The Rat Man Cometh, and Other Wonderful Stories of Home Ownership

The water heater exploded Tuesday morning. Or was it Monday? Or was it last week?

Water, water everywhere. Along with that: rat feces everywhere.

I headed off to Fairfield to help Shawn with her procedure, as I promised, and left Sweetie here to deal. And deal she did.

The plumber from Honey Do temporarily fixed the problem by re-lighting the pilot light to the water heater and installing new pipe. He recommended that we replace the water heater (it's now 10 years old), and shore up the ventilation and strapping systems to it.

With all the water, our issues became:

1. Call an exterminator for the rats who have obviously taken up residence in the storage room downstairs.
2. Call contractor to fix what's been damaged, involving:
a. replacing heating duct insulation,
b. Paint wood inside unit with mildrew-resistant coat.
3. Prepare framework for new water heater, including venting outside up to current code and bolting frame to foundation.
4. Buy new water heater and install.

Ernie from Dan Martinez Construction came out this morning and will give me an estimate later today. The plumber will come back Tuesday; Phil will supply the water heater and parts and install.

The insulation and mildew prep will take place after the side panel has dried, probably in another week if good weather holds. In the meantime, we have 3 fans blowing in the room; they are now facing the wood.

Ernie restarted the pilot light and declared that we will have hot water in about half an hour. I had only taken one shower off-site, and wasn't looking forward to another one.

Another side project: everything in that room was destroyed, and will have to be sorted into hazmat vs. non-hazmat (that is supposedly happening today). Next week it will be hauled away; we just made an appointment for that. (See photos for sections of the yard where trash has been lain to dry out.)

Nice that Phil the Plumber helped remodel the bathroom a couple of years ago. He remembers the place. I remember his long hair.

I am now waiting for the Rat Guy. Hopefully he'll do his work and that process will be started this morning as he lays the traps.

I feel like I landed into another remodel project. Only without my permission.