Over the past week we seemed to be losing hot water. Looking in Yelp I saw 2nd Opinion Plumbing had good reviews. I called and spoke with Brian and got a service tech, Jesse, to come out later that day. I needed a new heating element and a thermostatic valve estimated at $800.00. Called my home warranty service and although 2nd opinion was an approved contractor ultimately my solar hot water heater was not. Jessie and Jay came out the next morning to serve the tank. After about an hour Jesse came in to tell me the heating element was corroded and welded to the tank. They had been carefully chipping away the 'ball of corrosion' and applying WD40 to loosen it. However he advised that when loosening it could break the insert and I would need a new tank. Those tanks cost $2600. I watched as they worked to unscrew the element from the tank - hard at first few tries but finally loosened with no tank damage. They replaced the element and valve and also the 'dip tube' which was corroded but did not charge me for it as it was not on the estimate - a $30 part plus labor. Nor did I get charged for the extra time they took or that they went across town early morning to pick up the thermal valve part as it was a specific valve not off the shelve in stock. They checked every sink and shower to flush out the air in the system and cleaned up like they were never there. I was very pleased as despite the $800 they did $1000 worth of parts and labor and I figured they saved me $2600 in being very careful with the tank ... and ensured my home warranty didn't charge time the $65 service call. I gave them each $20 to buy lunch as I figured least I could do. Also writing this 5 star Yelp review. Overall stellar in customer service and work. JGH
Addition: Well it gets better - when bleeding air out my pipes the noticed some reddish water which I was advised was rusting of the iron tank lining meaning the inner tank lining has a crack - tank had maybe 1-2 years of usability left. Long story short I called the manufacturer and found out I had only 2 months of warranty left on the tank. Per conversations with Jesse he convinced Bradford-White to give me a replacement tank with only a $125 shipping fee. They are coming out Tuesday 11/14 to replace the tank. This is going to cost me another $900 but it's better than $4000. If I could give these guys 10 stars I would as Jesse and Brian went to bat for me! Love these guys.....
Incidentally since they did service the tank our hot water is great - no issues. Can't wait for the new tank. JGH
Addition: Ryan and Jesse came out on Tues as scheduled and replaced the tank in a few hours. Bill was a bit less $ than quoted. All is great. Can't thank these guys enough!