How Fort Collins Water Heater Pros Works

What happens when you call

1. A few questions first. How old is the heater? Is it gas, propane or electric? Where is it: basement, garage, closet or attic? What is it doing? A photo of the heater’s rating label helps if you have one handy. Leaking tanks are scheduled first, and our emergency water heater repair page covers what to do while you wait.
2. Diagnosis on site. A licensed plumber checks the heater and everything around it: the venting, the gas or electrical supply, the relief valve discharge and any expansion tank.
3. Written options. Repair or replace and, if you replace, tank, tankless or heat pump, each sized for your household and set up for your elevation. If a repair is the better value, we say so.
4. You approve before work starts. Nothing begins until you choose an option.
5. We pull the permit. Every town we serve requires one for a water heater replacement. Our guide to water heater permits by town explains who issues them.
6. Installation and testing. We install to code, set the altitude adjustment where the model needs one, then test the water and gas connections, the venting and the controls.
7. Haul-away. We take the old tank away.
8. Walkthrough. We show you the water and gas shutoffs, the temperature setting and the maintenance the new heater needs.
9. Inspection. We schedule the city or county inspection that closes out the permit.

Who does the work

Every job is done by licensed plumbers and covered by liability insurance. Colorado’s State Plumbing Board requires water heater installations and replacements to be done by a licensed plumber working for a registered plumbing business, under a permit and inspection; homeowners may do their own, still with a permit, only if the home is not for sale, a flip or a rental. The state also warns that homeowner’s insurance may not cover damage caused by anyone working without liability insurance.