Residential & Commercial

Construction, Maintenance and Handyman Services

Drain the hot water heater for longer life and more efficient operation

All hot water heaters that have a tank build up sediment on the bottom of the tank.

Some units are designed to help prevent sediment buildup but none are perfect.

Performing this every year will help lower energy costs and prolong the life of you r water heater.

Step 1:

Turn off the power to the water heater at your breaker box. The heating elements will burn up if left on while draining water.

Gas units: turn off to only run pilot.

Step 2:

Find the drain on the water heater. It will be near the bottom of the tank and have threads just like an outside water bib you hook a garden hose to.

There is only one of them and if you can't attach a garden hose to it, it's not the drain, keep looking.

Step 3:

Attach a garden hose to the drain you just located. Run the hose outside so it drains in a harmless area.

Step 4:

Open the pressure relief valve (near top of unit) will be a lever you just flip from a down position to a straight up position.

These typically have a flip lever that flips 180 degrees. 90 degrees is open and 0 and 180 degrees is closed.

Step 5:

Open the drain just like you would turn on your  water hose. Let this water drain for about 5 minutes.

Step 6:

Finishing up: Go back through the list backwards and undo everything you did to drain the tank.

Wait a few minutes for the tank to fill completely before turning the power back on and you are done.

This is one of many services offered under our  Annual Maintenance Plan.

External Unit Maintenance

Step 1

 Inspect lines for damage and pipe insulation issues.

Pipe insulation is cheap and easy to replace. Simply remove a sample piece

and take it to your home improvement store for sizing, then install new piece.

Step 2

Turn the unit off

Step 3

Remove fan cover if possible.

Step 4

With a water hose spray the radiator style fin with water from a garden hose.

Spray from the inside of the unit to push debris out of the unit.

Step 5

Install the fan cover then restore power to the unit.

Internal Maintenance

Step 1

Keep clean filters installed

With the advancement of cell phones, you just might want to program this into your calendar as a reminder

There are several companies that sell wand attachments that connects to a

 garden hose and allows you to clean out your gutters without ladders or having to

 climb on your roof. This will let you clean out your gutters as often as you like.