Water Heater Maintenance in Maplewood
Two parts decide how long a water heater lives, and you cannot see either one from the outside. The first is the sediment that Union County’s hard water lays down on the tank floor, a layer that insulates the burner from the water and slowly cooks the steel beneath it. The second is the anode rod, a sacrificial metal stick that corrodes so the tank wall does not. Once the rod is eaten down to bare wire, the tank starts rusting from the inside with no outward sign at all.
One Visit, Once a Year
Annual service handles both. We flush the sediment out, pull and measure the anode (most need replacing around year four or five in this water), test the temperature and pressure relief valve, check the burner or elements, and inspect the supply connections and pan. Fifteen years from a tank rated for ten is a normal outcome in homes that keep this up. A year-nine failure across the garage floor is the normal outcome in homes that do not.
The same visit catches small problems while they are still repairs rather than replacements, and it folds neatly into one of our maintenance plans. The full checklist is on our water heater maintenance page, alongside everything else we do around Maplewood.
When was your tank last flushed? Call Summit Plumbing at (555) 123-4567.