The little 4‑gallon hot water tank that served the basement kitchen and 3/4 bath finally gave up. A plumber quoted me $2200 to replace it… for a job that’s basically unplug, unhook, swap, re‑hook. My wallet said “nope,” so DIY it was. This would also give me the change to do some preventative TLC while the tank was out of the way: paint the floor and lay down leftover vinyl.
Ordering a new tank (under $200 delivered!) was the easy part. Twisting the valves off the tank ... not so much. After 15 years, they were welded on by the sheer force of time.
I texted Heather an apology for the delay. She asked if she could try. She’s half my size, but sure, why not? A few minutes later she texts back: “Got them off!” Except… the hoses didn’t fit the new tank, so she put everything back.
I understood none of this. How did she get the valves off, and why didn't they fit the new tank?
It turns out - she had disconnected the hoses from the valves, which was far more logical than me trying to twist the valves themselves off. All I needed were new valves. Ordered two for under $50 from Ferguson, and despite the holiday chaos (including one wrong shipment), everything arrived by Boxing Day.
Meanwhile, Heather had already painted and laid the vinyl like a pro. And she seemed to have zero trouble with any of the hoses. Naturally.
On The Big Day, I shut off and removed the old tank while Heather kept her dog from losing his mind. I got the big hoses on easily, but there was one small hose to the kitchen sink that I just could not get back on. My official excuse was that working blind under a sink amid a maze of pipes is not as easy as in the movies.
After too long wrestling with it, I finally asked, “Heather, can you do this one hose?”
“Sure.”
A few minutes later - done!
I plugged in the tank, she turned the water back on, and slowly it filled. It works - see the green light! And yes, I took a selfie.
A good day for learning new skills - including asking for help - and saving $1750 is never bad! See less
