A Hot Water Odyssey

On Saturday, our hot water heater finally died. Not died exactly, as it still heat water. More like gushed. Rivers of water slid down the garage, ending in pools where the concrete dipped and held. We'd been expecting it for awhile and weren't too worried. They are easy to replace.

Or so we'd been told.

At work, one of my job functions is to issue permits for plumbing, building, and mechanical work. Hot water heater replacement permits are easy to issue and inspections usually take place the same day the install is done-- which is usually the same day the call is made that someone has lost hot water.

We went online to the Sears website, found a model we liked, went to the store to get it, found out they didn't have it, came home, dialed the 800 number, placed the order, asked for installation, paid for it, and resigned ourselves to the fact that we'd have to wait until Monday for hot water.

It is important to note that there was an advertisement on the Sears website, under the 800 number that said, "calls placed before noon will be able to receive same day installation". Or, something to that effect. We called at 2pm, the next day was Sunday, so we figured Monday was a definite go-- and they led us to believe that, telling me that the installer would call with a time.

After a very stinky Sunday, where no one was happy, we prepared ourselves to go to work on Monday, happy that the wait was over and our water heater would be up and running by the time we were home for the day. I showered at a friends and Mike sponge bathed-- I'm convinced out of sheer stubbornness.

By 11:00am, however, I still hadn't received the phone call from the installer letting me know what time he would be there. I was getting worried, so I called the 800 number. I was assured that the order had been faxed over the day before and that the woman on the phone was sure installation would take place later, but she transferred me to the installation department just to confirm and get a time.

The installation people could not find us in the computer. THEY stated that the order hadn't yet arrived. Since I'd called it in two days before, I was getting a little high on the laurels. After going around and around, she finally told me that it was too late and that the earliest it would be was Tuesday before installation could occur. One more day with no hot water did NOT sound good. I called LJS and relayed the conversation and we hung up to contemplate separately whether we should go to Home Depot and then install ourselves.

An hour later, an employee from the Sears store called to say that she was having trouble filling the order and the earliest install date showing on HER computer was the 21st. NO WAY was I waiting that long! Crud, besides the shower, I have dirty dishes everywhere. We've been boiling water and hand-washing, but they are quickly getting away from our ability to boil water.

That phone call made up our minds for us. We cancelled the order and install and set to Home Depot this evening to pick up a hot water heater. LJS had looked online, read reviews, and picked one that was highly recommended. We got it home and he went to work installing it, noticing about half way through that the pressure relief valve had been installed backward and that he was going to have to stress the pipe to get it to the front. Something he didn't know how to do, but felt he could learn.

About an hour later, it was installed, filled with water, and heating. That's when LJS went to go check on it.

And noticed it was leaking.

From two places.

The top AND from the power source.

THE POWER SOURCE!

He switched off the breaker, and pulled off the panel. The foam wrapped around the elements was soaked with water and running down the side of the hot water heater. What are the odds that we would get the ONE in probably 1000 that had that defect?!

There's nothing you can do sometimes but laugh. Poor Meg wanted to play catch with us and all her Mommy and Daddy could say was, "Sorry, Honey, but we are on the verge of nervous breakdowns."

"What does that mean?" She wanted to know.

"Basically, Hon, it means that we need to drink a lot."

With a very confused look on her face she said, "Okay", and went about torturing the dogs by trying to play catch with them, while Mike and I attempted to formulate a plan for how to obtain hot water.