Jdon88
New Member
OK. I have to vent and this seems like a good place to do it. I recently bought a house that came with a warranty from First American. Seems like a good idea from a buyers point of view. Went thru the house with a home inspector and saw that the water heater was 16 years old but was still functional and no obvious leaks. Inspector advised that it would probably last another 1 to 2 years but expect to replace it in the future. No problem. 3 weeks later the heater starts leaking. I call the warranty company to see if its covered, if not I'll replace it myself. I replaced one about a year ago with no issues. Warranty company says no problem, they will pay labor and heater cost but any extras are on me. They pick the contractor, first one doesn't return my calls. 2nd contractor shows up on time, takes one look and says warranty company won't cover due to age of the heater. I send home inspector report to warranty company showing it was in good working order at that time. They say OK but 2nd contractor can't do the work so 3rd contractor needs to 'diagnose' the problem. At this point (3 weeks after leak started) I ask about replacing it myself and they reimburse me. They said that is a possibility but 3rd contractor needs to diagnose first. So 3rd contractor shows up says its missing the T&P valve tube which is a coding violation and will cost $45. I think OK, its only a $10. piece of copper but no big deal. Then he tells me that he needs to install a flexible gas line in place of the hard pipe due to new heater (brad-white) is 'computer controlled'. When I question him further he admits that it is just a digital readout instead of a knob to control temp setting where the gas pipe connects. Then he says the connection is at a different height and type so I really need the flex pipe at a cost of $95. (home depot has them for $15.). Old heater (O.A. Smith) had gas inlet height of 13", new Bradford White models have gas inlet height of 13"....and he wants $145 to remove old heater....last heater I replaced the scrap yard paid me $5. for it. After several more calls to the warranty company they now agreed to pay me $445. instead of having their contractor do the job. That should cover the cost for me to do it but it took 5 weeks and a dozen phone calls to get it done. I'm going to replace it next week with Brad white 40 gal model, any truth to contractor's statement about gas tube? Looks to me like standard 1/2" dia threaded connection 13" from floor.