Why are Carbon Monoxide Detectors required for Gas Water Heater installations?
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If the flu pipe on the gas vent for the water heater was becomes disconnected, it billow carbon monoxide into the attic, or worse, back into the house. Carbon Monoxide is deadly. Carbon Monoxide detectors are inexpensive, easy to install, and required for all Gas Water Heater installs.
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Why should you use a volt meter when checking an electric water heater?
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Just because you flip the breaker off before repairing an electric water heater doesn’t mean the power is turned off. If the panel is mislabeled, the power will still be turned on. As soon as you touch the top of the heater, it might blow melted metal all over you.
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How do you find a water leak in your yard?
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Typically, on a water leak, you're going to see some sign of moisture. You're gonna see a wet spot, green grass growing in an area. It's not super difficult to find. Poke around the green spot. When you get a muddy spot at the end of your poker, it's a pretty clear indication that the water leak is close.
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What is the most common outside water leak that you see?
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In Texas we're constantly going through drought - dry spells and wet spells. That soil is constantly shifting. It causes a lot of water leaks in the exterior of your buildings. Most of the water lines from that on the exterior are PVC. Which typically breaks much more commonly than copper, PEX, or any of the other materials that we run water in.
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What is the most common inside water leak that you see?
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Definitely drippy shower faucet. You don't realize the best thing to do with a drippy faucet is fix it. The water leak is not going to drip any less. It's only going to get worse. If you don't replace that cartridge to stop it, then it's going to damage the valve body in your wall.
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Valves are made out of brass. You've got a cartridge that sits up against the back of the brass. It's rubber that seals it well. If that rubber doesn't seal it very well or just get worn out, it starts weeping through by the between the brass and the rubber cartridge.
What is the worst leak that a homeowner can have?
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Slab leaks on the drain side can be far more expensive because you cannot reroute those through the attic. They're gravity fed drain lines, typically. A lot of times we have to tunnel up under the foundation and replace or repair the pipe. The slab leak, where you have to do the drain replacement is about worst case scenario for a homeowner.
How do you get up under the foundation?
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Well, we have a tunneling crew that digs up 4 foot by 4 foot access hole. It's a 4 x 4, but you don't know how deep it's gonna have to go. You've got to dig. You've got to get dig deep enough to get under the exterior. If it goes under interior beams, it's still gotta go down further. You have to be able to get in there, turn around, and crawl back out if you need to. You need have string lights, fresh air, you need to put in fans or blowers.
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What is normal water pressure for a house?
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All your fixtures from the manufacturer are tested at 60 pounds of pressure. You’re supposed to have around 60 pounds of pressure. Some places run at 120 pounds of pressure, that's just spraying. It'll eat through most anything.
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Everything that adds additional stress is like having high blood pressure. If your blood pressure is 1.5x normal, you're probably going to need some meds. More water pressure isn't necessarily better.
There are regulators, at the manifold, in the ground, right at the meter to regulate pressure. Otherwise, you would have constant water leaks.
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Why are anti-siphon devices required on water heaters installed on the 2nd floor?
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Say the city cuts off the water, to a waterline repair and you have no water pressure in your house. Someone walks over to turn on the sink, turns on the faucet. Well, there's no water, except for the little bit of hot water that starts trickling out of your water heater. Without an anti-siphon device, that water heater can drain that water, soon as it gets below the sensor. Then the water heater can fire up, creating a fire hazard because it's got no water in it. The water heater senses that it's empty, or it just thinks it's cold. This causes a major hazard.
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Should I put in a tankless water heater?
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A lot of people ask if they should get a tankless water heater. The common thinking is that tankless water heaters are going to save them a ton of money, or they're going to get instant hot water. Just because you put in a tankless water heater on the other side of your house doesn't mean that it’s going to be faster. You're still going to take the same amount of time to get water from wherever that water heater is located to whatever fixture you turn on. Now, it will save you some gas. But if you have to retrofit a house from a tank type water heater to a tankless, there's a lot of retrofitting. You have to move water lines, increase the gas pipe sizing normally.
How long should my gas water heater last?
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The average lifespan of a gas fired water heater, is 8 to 12 years. Most people don't flush the water heater annually - like every manufacturer recommends. Anytime we get called out for an issue on a water heater that's over 8 years old, we start talking about the benefits of replacement versus repair. Once it gets to the edge of its lifespan, do you want to really put $300 - $500 into repair maintenance, or do you just want to put in a new water heater?
