Be Careful Cleaning Your Water Heater - Home Maintenance Tips

You should always be careful when ever you cleanI got some channel locks and proceeded to turn the
out your storage tanks. I would like to share somedrainage valve on, only to find out that I had just
home maintenance tips with you that could save you abroken off the handle. I looked at that drain valve and it
lot of money. If you're planning on cleaning out yourwas something that I could replace with an ordinary
water heater, to remove calcium deposits, it's time tohose bit. This is where things get a little more
start paying attention and to put your thinking caps on.interesting. When I went to remove the water heater
It was about 20 years ago, and I had just purchaseddrain valve it was corroded enough to break it into
my first home. I was a young general contractor on asmall pieces, with out removing it from the water
mission to maintain the house that I was living in. Weheater tank.
bought the house from the government and it hadBy the time I had assessed the damage that I had
been sitting vacant for a few months as all of the localdone to the water heater and the water heater
skateboarders used the swimming pool as adrainage valve, it was time to go purchase another
community skateboard facility.water heaters. I purchased another water heater and
This should give you, a pretty good idea what theinstalled it, but I needed to know how bad the old
condition was of the house. Knowing what I knew, Iwaters heater was damaged.
decided to clean out the water storage tank, evenI took a saw and cut the waters heater in half, only to
though there wasn't anything wrong with the waterfind out that the inside of the heater storage tank was
heater. This is where you need to pay attention,clean and there wasn't any calcium deposits for lime
especially if you're a do-it-yourselfer, who's looking fordamage. I had just wasted an entire day and spent
a few home maintenance tips.around $200 for a new waters heater and it just didn't
I hooked the garden hose up to the water tank drainmake sense.
valve, but when I went to turn the drain valve on, itThe moral to this story is, "If it isn't broke, don't try to fix
wouldn't budge. I noticed that there was a little bit ofit." If you have a water heater drainage valve that
corrosion around the water heaters drain valve andwon't turn, don't force it to open. If you do, you could
this was a good sign, that the inside of the waterfind yourself in the same situation that I was in 20
storage tank could be damaged also.years ago.