a little project yesterday whipped my wrinkled ol butt.

[greybeard]

I am as my Dad used to say, 'stove up' this morning.
The 30 yr old one sprung a pinhole leak friday night....Called several plumbers but after last week's 3 day hard freeze, they're all busy thru this next week, and with a wife that gots to have her hot water... it became a DIY thing. I just ain't the doer I used to be and had heck getting the old one out and the new one up there and then began to think I would never get the flex lines run and to seal off. Old one was 50 gal tall and skinny, this one 50 gals shorter and fatter.

I don't hold much hope that this one will last 30 years but maybe it will last till I'm gone.

 

[RDFF]

Everything that I've heard about waterheaters says that the new ones are typically only good for 10 years or so. I remodeled the house 10 years ago, put in a new furnace, but not the water heater... That one was here when I came here 25 years ago, and as far as I can tell, it was maybe 15 years old then. Didn't think it wise to mess with it. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

 

[jltrent]

Good job! Mine is 18 years old and I keep an eye on it. I do have one to replace with as MIL had a 50 gallon, she never used, and I ended up with it. They usually start leaking at the worse time as no time is good.

 

[Silver]

Good job GB, that's quite a contract.

 

[MurraysMutts]

Always a pain in the butt!

As a kid I remember ONE time dad had to replace a water heater. They just seemed to last forever!

Out here, on well water, they don't last but a few years!

 

[faster horses]

I'm sorry, but this "Old one was 50 gal tall and skinny, this one 50 gals shorter and fatter,"
it took me a minute to realize you were talking about a 'what' and not a 'who'.

 

[chaded]

Looks like it's a little late to recommend a tankless?

 

[wbvs58]

If you replace the sacrificial anodes in them at the interval the manufacturer recommends they will do OK.

Ken

 

[SmokinM]

Sharkbite fittings are the ticket in those places GB.

 

[Little Joe]

If I had an electric water heater, I'd probably go with a marathon, plastic tank so only thing that goes bad are elements and they can be changed. They're also well insulated for energy efficiency.

 

[Mountaintown Creek Ranch]

Looks like it's a little late to recommend a tankless?

I have had tankless in our last 3 homes. I even have one in the barn. Can't beat them. Big difference in the amount of energy saved.

 

[greybeard]

Thought about sharkbites but evidently, both the cold water line coming from and hot line going into the wall had frozen and busted several times. Whoever did the repairs, was the worst brazer-silver solderer ever and not 1" of those lines was not covered in gobs of solder or not kinked a little in one direction or another.

 

[Walking W]

Good job for a retired guy! Mine is 20 yrs old and was put in the house when it was built. It ran on rough well water for 10 years before I switched to the much better water district when we moved in. There was a leak under the slab below the water heater the I had to fix before we moved in so I had to remove the water heater. It came out of the closet a whole lot easier than it went back in. Running the jack hammer inside the closet was a real treat. I know a soldered joint below the slab isn't kosher but that's the only way I knew how to fix it back then. I was only 58 at the time and in much better shape but I nearly couldn't move after that two day job.

 

[RDFF]

Thought about sharkbites but evidently, both the cold water line coming from and hot line going into the wall had frozen and busted several times. Whoever did the repairs, was the worst brazer-silver solderer ever and not 1" of those lines was not covered in gobs of solder or not kinked a little in one direction or another.

PEX

 

[greybeard]

Good job for a retired guy! Mine is 20 yrs old and was put in the house when it was built. It ran on rough well water for 10 years before I switched to the much better water district when we moved in. There was a leak under the slab below the water heater the I had to fix before we moved in so I had to remove the water heater. It came out of the closet a whole lot easier than it went back in. Running the jack hammer inside the closet was a real treat. I know a soldered joint below the slab isn't kosher but that's the only way I knew how to fix it back then. I was only 58 at the time and in much better shape but I nearly couldn't move after that two day job.

My sister, about 10 years ago got ready to sell her Crosby, Harris County Tx property but inspection brought to light a previously undiscovered leak under her slab that caused slab damage and ended up washing a big chasm out and slab repair/back filling cost her about $10,000. (her home insurance didn't cover foundation damage.)
That's the big thing I hate about on slab homes.

 

[Walking W]

My sister, about 10 years ago got ready to sell her Crosby, Harris County Tx property but inspection brought to light a previously undiscovered leak under her slab that caused slab damage and ended up washing a big chasm out and slab repair/back filling cost her about $10,000. (her home insurance didn't cover foundation damage.)
That's the big thing I hate about on slab homes.

I've lived in slab homes most of my life. The older ones have problems with either clay or iron pipes rusted or broken and leaking requiring very expensive and slab breaking repairs. PVC sewer lines changed that for the better. Water leaks under slab are a different animal but bad leaks should be pretty obvious unless the soil is sandy. My leak was relatively slow and was missed by the home inspection when we bought the place. I noticed the moisture coming up through the footing and even to the first few courses of brick.

 

[1982vett]

You in the city now son....did you get a permit?

 

[greybeard]

You in the city now son....did you get a permit?

Yeah, right...........sure I did. Got it installed by a city approved installer and inspected afterwards by the county inspector..right. (I'm assuming they have such things, tho they did not for the yearly required backflow preventer test.)

 

[Davemk]

I've lived in slab homes most of my life. The older ones have problems with either clay or iron pipes rusted or broken and leaking requiring very expensive and slab breaking repairs. PVC sewer lines changed that for the better. Water leaks under slab are a different animal but bad leaks should be pretty obvious unless the soil is sandy. My leak was relatively slow and was missed by the home inspection when we bought the place. I noticed the moisture coming up through the footing and even to the first few courses of brick.

It's probably a dumb question, but why are houses built on slabs in Texas? Is the soil not suitable for a foundation and crawl space? Texas is huge surely there are places that build using foundations?

 

[Rafter S]

It's probably a dumb question, but why are houses built on slabs in Texas? Is the soil not suitable for a foundation and crawl space? Texas is huge surely there are places that build using foundations?

In much of the state the soil isn't stable. I live in a almost 100-year-old house that's on blocks with a crawl space under it. This summer, when it was drier than usual, neither of my exterior doors would close all the way. I tried a soaker hose laid down along the edge of the house, but it didn't help much. Finally, this fall and winter when we got plenty of rain, they work just fine again. As you might have guessed, I wish my house was on a slab.

Basements in homes are also almost unknown in my part of the world. I think that's mostly because of the high water table in many locations. In fact, in my general area the only home I know of with a basement was built by a family with plenty of money and a wife who was unusually afraid of tornados. That house was built on a slope, so that the basement and garage were on the first level, with the living quarters above. The garage opening is at ground level in the back, and the living quarters at ground level in the front.