Christmas Came Early..............

[Jim]

They came and replaced the heater. The one they replaced was 16 years old. :LOL2:

They are going to " bill" me. I will let you know what the damages are after i wake up from the fainting. :LOL2:

 

[Captain Ahab]

I have a friend who's house was on a concrete slab and the heater was in the attic. It ruptured while he and his wife were in Cancun on vacation. They came home to find water rushing out their doors with nearly a foot of water in their house and over half of their ceiling collapsed. :shock:

Word to the wise, when going on vacation etc., shut off the water main for the entire house and and and and shut off the heater - helps prevent this and will also save you some money - you do not need to keep that water hot while you are away

 

[poolie]

I had to have ours replaced back at the end of summer. It was a 15 year old 40 gallon gas tank. They had to add an expansion tank to bring it up to code and if memory serves me correctly the total damage was a little under a grand.

I know it wasn't what you planned to buy, but you have to admit, the water heater has got to be one of the greatest things ever made. The morning shower wouldn't quite be the same without one.

 

[bobberboy]

Makes one want to learn a little basic plumbing - I have installed 3 water heaters and saved a bundle. It's pretty easy. The hardest thing is dragging the old one up the basement stairs. And yes, always shut off your water while on vacation or even away for a 2 or 3 day weekend. My former house had bad water karma and 2 or 3 times while I was gone some water problem happened. Once it was the water heater and once it was the furnace having gone out when I was away for Christmas. When I got home it was 32° in the house. Had I not turned off the water before I left it would have been a real mess. Turning off the water when you go away is an easy way to save lots and lots of $...

 

[Andy]

Makes one want to learn a little basic plumbing - I have installed 3 water heaters and saved a bundle. It's pretty easy. The hardest thing is dragging the old one up the basement stairs.

Basic plumbing in a nutshell...... Hot on the left, cold on the right, and poop don't run uphill..... A VERY valuable tool when doing water heaters is a dolly... makes dragging them up the steps a little easier.

 

[Quackrstackr]

In Kentucky, they are supposed to be installed by licensed plumbers/electricians/gas contractors and inspected afterward. Whenever you purchase one in state, they fill out the legal paperwork at the store and the store submits it for inspection.

There are ways around it and people do it every day, but should you ever have a problem.. it could come back to bite you.

I had a set of gas logs installed last year and the installer had to call the gas company for inspection after he was finished. They checked my water heater while they were at it. They tried to give me some flack and weren't going to turn my gas back on because it wasn't up to current building codes for earthquake straps, even though it was 100% legal when installed and already inspected 2 times since the house was built 13 years ago.