Years ago, my boss had a flood in his second-floor laundry room that caused catastrophic damage. Watching the stress of that situation made me swear off second-floor laundry rooms for life.
Easy to say with 26-year-old knees.
These days, I’m absolutely in love with my second-floor laundry room and nobody is taking it away. That’s why I’m thrilled that technology has caught up with a solution that’s both simple and inexpensive.
We all know water damage is one of the most expensive things that can happen to a house. We're talking about warped floors, ruined drywall and mold. It’s the kind of repair bill that makes your stomach drop. A lot of the time? It starts with a slow drip that nobody caught.
That's where water alarms come in. They are small, about the size of a hockey puck, and sit on the floor near anything that could leak. The second this alarm detects even a small amount of water, it goes off at 110 decibels, which is loud enough to hear from two floors away.
Now, you can catch and deal the leak before it does any real damage. Life goes on.
Where to put one
You want to put these near the usual suspects: behind the washing machine, under the kitchen sink, near the dishwasher and next to the water heater. Those are the four spots most likely to leak and least likely to be checked regularly.
If you have a second-floor laundry room like me, that's the one to prioritize. A washer supply hose that goes on the first floor gets water on tile. A washer supply hose that goes on the second floor gets water on your floor, then your ceiling, then down your wall to your floor again. A single failed hose connection can cause tens of thousands of dollars in damage before you even know it happened. A $29 alarm sitting on that floor is about the easiest insurance you'll ever buy.
The same goes for finished basements with a utility sink or sump pump, bathrooms with older supply lines and anywhere you've got a refrigerator with a water and ice dispenser. If there's a water connection nearby, this alarm should earn its place.
Installation takes about two minutes
Here’s the good news for the un-handmen among us: There's no wiring, tools or plumber required. You put a battery in, set the alarm on the floor and call it a day. The sensors are on the bottom of the unit, so it just needs to be flat on the ground near whatever you're protecting.
Most of these units run on a standard battery and the body is durable ABS plastic, so it can handle the damp, slightly grim environment of a utility room without falling apart.
Maintenance
Setup is easy, but don’t forget about this gadget entirely. A good rule of thumb is to test it once a year (New Year’s Day is an easy time to remember). Most water alarms have a test button. Swap the battery every year or two, or whenever the low-battery indicator trips. Beyond that, there's nothing to maintain.
At the end of the day, the math on this is very simple: The average water damage claim runs somewhere between $3,000 and $12,000, depending on where the leak is and how long it goes undetected. The alarm is $28.99 and ships same-day from PartsToday.com.
You don't have to be a DIYer to install one. You just have to be the kind of person who'd rather catch a leak on a Tuesday than discover it on a Saturday when the ceiling comes down.