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Water Heater Inspection?


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sounds like something useful to start your next fire with in the BBQ or the fire place and pretend you never saw it :)

Thats what I'm thinking. My husband is going over tomorrow and will take a lookat the letter but thought I would ask. Someone else said they thought they had heard that if you repalce an old water heater with new one and have ot make any adjustments to the fixturing/plumbing/gas lines you had to have it inspected and permitted. But I would think that they would do that when you have the work done not 5 months later...

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My elderly mom in law had a new water heater installed a few months ago. She said she got a letter telling her it needed to be inspected (City of Houston). Does anyone know what this would be about? Water Heater was installed by a licensed plumber.

did she put the old one out for heavy trash? just wondering how they knew? sounds like they wanted her to get a permit.

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My elderly mom in law had a new water heater installed a few months ago. She said she got a letter telling her it needed to be inspected (City of Houston). Does anyone know what this would be about? Water Heater was installed by a licensed plumber.

...did the plumber pull the permit? Sounds like it... Next time, pay someone half as much, who does good work, and tell them you'll (not) take care of the permit...

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Regardless of how the city found out about the new heater, it should be properly inspected at this point. There are many different kinds of water heater problems, and they can be with new heaters and new installations. A common new installation problem is reversed pipes. It is a common error made by many professionals in which the cold water that comes into the tank doesn't enter via the dip tube which is supposed to deliver the cold water to the bottom of the tank. In this mistake, the cold water comes into the tank through the top where it combines with the hot water, thus cooling it. Homeowners would not normally recognize this error and would compensate by raising the temperature to compensate for the lower water temperature, thus increasing energy bills. Anyway, this is just one common error. In any case, if the permit was pulled, she needs to get a valid one. Consider if there is a future problem with the water heater that may cause damage to the house. Her insurance company will not cover any damages caused by a heater that did not have the proper permit.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Regardless of how the city found out about the new heater, it should be properly inspected at this point. There are many different kinds of water heater problems, and they can be with new heaters and new installations. A common new installation problem is reversed pipes. It is a common error made by many professionals in which the cold water that comes into the tank doesn't enter via the dip tube which is supposed to deliver the cold water to the bottom of the tank. In this mistake, the cold water comes into the tank through the top where it combines with the hot water, thus cooling it. Homeowners would not normally recognize this error and would compensate by raising the temperature to compensate for the lower water temperature, thus increasing energy bills. Anyway, this is just one common error. In any case, if the permit was pulled, she needs to get a valid one. Consider if there is a future problem with the water heater that may cause damage to the house. Her insurance company will not cover any damages caused by a heater that did not have the proper permit.

I beg to differ on how common Hot/ Cold is reversed on water heaters. Most licensed plumbers will not get this wrong. Homeowner and his drinkin' buddy on Saturday afternoon will, however. Its easy for anyone to check.... run some hot water at a faucet, and feel the connectors on the top of the heater, and if the right side connection (embossed "C" on top for Cold) warms up, then you have reversed H/C.

If there is an outstanding permit on the heater, it needs to be cleared. You can also check the status of the permit online. Start here:

https://www.pdinet.pd.houstontx.gov/permits/index.asp

Its best if you have the permit number. Searching by address sometimes does not find an existing permit.

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