The monster in the basement

April 2009 - One evening Monica ventured into the basement (which she was still a little scared of because Texans aren't used to being underground except for tornadoes or burials).  She came back upstairs and said that she thought it smelled more damp than usual.  So we went down with flashlights and were alarmed to find that part of the floor was reflecting back at us.  Yup, water.

For all your terlet needs

We traced the water back to the culprit - the hot water heater had ruptured.  I was immediately convinced that the previous owners stuck bubble gum on the bottom of the tank to make it not leak just long enough to sell the dump.  We killed the water line to it and immediately got on the phone to my brother who works for Ferguson - a massive national plumbing, lighting and fixture retailer - (but he tells people he sells "terlets" for a living) and ordered a new unit.  We'll be calling our boy at Ferguson many times throughout this house remodel for more orders.

Figure A - What not to do

We upgraded to a 50 gallon Bradford White Defender (because it sounds like it can kick some ass) Energy Star model from the previous bucket with a candle under it system.  Because we have natural gas service (and I had never done gas connections before), it was a little touch and go when we started checking for gas leaks.  Over a year later, my fingers are still crossed and we still have hot water, but to date, there have not been any (unexpected) explosions.