On Jun 17, 8:21 pm, JB wrote:
My 40 gal gas water heater is about 13 yrs old. Water is hot and it
works fine. The only sign of age is exterior paint starting to flake
off with rust underneath. (Its kind of strange...the flake bits are
perfectly round...like tiny polka dots.)

What is the average life of a gas water heater? I don't want to
replace a perfectly good heater with lots of life left, but I don't
want to play Russian roulette and come home from work one day to a
swimming pool in my basement!

What are the signs that its time for it to go?

THanks!

--Jeff

The plumbing expert (Richard Trethuey, SP?) who works the TOH and Ask
TOH beat once handled your question in a different way. He installed
in the clients basement a pan underneath the water heater. This pan
had a pump and float activated switch. The pump was connected to a
hose which directed the effluent either to a basement sink or above
grade. It seems like a solution which could eliminate worrying about
a falure at an unknown time, most pobably when your on vacation.
Joe G