Pro Handyman Blog

You typically don’t have to replace a water heater stand when the water heater leaks. Although to look at the stand it might seem that you have to. When a water heater leaks slowly, a homeowner is less likely to notice it and so it leaks for a long time which saturates the drywall on top of the stand. There is a lot of lumber under the stand to support the weight of the water heater.

So when would you actually need to construct a stand? I can think of a few instances such as if you are adding a water heater, or converting from electric to gas, or maybe even if the old stand was damaged enough that it needs to be rebuilt. But I wouldn’t use wood studs and drywall again…I would buy a metal stand and assemble it, rather than build one from scratch.

You can buy a metal water heater stand from any home center and they typically cost between $40.00-80.00. They come with instructions, but basically, just follow the diagrams and it is held together with bolts and nuts. It is solid when assembled, and it sure beats measuring, cutting and fastening wood studs and drywall.