Got water?

Well, we have water... just no hot water.

Earlier today Tim (who was home from work early for the day) headed into the utility room to remove an old fridge that was left there.  He noticed a small puddle by the hot water heater.  The water appeared to be coming from behind a panel high up on the unit.  He took the panel off and water started POURING out of the unit.  Suddenly, the puddle was anything but small, and spreading fast!

Tim quickly replaced the panel and turned off water to the unit, but water continued to stream from behind the panel.  We grabbed the shop vac to get the water off the floor and he connected a hose to the drain on the water heater.  Eventually the water stopped flowing.

We made some calls to area plumbers, but of course everyone was busy... and even if they hadn't been, it's the weekend so rates are time and a half.  Ugh.  (Can someone explain to me why these things always happen on the weekend!?)  Mr. B, one of our new "neighbors" who was involved in getting us into this house in the first place, stopped by and took a look.  He determined we needed to replace the water heater and offered to run and pick one up in the morning with his truck and then help Tim with the install.  He's done several installs, and we were (are) grateful for the help!

(Mr. B asked if we would be okay without hot water until tomorrow - "Everyone had their baths?"  Everyone but me!  lol Ugh... I was really looking forward to a MUCH needed shower later tonight.  I guess that will have to wait until tomorrow.)

Later, the unit started leaking again, so now the lines have been drained and we're ready for the new install in the morning.

The blessing in all of this is the fact Tim was home and happened to be in the utility room at just the right time.  God is good!!  The utility room in the one room in the house that has been least frequented since the move in.  Had Tim not planned to take the fridge out today, or even if he'd worked a full day and got to the fridge later in the day, we would have had a much bigger mess to deal with!