Hot water tank earthquake straps: what official ones look like

With a nudge from the Emergency Preparedness Week campaign, I am slowly tackling the things that should be done to prepare for a major earthquake.

My latest project is putting restraint straps onto our hot water tank to keep it from tipping over if the ground shakes.

Since we’re in earthquake country, I thought getting the straps would mean a quick trip to the hardware store down the street. But the man behind the counter said they don’t stock tank straps since there is little demand for them.

I checked the websites of a couple of major hardware chains. No water tank straps. I phoned another hardware store, and was told that they had all-purpose metal straps with holes drilled into them, but no straps specifically designed for hot water tanks.

Then, I did the logical thing. I phoned a plumbing supply store, the one across the street from my office. They had the strap kits. I went to their trades counter (after the front counter person told me where to go) and bought a kit for the tax-included price of $30.84. The man behind the counter told me the kit meets building code standards.

The kit has four metal straps, plus a package of hardware to join them and attach them to a solid surface on each side of the tank. Two straps are to be installed about a third of the way from the top, and joined at the front of the tank; the other two straps go about a third of the way from the bottom.

I’ve read the directions and I think I can tackle the job without much trouble. But I’m setting aside a full afternoon on the weekend, just in case.

Hot water tank strap kit: what's inside the box.