Water heater shows its true colors
Q: When we bought our home, our home inspector said the water heater was OK. But when we moved in, the hot water was orange at all of the faucets. So we called a service company. They said the inside of the tank was completely rusted, so we paid them nearly $2,000 to replace the fixture. When we called our home inspector about this, he said that he had operated all of the faucets, and the water had been clear at that time. He also stated that he is not responsible if something went wrong after the inspection. Is he really not liable?
A: To fairly address this situation, some basics should be explained regarding rusted plumbing and what may or may not have been apparent on the day of the inspection.
The rust-colored water that you observed could have come from a rusted water heater, from old rusted pipes, or from both. The question is why this was not apparent to the home inspector. If the house was occupied on the day of the home inspection, the plumbing fixtures would have been subject to daily use. If so, the water in the system would be clear because the system was being routinely flushed by continued use, and there would be no buildup of loose rust particles. However, if the home was vacant between the time the sellers moved out and the day you moved in, accumulated rust debris could have settled in the water heater or the pipes. If so, you would have observed rust-colored water, unlike the day of the home inspection. This may or may not have been what occurred, but it is one possibility to be considered.
Another concern is the certainty of the “service company” regarding the interior condition of the water heater tank. The inside of a water heater is not exposed and cannot be inspected. An additional concern is the $2,000 cost of replacement. A typical 40-gallon water heater can be purchased for approximately $550 to $800, and labor should be about $600 to $750. The service company’s $2,000 total was therefore considerably high.
As for the home inspector, it is surprising that he found no problems with the water heater, since most water heaters are not installed in full compliance with plumbing code requirements and in most cases can be cited for a few safety violations. Also, if the water heater was badly rusted, then it was probably old. A thorough inspection of a water heater includes an age estimate of the fixture. If the unit was old, this should have been noted in the inspection report as an indication that the water heater may have had limited remaining life.
The home inspector's statement that he is “not responsible if something is now wrong,” needs some clarification. As often stated in this column, home inspectors are liable for conditions that are visible and accessible at the time of the inspection. If something was visible, accessible and “wrong,” but was not reported, then the inspector would be liable, unless the defect involved a component that was not within the scope of a home inspection.
• Distributed by Action Coast Publishing. Questions to Barry Stone can be emailed to barry@housedetective.com.