Hi,

Found no hot water coming from faucets, checked the hot water heater (gas) and water was coming out of the bottom. I turned off the water valve feeding into the hot water heater and turned the pressure valve, and, attached a garden hose to the drain on the water heater and began emptying the water out of it. From the output from the garden hose, I thought it was empty, but, opened the drain into a bucket and there was more water. Asked at Home Depot, they told me to open all the hot water valves in the house( I live in a bi-level) I was emptying in this fashion, and the water started looking rusty - then someone upstairs was running the sink and flushing the toilet, and the water coming out increased in pressure. I emptied some more when I went home for lunch, it looks as if the tank is refilling - Am I doing something wrong. Any advice would be helpful.

Hi Plumber101...

If anyone in the house uses cold water at a single lever faucet the cold water will flow back into the hot water and fill the water heater through the hot water pipe.

To make this easier, shut off the main water shutoff at the water meter if you can. However, DO NOT touch the main water shutoff if it is extremely old. In this case, just ask everyone to stop using water in the house until you are done installing the new water heater.

Questions? Let us know, OK?

Mark