Yesterday (Saturday) I was up at 4:00 AM. (Why? Who knows??) Went to the bathroom and discovered a wet spot on the carpet just in front of the door. I knew immediately what it was: a leaking water heater. I knew the WH had problems but was hoping it would hold off a bit before it "blew". Silly me! A little more investigation showed the carpet wet all around that part of the hallway. Of course, it was Saturday, so I was going to have trouble finding any company willing to come to install a new one. What to do? I sent an email to a friend of mine who agreed to come over and take a look at it. He said he'd never installed a gas WH before. I figured if he could at least turn off the gas and water to the behemoth, I could do without hot water until Monday when I could find someone to install a new one.
In short order, he had the gas and water shut off...then drained it to the driveway with a hose. (There were some very happy sparrows taking a warm bath at the end of the drive!) Next thing I knew, he had the miserable crusty thing outside...and while I mopped up and cleaned out the mammoth cobwebs from inside the closet where it resided with the water sofener, he went out to purchase a new one.
To make an all-day story shorter, he installed the new water heater (with a couple of trips to the hardware for parts) then spent an hour trying to get the pilot light ignited. (He sighs like my daughter does when things aren't going well!) My neighbor came over to offer his advice. We even called the gas company to see if they would come to light it. ("Service hours are Monday through Friday"...blah, blah.) The instant the neighbor left, the pilot ignited, and I was in hot water again! Six hours after the saga began, I sent a tired, wet, and dirty Ryan home to his wife and his dogs with a couple of tubes of Girl Scout cookies, enough money to cover the cost of the water heater, and just a little more money to cover the cost of the next time he takes his wife and I out to dinner! Thank you, Ryan!!
I have lived in my little house-on-a-slab since March of 1992. This is the FOURTH water heater that has had to be replaced in that time, possibly making plumbing/hot water the most expensive feature of the house. There have also been four carpet-floods, not counting toilet overflows and sewer backups. (Two from water heater, one from water sofener, and one from AC condensate pump.) Aarrrgh!! I did learn something new, though. According to the book that came with the new heater, there IS an annode tube in a gas water heater that has to be inspected once a year with softened water...AND artificially softened water will reduce the life of the water heater!!! (I always believed it to be the opposite...and it is, for other appliances!)
So...how was YOUR day?
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