Water heater let go? Forty gallons went somewhere.

The short answer

A failed water heater is a supply-of-water problem, not just a tank problem: until the cold inlet is closed, the line keeps feeding the leak. Shut the inlet valve on top of the tank (or the main), kill the power or gas to the unit, and treat the floor around it as wetter than it looks — water heater closets and utility rooms drain into subfloor and adjacent walls fast. Sudden tank failures are commonly covered perils; the worn-out tank itself is not.

What we do about it

1. 1.Stop the feed, make it safe. Cold-water inlet off, power off at the breaker (or gas valve off). An empty failed tank is a plumbing errand; a feeding one is a flood.
2. 2.Find where forty gallons went. Utility-room water finds subfloor seams, wall base plates, and the ceiling of whatever is below. We meter and map it rather than guessing.
3. 3.Dry the hidden structure. Platform, subfloor, base plates, and the neighboring wall cavities — dried to measured standard with logs to prove it.
4. 4.Document and bill the carrier. Photos of the failed unit and every wet surface before work, then an itemized scope. On covered losses we bill your insurance directly; the new water heater itself is your plumber’s scope and typically not covered.