Spent $350 on a new water heater install and it blew out after 6 months

I paid a local Bothell plumber to put in a brand new water heater back in February. By August I had brown water coming out of every tap and no hot water at all. Turns out they used the wrong anode rod for our hard water here in the area. The warranty fight has been a nightmare and now I'm out another $150 just for the diagnostic fee. Has anyone else dealt with shoddy plumbing work around here? I could use a good recommendation for someone who actually knows what they're doing with water heaters.

2 comments

2 Comments

the_mia17d ago

Did they even ask what kind of water you've got before they slapped that thing in? Anode rods are cheap and a solid plumber swaps em out based on your local water, not just grabs whatever's in the truck.

skyler_kim1517d ago

Hang on @the_mia, but plumbers have been slapping in whatever rod fits for decades and water heaters still last 10-15 years... I get that hard water eats through anodes faster, but most guys just swap it with the same one that came out and call it good. Unless you're on well water with a bunch of minerals, the difference between a regular and a powered anode is pretty small in practice. A lot of folks overthink this stuff when the real killer is sediment buildup at the bottom, not the rod type...