10/12/2026
(2) water heaters installed last weekend & today.
First one was an emergency call, homeowner got back home Saturday evening & discovered there heater had a major leak, thankfully they had a floor drain directly below it or it could’ve caused a major flood. Tank had a crack in it somewhere down the flute line. After discussing options & telling the homeowner I don’t install box store units due to the quality of them, that Monday would be my earliest day when my supply house would be open. After a long conversation & me going over both options, she informed me that the house was going on the market within the next 12 months & she didn’t mind going with the box store unit & understood that the quality wasn’t going to be like the units we normally install.
So, we cut the cracked unit out, went & purchased a new 50 gal gas unit, expansion tank, pan, shut off valve etc. while I was in there, I also went ahead & cut out the “mess” of sharkbite fittings the previous installer had used, and re-piped everything w/ new Viega LLC fittings. I had gotten the call at 7:30, she was back up & running by 10pm. Also, we didn’t charge them any “weekend up charge” or an “emergency fee”.
Today, I’d gotten another call from a previous client, who said they’d listed the home for sale & was replacing all the appliances, and had recently put a new HVAC in so they wanted to go ahead & replace there 17 year old heater w/ a new unit so whoever the new buyers would be happy that everything had been replaced & not have to worry about anything & there new home have all new systems. Again, explained to this homeowner again that normally I install only heaters directly from our supply house but, they also said they just wanted to go with a cheaper unit & didn’t mind since they where selling the house.
I went ahead & cut the original heater out, which oddly was to the left of the utility room blocking a clean out & there main shut off valve to the home. So, I went ahead and moved the unit to the right side, extended the water lines & also installed a new expansion tank, pan, shut off etc.
Here at Bierlein Plumbing, we like to fully disclose all info & make sure our clients know what there getting & also make sure that they’re getting work done professionally, and that we ALWAYS leave the area we worked in looking better then it was before.
Reach out today, and get an estimate on your water heater replacement. If your heaters at that age where it’s done it’s job & you want to be preventative and ensure you don’t come home to a cracked tank. We’d love to help.
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📞 or 📱 (571)926-7786