A tank that drafts, and a pan that drains.

June sets 40 and 50 gallon tanks. Before she leaves she checks the draft at the flue and pours water in the pan to see where it goes. A pan that dumps onto the closet floor is not a finished job.

Tankless comes up on every other call. She talks about the gas line and the vent before she talks about the unit. A lot of Grafton Hill houses still have a half-inch gas pipe and a tile flue. Those houses stay on a tank. That is a measurement, not a preference she is selling.

If the tank is quiet and the anode is gone, she replaces the anode and leaves the tank. A rod is cheaper than a heater you do not need, and she will say which one she is looking at.

A leaking tank gets the water off at the heater valve first, then the main if that valve is seized. Shutoffs. If the pipe above the heater is galvanized, that is a separate conversation.