Hot water

VIEWPOINT

By RALPH HARDIN

Evening Times Editor

Have you ever mentioned to a friend or co-worker an issue that you’re having? Maybe there’s a funny noise coming from underneath the hood of your car or you can’t quite find the time to properly landscape your yard? Oftentimes when this occurs, you’ll get a response like, “Oh, I know a guy!”

I have “a guy” for a ton of things these days. For years, I’ve always tried to be a DIY kind of fellow. And as a result, I’ve acquired several new skill sets. But these days, I seem to be running into a bunch of “I’s” that I either can’t or don’t feel up to “D-ing” my “Y” for one reason or another, so I’m acquiring more “guys” recently.

And let me just say, by “guy” I don’t mean to be excluding the professional ladies out there. If my air conditioner goes out, I don’t care if you’re a guy, a gal or a non-binary pal, if you can make the hot air cold again, come on over.

So, anyway, the other day, I had an exterminator over to the house. Ever since the Great Ant Invasion of 2014, Acme Pest Control has been “my guy” for that sort of thing. Well, this time around, it was a rat issue in the attic. So, I called up Acme and they sent their technician over.

Funny story: His wife grew up in the house next door and we knew a lot of the same people, so in addition to a little stroll through the attic, we got to take a little walk down memory lane while he set out traps and poison and such and showed me where they were getting into the attic.

Anyway, as he made his eagle-eyed scan of the attic, he casually mentioned, “Hey, your water heater is leaking.” And indeed it was. There was water slowly pooling along the top and edge and had already collected an inch or so of water in the little basin at the bottom.

That sounds about right here lately, where it seems to be one thing after another. And sure enough, that next morning, I went to take a shower only to find that the water was no longer getting hot. I went back upstairs and now the inch or so of water was several inches and the water heater was off.

I considered having someone come out and just look and see if it was repairable, but there’s no telling how old that unit was, so I went online and ordered a new one from The Home Depot for what I thought was a reasonable price with a promo code they had emailed me.

The water heater arrived the next day (and let me say here that I have a very hard time not saying “hot water heater,” but I do my best since, as the watermelon- smashing comedian Gallagher once said, “You don’t have to heat hot water.”). Anyway, Home Depot provided a number to call to then have someone set it up. Only after calling that number, it turns out they don’t have anyone in this area they contract with, so I had to find “a guy” to get it done.

I did briefly consider whether or not this was a DIY situation, because my Dad and I did install a water heater at our old house, but this one was A) upstairs and B) a gas heater, so I ultimately deemed it a “call a guy” situation.

The only problem is that it was Friday and everyone who does this kind of work was booked up until Monday. So… I needed a new “guy” who was available that day. I took to the internet and saw someone in one of the local Facebook groups had posted a picture of a business card for Reliable Renovation, offering HVAC, carpentry, plumbing, sheetrock, appliance repair, maintenance, janitorial, trash clean-out and other services.

The card also said “Fast & Reliable” – two words that were pretty important in my particular situation. So, I called up Reliable Renovation (the number is 901-9309800, if you too find yourself in need of some Reliable Renovation). He said he could be there in about an hour, and sure enough he was.

All in all, he took care of not only disconnecting and removing the old water heater but also installing the new one and replacing a couple of sketchy looking hoses while he was up there. And just a few hours (and a few hundred dollars) later, we were back in the hot water business.

So, kudos to Mr. Levi (I did not get his last name. I only know he’s poker buddies with the Times’ circulation manager Eddie). He was both fast and reliable. He also talked me through some of what he was doing and why he was doing is, but I’m still not sure I’m ready to DIY a water heater.

Anyway, now I’ve got a new “guy” for the next inevitable calamity, catastrophe or project, so if you need anyone for that sort of thing, I know a guy!