I’m doing a bathroom remodel for a customer and he mentioned that his hot water tank was running out too quickly. This customer lives on a lake, and it is common for him to have a multitude of guests, so it is no surprise that some of his visitors were experiencing a cold shower. The solution was simple, a bigger water heater. He decided to go with the biggest available, a 75 gallon monster.
Home Depot had one in stock, but I was concerned as the box was opened. However, the salesperson assured me that it was not a return and that the unit was perfect in the box. It was tremendously difficult to move the unit to my customer’s utility room, as his home is on a hill. Despite having a helper and some mover’s technology, I felt every foot.
Finally, I got the unit into the customer’s utility room and unboxed it. My worst fears were realized, as there was a large dent on the unit. I was not going to install a potentially defective hot water heater and called Home Depot. They suggested that I bring it back for an exchange, but I informed them that would be impossible as I could barely get it down a hill, let alone up the hill.
Thankfully, Home Depot sent out a crew to remove the defective unit and bring in a new one. It always pays to ask, all they can say is no. Oh, and my customer has enough hot water for a multitude. See photos below.
