Repair Water Heater 

Fixing Your Home's Water Heater - You Can Do It!
By Ryan Tollefsen

You look it over and say, "I can't do it," well yes you can. How you ask? One step at a time. Are there leaky pipes? There are many ways to fix a leaky pipe. The most important first step is to turn off the water and back drain the system. If there is a water meter in the basement then there is a shut off nearby.

The hot water heater is your best source for draining the hot and cold water pipes. With it shut down, electric or gas, you hook a garden hose to the drain valve, go crack open all of the upstairs and first floor faucets, and get a sump pump to drain it in. Maybe a basement door to run the hose out, or worst case scenario, by bucket full until it won't fill them anymore.

The cold water should be able to be drained back to the hot water heater because the system has a common cross connection somewhere after the water meter. If that isn't low enough, then you will have to hope there is a stop and waste with a petcock back drain opening. Once the system is drained, your work begins.

If you have old galvanized piping you will have to find a place to get it apart. This is easily accomplished by cutting out the leaky point and then unscrewing both sides of the pipe where it was leaking. You have two male openings at that point so using CPVC a new CPVC piece can be screwed in to each and with the use of PVC cleaner and PVC glue you can fix it. You may want to use a little pipe putty where you screw in the new CPVC threaded to PVC smooth wall connectors. Then, a little sand papering of the smooth parts of both the connectors and pipe, then you apply the cleaner right as you are ready to glue. Coat the inside and outside pieces with the cleaner and immediately with glue and hold them together for them to set - which happens quickly, approximately 10 to 15 seconds. This is the best method for repair.

If you're working with copper, then you cut out the bad parts, buy a smooth wall compression fitting to male threaded coupling. If you have never soldered before, use the CPVC to repair it, same process as the galvanized. Repairing copper and the process involved is a bit more complicated and might be best left to a professional at that point. Or, you can always research farther.

Fixing a water heater in a rehab home is not as bad as you would think. Most projects that are undergone through a rehab home can be quite simple for the most part. A lot of fixes are typically not even fixes at all, they are just cosmetic defects. These types of improvements can be done within a day and sometimes even very cost effectively. The only thing is, most people do not want to deal with it.

Learn more about the http://www.akhomeshow.com Anchorage Real Estate market or search Anchorage Homes For Sale on Ryan Tollefsen's Alaska Real Estate web site.

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