How to Brace Your Water Heater

Here's an overview of how we support water heaters out here in the earthquake-prone San Francisco Bay Area. It's a two-stage set-up. First, you'll circle the heater tank with two strips of heavy-gauge perforated steel plumber's tape so you've got solid straps to attach braces to. You'll make the braces from thinwall conduit. Then, you'll bolt one end of each brace to a strap, and attach the other end to a wall stud nearby. As you'll see, it's pretty straightforward.

Before you begin, however, check with your building department. Plumber's tape may not be allowed in your community, and you may be required to use a tank-strapping kit instead. Installing a kit is pretty much the same as our procedure below, but you can skip the "manufacturing" steps.

Step by Step
1. Cut and attach the tank straps. Use at least two straps, three for tanks with more than 40 gallons' capacity. For each strap, wrap plumber's tape around the heater, overlapping the ends by about 2 inches. Cut the tape with tin snips, and bend the ends up about an inch. Align two holes in the bent ends of each strap and join them with a 1/4-by-2-inch bolt and a nut. Use washers under the bolt heads and nuts, but don't tighten them all the way yet. You'll need a little slack in the straps to insert two 1/4-by-1-inch bolts on either side of the tank as shown. Use washers under the heads of the 1-inch bolts, too. Note: The farther apart the 1-inch bolts are, the stronger the support for the tank. Now tighten the nuts on the 2-inch bolts.

2. Make two braces for each strap. For each brace, use a hacksaw to cut a length of thinwall conduit long enough to reach from the water heater to a stud on either side. Ideally, the brace will angle roughly 45 degrees to the wall. When you cut each piece of conduit, add an extra 2 inches so you'll have room for the flanges you'll make in the next step.

3. Create attachment flanges. Hammer the ends of the braces flat about 1 inch at each end is right. Then drill a 1/4-inch hole in the center of each flange. Bend the flanges outward at about 45 degrees.

4. Screw the braces to the wall studs. Use 1/4-by-2 1/2-inch lag screws, placing washers under the screwheads. If you're anchoring to a concrete or masonry wall, use a hammer drill, masonry bit and expanding anchors to secure the screws.

5. Bolt the braces to the straps. Slip the holes of the flanged ends of the braces over the 1-inch bolts you placed in the straps. Add washers and nuts, and fasten them securely.

Safety
If your tank doesn't already have flexible supply tubes for hot and cold water, now is the time to add them. No sense adding flood damage to earthquake devastation.

Note
If you're planning to add an insulation blanket around the heater, wait until you've completed the bracing. Otherwise, the straps will compress the insulation and reduce its effectiveness. To attach the insulation after bracing the heater, just cut notches to allow the blanket to slip past the braces.

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