Water Heater Repair in Dexter, Michigan

If you are standing in a Dexter basement looking at water around the base of the heater, here is what to do before you read further: turn the cold supply valve on top of the tank off, turn the gas knob to pilot, and call us. From there, Temprasure sorts out whether the water is condensation, a relief valve, a fitting or the tank, which is a thirty-second decision for Al and the difference between a small repair and a replacement in your 1990s–2000s subdivision homes around an 1830s village core home. Dexter is roughly 32 minutes from the shop, and leaking-tank calls go to the front of the line.

Dexter houses and what that means for water heater repair

In the historic core around Grand Street, Fifth Street and Broad Street, we work on 1840s–1910s frame and brick homes with fieldstone basements, low ceilings and ductwork that has been reworked three or four times. Some of these still have radiators on a boiler and a separate air handler for cooling tucked into an attic. The subdivisions that make up most of Dexter's housing were built between roughly 1994 and 2008. Huron Farms and Dexter Crossing are two-story colonials and cape-style homes on full poured basements, usually with an original 80 percent furnace, a 10 to 12 SEER condenser, and a water heater that has already been replaced once. Westridge and the newer phases carry 90-plus furnaces and two-stage equipment. Beyond the city line, Mast Road, Island Lake Road and North Territorial have 1970s–90s custom homes and older farmhouses on well, septic and sometimes propane, with walkout basements that bring their own moisture issues.

Basements decide a lot about water heater repair in Dexter. The 1990s–2000s subdivision homes around an 1830s village core homes in Grand Street and the historic core keep the heater next to a sump pit, and when a storm knocks out DTE Energy power the pit rises and the first thing it reaches is the burner compartment. A flooded burner means a pilot that will not light, a gas valve that may have taken on water, and a decision about whether the control is safe to put back into service. We see this every spring in Dexter. Our repair includes drying and inspecting the burner assembly, testing the gas valve rather than assuming, and raising the heater on a stand where there is room, so the next storm does not take the hot water with it.

A water heater call from Dexter is usually one of three things: no hot water, not enough hot water, or water on the floor. Which one tells us what to bring on the 19-mile drive from Ypsilanti. The homes near Dexter-Huron Metropark and out toward Downtown Dexter and Mill Creek neighborhood run almost entirely on DTE Energy natural gas, so most of what we service is a standard gas tank or a power-vent unit, with electric tanks showing up in condos and additions. Water in Dexter is hard enough that sediment and a spent anode rod shorten tank life, and we check both before recommending replacement.

Local details we plan around in Dexter

• Dexter's municipal water is softened at the plant, but homes outside the city on private wells have very hard water with iron that attacks water heater anodes quickly.
• Many of the 1990s subdivision homes have a furnace and water heater sharing an undersized masonry chimney that needs a liner when either appliance is upgraded.
• Mechanical permits in the city go through Dexter's building department, while township addresses go through Washtenaw County, and the two have slightly different inspection habits.
• Dexter sits where Mill Creek drops into the Huron River, and the lowest streets near the Cider Mill and Mill Creek Park hold fog and humidity on summer mornings. The town is far enough west that it picks up a little more snow than Ypsilanti and feels polar vortex cold snaps a degree or two harder. Hills and heavy oak cover around Gordon Hall and the metroparks shade a lot of roofs, which holds down cooling loads compared with the open subdivisions to the south.