A very common problem is water leakage from a cloths washer, cloths washer hose or cloths washer tap. The leakage damage can be alleviated, if not completely protected, by adding a water tray with a drainage pipe under the cloths washer. A friend of mine had the water connection at the back of the refrigerator leak and had great deal of damage to the flooring in the home. Which alerted me to the fact I have the same exposure.

Does anyone have a solution to this exposure? Thanks a bunch, Uncle Dewey

Odd isn't it that most codes mandate a pan under the washing machine on finished floors but say nothing about the refrigerator? I have seen far more damage from a leaking supply to refrigerators than washers.



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The remedy in both cases is to replace the "hoses" before they age and break.

A pan under the refrigerator might cause more problems than it solves.

Under both my refrigerator and my dishwasher, there are holes drilled through to the basement. For both appliances, I have been alerted to problems by puddles in the basement.

If you don't have a basement or crawl space, just use one of many water detectors on the market. Some of them will probably even send an e-mail and shut off the water for you.

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Links to the State of Wisconsin Plumbing Code:
[docs.legis.wisconsin.gov]
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I am not a plumber.
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Another thought is water pressure. In our development a neighbor had significant water damage due to a small leak in the washer hose. When talking to the neighbor he said the insurance agent had checked their water pressure which was at 150 psi. They replaced the water control valve, but when I searched the Internet I learned that we needed a pressure relief tank as the maximum household pressure is 80 psi. So we replaced all 122 water pressure controllers (keeps incoming pressure in the 50s) with heavy duty controllers and installed 122 pressure control tanks. As most of you know when the water heater hot water is used that reheating the water causes significant rise in water pressure--thus the water pressure relief tank (thermal tank). I keep a pressure memory gauge connected so I can see what has been happening.