Thursday, April 15, 2010

Out with the Old and In with the New

Last week Brady came to my room after taking a shower and told me we didn't have any hot water. Oh great! My water heater is broken.... I have been waiting for this because it has been really really hot water for a while and I knew that wasn't a good sign. I had it repaired last year and here it needed another repair this year. I decided I would just replace it.

Later that morning we had hot water again - so that meant that it wasn't completely broken, it was probably just one element because it ran out really quickly. I called the plumber I like, Allen at Cloverdale Plumbing and scheduled an appointment. He couldn't do it until Tuesday morning because he was finishing up a re-model. That was fine, we could limp by with half a water heater. It was challenging for my teenage son who has to take a 20 minute shower-LOL! I remember those days - what a waste of time and water. Now I'm in and out in 5 minutes. Brady didn't like it one bit that he had to hurry his shower process :-D.

I ended up taking Tuesday off of work and he arrived later then expected at 10 am. It also ended up being another plumber Andrew and not my regular guy Allen. After showing all the weird stuff in my house built in 1900 with no foundation and built on boulders - yes it is true. Showing him the terrible crawl space under the house - ugh - I wouldn't go down their with all the spiders--eeeek!

We went through a couple of scenarios to finger out what to do to get my water heater up to code or up to date with the current laws. It had to have a drain pan and a drain line to take the water out of the house if it ever leaks. We looked at moving it to the room where the heater is and out of the wash room in the center of the house. That option would have made a lot of re-plumbing which equals extra cost.

I decided that I would keep it where it was and do the upgrades needed. Here is the new water heater in my wash room. PCB pipe for the drain and a draining pan at the bottom.
While I had a plumber here under the house, I asked if he would bring my turn off valve for the water system of my house up out of the crawl space, so that I could turn it off in the case of an emergency. Which I've had -  water running from a busted pipe and I couldn't turn off the water - and there was NO way I was going to crawl under the house - eeeeeek!

So, I had him bring the turn off valve up to where I can turn it off with ease. You can see it at the bottom of the water heater by the gold pipping. Yeah this totally makes me happy!!
Because my water heater is in the middle of the house, it would have been quite a big deal to have a drainage from the water heater to the outside of the house. We discussed just draining it through the drainage from my washer. He put in a new professional box for my wash water outlets and had both the water heater and the washer drain into the same drain. It worked out great and now it looks professional - I should have taken a before picture to help you understand how wonderful this is.
I love getting updates to my house - a little at a time. Next I really want a water softener. I know!! I don't have one - and need one. Maybe this summer.

I'm thrilled that everything is new, that I have a turn off valve for my water supply and I'm good for quite a few years - in a new Water Heater! Yeah!

 It was a long day - Andrew didn't get done until 4 pm. Brady was out of school (for Senior projects) and was on the computer all day. I was bored - with nothing to do but watch TV... It's weird to be sitting around all day twiddling my thumbs. I made bread, cookies and watched TV while I waited for my new water heater ..  It was a relaxful day!

8 comments:

Student Entrepreneur said...

I love getting new things for my house too - just not the price tag:) It looks great!!

kado! said...

we just got a new water heater too...the flood killed ours!

Ann Marie said...

Yay! It's one less thing to worry about.. :)

I just had those water-shut off valves put in.. and it is very nice indeed!!!

We need/want soft water too!
~~ But I'm sure our water heater will be out soon too. :(

Grateful you had some computer time again. It was nice to hear from you on my blog.. :) Wasn't sure if you were still coming around...

Zoey said...

We've had to replace our water heater when we first moved into the house (that night) and then our water softener last July I believe. Now we have a fund to pay for our 'emergencies'. Glad to hear that you had a new water heater!!!

Connie said...

So is Andrew your new favorite plumber? Sounds like he did a good job and knew what he was doing!
Isn't it interesting how we have a hard time relaxing without feeling guilty? At least you did some baking.
Not to scare you, but we lived in a 100 year old home when we first moved to this city. The foundation was made of rocks and in the spring there was a family of snakes crawling in and out of the rocks. They were harmless, of course, but it still gave me the willies! (We all know what those look like!) ;D

Valerie said...

I'm glad you were able to get so many things taken care of. It sounds like a lot of work to do in one day.

Small House said...

OH MY...we need a new water heater. No long showers here. We run out of water so quickly and it sputters and spits while it's trying to heat up. We keep putting it off, but I'm pretty sure by the end of summer we'll be in the same boat as you.

I'm glad you got to have a nice quiet, slow day. Even a day that you can be bored.

Welcome to the Garden of Egan said...

I felt so guilty when I read this post.
My hubs is a jack of all trades and I never even think about stuff like this. It's just going to get taken care of and I don't have to wait to hire someone.
I admire you.
Love you!

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