Hot Water

We have a brand new water heater, is that nice?

Our “old” one was only 8 years old. Yesh.

Thursday night, I thought to myself “Seems like the water heater has been running a lot” but I wasn’t paying enough attention to determine if it was running all of the time, or just when I happen to listen for it.
Then, the wife tries to take a shower Friday (June 25) morning and there’s no hot water. I go down and look and sure enough, the water heater is sucking in water, but dripping it out the bottom, putting out the pilot and removing any chance for it to heat the water.

So I call around to around 10 plumbers in the area around my house. I leave voicemail at a few, one number was disconnected. Finally someone calls me back and says he’ll be over in the afternoon. He calls me back while I’m out getting lunch and says he can come by earlier so I get home and he’s there. I show him the hot water heater and he says its shot and has to be replaced. He goes to his van and checks the price: $840 for a new one installed. I told him I would check around and give him a call back.

After calling some more places, on the advice of my step-dad, I check with Sears. They have one for $319+$199 installation. I order that and request installation as early as possible. Saturday morning, the guy calls and confirms, and comes over nice and early, goes down stairs and informs us we purchased the wrong water heater. Nor does Sears have the “power vent” water heater we need.

So I call around some more, another place wants $900, and another $1200! The original guy says he can’t get one on the weekend and wouldn’t be able to do it until Monday. I don’t think we want to go without a shower until Monday, not to mention the wedding we’re supposed to be at in Toledo, Ohio. Finally I find the Home Depot in Livonia has one in stock, $673. So I want to order it and the guy says I have to call some 800 number, when I do, they tell me I have to call special services at home depot, so I do and they say to come in and buy it.

So I drive to Livonia and she tells me its an extra $45 because I went to the store in Livonia and the store that I buy it from doesn’t have to have it in stock so I go to the North Canton store, buy it, all before noon so that it could be installed the same day.

I get home, they call me later for installation between noon and 4pm, fine. Then they call me back, tell me the guy who was going to do it got kidney stones and someone will be here between 4pm and 8pm, but we’ll be at the wedding so that won’t work. I ask about Sunday and he says there’s a $70 fee for installation on Sundays. I ask him to split it with me since its not my fault they can’t install it on Saturday. He says he’ll call me back.

So I call the family to see who can come by the house between 4-8pm to let the plumber in. My grandma is available so I call them back to let them know I’d prefer to have it done Saturday between 4-8pm instead of Sunday and they say that they found someone for noon-4pm. Fine.

2:30pm the guy shows up, tells me its going to be an additional $125 to connect the vent and the pipes…like I’m going to tell him no so I can wait until monday without hot water, not to mention its still cheaper overall ($825 total). Fine. He does the installation, and we leave for the wedding around 4:30pm (just a little late, we originally wanted to leave at 3pm). Oh, i showered at the neighbors (thanks Thad & Debbie) and Luciana had already gone to the Aunt’s house and back.

That’s our major repair for this house and it had better be the only one for awhile longer!