Intermittent (small) pooling of water under water heater...

[hrhofmann]

If you decide to wait and see what happens, you can save yourself a lot of grief if you locate an exact replacement water heater NOW. You can hopeful ly find one the same diameter and height, and with water and gas connection s that will make it possible to "slide" in the new one and have everything fit withiut needing to do any plumbing. It is much nicer to just go to a s tore and say I want a Model X water heater than to have to start from scratch to research a replacement a fter your current heater really bites the dust and you are anxious to get h ot water again....

[bob haller]

Soon the OP will be reporting his water heater started leaking a lot..

initial leaks often plug / fix themselves with rust.

the leaks are most likely at a tank fitting, like water in or out, or the thermostat gas valve control.... water runs inside the tank and out at the bottom as at first a small puddle

if a leak can do damage the poster is better off replacing the tank now, since a large leak could occur when no one is home......

my dad in phoenix had a tank leak while he was away on a cruise..

he came home to water leaking out around the front door and 2 feet of water in his home.. he couldnt open door fire department had to break a window to pump water low enough to get door open.

i think it was 15 years ago, and about 20 grand in damages.house on a slab water ruined most of the furniture

his homeowners policy insisted the new heater be relocated to the garage. which is current code in phoenix. garage but a couple feet off floor so a vehicle gasoline leak is less likely to be detonated by a water heater turning on.

for obscure reasons dad didnt want his heater relocated even though insurance said they would pay all costs. he refused and insurance said no problem, they wouldnt renew his policy and no company would write a new one..

[clare]

2 feet against an inward opening door would take a gorilla.

[bob haller]

my dad was near 70 at the time he couldnt open the door, but neither could the fire department. water at 2 feet is very heavy opening against a door

[bob haller]

when a water heater first begins leaking rust often seals the leak till it gets larger.

so intermittent leak becomes steady stream leak over time..

[trader4]

It's typical for there to be rust inside the combustion area without the tank leaking.

I doubt it.

The combustion gases are hot. The tank, assuming it's been operating, is also hot. So those gases should not be able to condense in the tank or the vent pipe near the tank. They could condense much further along and if there were a long enough pipe, flue, whatever path where it could condense, then it could run back. But even then, before it got to the bottom of the WH, it would hit hot vent pipe, the burner itself, etc and re-vaporize. I've heard drops and hissing when starting up a WH that has been out of service and had a tank of cold water. Even then, the hissing indicates that it was being vaporized and I never saw any on the floor.

My odds are on the 11 year old tank having a leak.