Well, on Thurs I noticed some water in the hall, but I thought it was tracked in from outside. Then Friday morning, while I was preparing for work, the water was still there. I looked into it some more and it seemed like there was a very slow leak coming from the water heater. The water heater is the only place the water could come from. Every other source was 10-15 ft away.
Thank God and the realtor for throwing in the American Home Shield insurance to the house deal. I submitted a ticket to the website and a plumber called in about an hour. Barry from A-1 Vaughn plumbing came by yesterday at 4:30 to look the situation over.
I exaplained how I wanted the water heater moved to the garage, switched to electric, and enlarged. Then he explained how the pipe from the washer was too small (1/2″ vs 3/4″) and a new distribution line would have to be run in the attic from the hall closet to the garage closet. The hot water would take longer to reach the tap. And a seperate electrician would have to be called for the circuit. So. very little is going to change with the water heater. It will go from 40 gal to 50 gal. The next size up is 75 and I suspect that one would be to wide for the closet’s depth.
They were going to fix it today, but I want a larger heater and that requires a conversation with the home shield insurance that can’t happen over a weekend. When he told me about that this morning I asked about the flooring. The original house tile had been soaked for a few days and had flooded and dried a few times over the years. You could peel it up with you hand and it was extremely disgusting. Replacing it would take at least a day.
No problem. He came and took away the old water heater this morning. He removed one of the valves too. It was so corroded it got mushy in the pipe wrench while taking it off.
Then I went to Lowe’s and found some commercial vinyl tile. $30 for a box and $6 for glue. The peal and stick tiles were interesting, but more suited for public areas. And were a little to squishy for hold a several hundred pound water heater. There’s way more tile than I can ever use, but you never know. This is the tough stuff they use in public buildings like schools.
Right now, I’ve got a fan drying the area. It’s been cleaned several times. I used a wood chisel to scrape out high spots from old glue. Tonight, I’ll lay the tile. Giving it tomorrow to setup. Monday morning they’ll bring the new water heater.
With no water heater there’s no hot water. Tomorrow I go to Canadian for mother’s day and I guess I can get a shower and some clothes washed. It’ll be like the college days. Bring home dirty clothes.
I also asked about the non functional garbage disposal. Hopefully, they can replace that on Monday morning too. I don’t like running the dishwasher, because it backs up a little into the garbage disposal and I don’t think it’s doing any good for the dishwasher.
It will be great to have all this sorted out. I started putting things up in the garage closet. The storage space is desperately needed. Now, that it’s not waiting on the water heater the garage will be cleaner. With the garbage disposal working the kitchen will be cleaner. And the water heater closet will have new tile and be cleaned out. All of this will feel much better.
This Old HouseLaying a Vinyl Tile Floor
Installing Vinyl Tile
doityourself.com How to Lay Tile