Only two pictures were knocked off the wall as the plumbers eased the hot water tank down the stairs — and neither one was damaged! There were drops of rusty water left along the route and, once again, I congratulated myself on choosing that cranberry colored carpet years ago! It is the most forgiving color imaginable. And the entire tank-moving-operation could have been so much worse!
Step One in the Upstairs Water Heater Removal Project was to drain the water remaining in the forty-gallon tank — presumably forty gallons of (now) cold and somewhat rusty water if the outside overflow was an indication of what had settled at the bottom of the tank. I (hovering downstairs and out of the way) offered one of our very long garden hoses (perfect!) for draining purposes but then heard a bit of discussion between the plumbers about a window!
“You can run the hose downstairs and right out the East Door,” I called out. They looked it over and within minutes that tank was empty and could be muscled downstairs on a dolly step-by-step — which is when the pictures got knocked off and the drips occurred. When the tank was safely outside, they said, “Take a look! I think we were just in time!”
OMG! the entire seam up the back of the tank was splitting — popping out screws as we watched! I truly think Mrs. Crouch was on our side for once. Perhaps she’s super-sensitive to water having reached her demise by drowning. Whatever the reason for our narrow escape, I am thankful beyond measure.
Oh! And another thing! We thought we had turned off the electricity to that pesky hot water tank. Nope! It wasn’t the upstairs breaker switches as we’d assumed, It was the ones downstairs! So does that mean the water going out the hose was hot? I didn’t think to ask,
And another thing… the water in the sink in the bar that wouldn’t turn on Saturday was an unrelated problem — the filter in the spigot was completely clogged with rust. (I do think Mrs. C. might have had something to do with that…) Now that’s also fixed but the house and I aren’t out of the woods (or water) yet, plumbing-wise. Stay tuned.