The Miller House has Hot Water Again and it’s Amazing!

Today was the day. After three days of tearing out wet drywall and then replacing it with new fresh drywall. Mudding and sanding down the seams of the newly installed drywall. And then painting the walls. The new Rheems water heater had finally been installed.

After letting the last coat of white primer dry overnight. I woke up Sunday morning to make what I was hoping would be my last run to Home Depot to get a drip pan, new gas line, and new drain, I was ready to finally get this project buttoned up. While at Home Depot, I bought two different-sized drain pans cause I wasn’t sure what was going to fit in such a tight space. I also got a different Shark Bite fitting, because I had no idea that you could buy a drain line/supply line with one already attached. It blew my mind, to be honest. I know I’m a plumber for the Air Force, but I had never used anything like that before. After checking out, before I bought more stuff, and being shocked at the price tag of the few items I bought, it was time to get this new heater into its place.

Jameson and I got back home from Home Depot and after moving some junk and tools out of the way, the water heater could finally be unboxed. With the new heater unboxed and everything was out of the way, I called Bea into the garage and we lifted the new unit into place and boy did it look good. The larger of the pans I bought fit perfectly into the space and the water heater had the required spacing between the edges. The supply lines could finally be attached. Gas water heaters are new to me so here are the things I learned. You are required to have a sediment trap on the gas line, and the pan is required if there is a possibility of damage to the structure. The water supply lines attached without a hitch, as well as the heating vent. The last piece of the puzzle was to attach the relief valve drain line. This line must run to the outside of the house. So to get this installed I had to detach the other Shark Bite piece that I had installed the day before. I called my dad and asked him how to remove it, and he told me I needed the Shark Bite tool. Or that I could use a crescent wrench to push in the plastic tab. The wrench did not work, so back to Home Depot, I went.

This unexpected run allowed me to return the drip pan I didn’t use, and to also grab some PVC pipe for the drain pan so that could be brought to code as well. After some searching, I was able to find the Shark Bite tool and I could finally head back home to get some hot water to the house. Back at home I opened the package and looked at this $2 piece of plastic hoping it wouldn’t break while I was using it. It took a little convincing, but I finally got the other piece off and the relief line went on.

I opened up the instructions and followed them to the T. I turned on the gas line and used a soapy water solution to test for leaks, there were none. I opened up the cold water supply line and let the tank fill up. And while it was filling up I opened up all of the hot water sides of the faucets to let the air in the line bleed out. After the faucets ran with water that meant the tank was now full and I could light the pilot light and get this water heater going. Lighting these things has always been a bit tricky for me. I kept pressing the ignitor button, but nothing was happening. So I turned the dial back to off and walked away, letting the gas bleed off. While waiting this allowed me to take the old water heater out to the curb for bulk trash pickup on Monday. I also took out the trash cans and filled them up with all of the leftover trash from this little project. After a few minutes and another try, I was able to get the pilot light lite and the little blue light came on and the Miller house finally, after four days, had hot water again.