the top of the washer and THEN you have to move each unit out of the way.
recordaras
6 years ago
In our previous condo the water heater was in a ridiculous location which involved moving the washer to access it. We got pretty lucky and it didn’t have any issues while we were living there, but when we tried to look into replacing it no plumber wanted to deal with the headache. I honestly don’t recommend it - it would have been an absolute nightmare if we were dealing with an emergency situation and couldn’t get a plumber to deal with it.
recordaras
6 years ago
Here we go. There was a small access panel via den wall, but to actually take it out you had to move washer and dryer out of laundry closet and take out the “ceiling” and then lower the whole thing down.