We're in hot water now!

We limped along for 3 months on our crusty water heater, but when it started smelling funny and it became black with char, it was time to go!
 We put in a service request on our home warranty for a plumber to come out. They were out the next day and he was amazed that it was still producing hot water! As we figured, he said there was no saving it. Unfortunately our warranty wouldn't cover anything besides the tank and labor (of course), and our water heater would not pass code, which is a requirement for gas water heaters. The price tag on the whole lot was around $1500. Our portion was $861 + $60 service fee. That means we just broke even on our warranty which we paid $499 for. Oh well! I'm sure something else will break down in the next 9 months!

Crusty

Before: Black char of DOOM!

After: Shiny and up to code!