Our water heater is 11, so the wife decided we'd pre-emptively replace it, rather than wait for it to explode or piss all over the basement. The plumber actually showed up within 20 minutes to check out what we had, and sent his crew over right after lunch! Damn fast! So they got the heater all set up in about an hour. At that point my wife remembered that the owner said we should have them check our water pressure - he thought our town was okay, but if it's over 80psi, they'd need to put a reducer valve on the pipes and a header tank on the heater. Wish we'd remembered sooner. They had to completely finish the heater to turn the water on to check the pressure. 120 psi!! So they had to drain the heater and cut into the brand new pipes over the heater to install the tank. Then they went to install the valve on our main "in" pipe, to which he exclaimed "Aw jeez! How old is this?" The house is 73 years old. Those pipes are original. "*sigh* I have to replace this whole section." In the back of a closet! Three hours total time, $600 more than they'd thought before the pressure reading. It's never just the one thing.
Coincidentally we had to replace our water heater two weeks ago. Something had gone wrong with it and it was repairable, but the guy said that the heater could last another two or three years or it could go out again in two or three months. He also suggested installing a water softener to prolong the life of any new water heater we got as well as the dishwasher and washing machine. So the next day they installed a $4000 water softener and threw in a new water heater for free.
Our house doesn't currently have a gas connection, so our water heater is electric. The other night there were a lot of dishes to do, then I had a bath. After a while I decided to stay in and warm it up more, so drained some of the water out to make space, then turned the hot tap on, only to get lukewarm water spilling over me because the hot water tank was basically drained. I miss gas hot water heating.
I feel you. My house is 90 years old this year. A few years ago I had a small problem with the sewage and, come to find out, my sewer lines were the original clay pipes. $6,500 to run right around 150' of new sewage pipe from the house to the main.
On the bright side if they hadn't checked the water pressure it could end up costing you much more further down the road, not to mention your safety could be at risk. Compromised water pipes/heaters = catastrophic flooding + electricity = Occasionally I work with "trades" guys here at work and I pick their brains whenever I can. Always good to know the basic theory behind what they are doing so I can help them better the next time I have to assist them, or just for my own benefit around my home.
Well, this isn't ancient Rome. I assumed cast iron, but they were brass, painted red for some reason.
Clay?? Wow! Were the previous owners Aztecs? Similar thing happened here many years ago. We had a clogged kitchen drain and the plumber couldn't get a snake thru them. We traced the drain pipe down into the basement floor, and he figured the pipe collapsed somewhere under (or in) the concrete slab. So he created a whole new PVC drain from the kitchen to the septic. Like I said, it's never just the one easy thing.
We have gas, and we went from a 30 to a 50 gallon tank last time (11 years ago). Nice long showers together.
Given the age of your house I wouldn't be surprised if your house has clay sewage pipes that lead to the city mains. I'm not sure if our house has them or not. The clean-out pipe is PVC, so I'm hoping that the line from the house to the street is also PVC. The downside of those clay pipes is that small roots can infiltrate the connections and eventually cause clogs.
We have our own septic, so I guess that's not a feature. Might be clay from the house to the take for all I know, but it's steel (iron?) in the house. That bigass blue thing in the middle of the basement wall is a vent of some kind. Makes a nice ringing sound when I smack it.
