Pipes, Pipes, Pipes! Be they water or gas (Okay, it’s a gas line, not a pipe), but the same precautions prevail. Both homeowners and commercial property owners should take care to make sure pipes and lines are in good working order. Remember, property insurance is not to be used as a maintenance policy. The prudent owner should inspect his or her property occasionally to make sure there are no leaks, drips, or odors, in the case of gas.
Unfortunately, water damage from internal sources is becoming a headache both for the unfortunate homeowner and the insurer. It’s so convenient to have a home with several bathrooms, upstairs laundry room, downstairs wet bar, water filtration system, etc., etc. These things are great to have, but, in an aging home (and even in those homes built after 2000), appliances and their connecting pipes become prone to leakage. One homeowner was absent for an extended period of time, during which an upstairs toilet cracked… Needless to say, walls, floors, and electronic equipment all sustained damage, so repairs took several months. [source]
So, can anything be done? Yes, technology to the rescue (or, at least, perhaps a promising solution.) There are water-detecting sensors under experimentation. Here’s hoping these prove successful. While they won’t prevent a leak, they can prevent it from becoming a serious loss.
But here’s something that many people (including the author, who nearly made this mistake) don’t consider. It’s becoming increasingly common to have a laundry room on the second story of a home for convenience (after all, where do most of the dirty clothes, etc., live?). And, of course, a gas dryer takes much less energy than an electric dryer. Great!
Oops, wait a minute. You’re in California? Land of earthquakes, right? Would you rather have an electric line slightly shaken, or a gas line shaken loose? So why is that a problem? Electrical wiring is flexible enough to withstand a minor tremor; a gas line, however, might rupture leading to a possible explosion. So, if you are contemplating purchasing a new home, think twice about gas lines that might be ruptured in case of an earthquake.