I just purchased a house that was vacant for a year and had been Winterized. I lit the gas water heater pilot but the burner would not light. Now what?

After lighting the pilot... did you turn the pilot knob to ON (on top of control)..

Then, did you rotate the thermostat dial on gas valve UP to temperature (on front of gas valve)..

See the pic. Below... may help you to understand better...

Also, note that on front of heater is detailed info. About all this...

If you did all this and failed...let us know... ;)

MARK

First of course silly question, after you got the pilot light going, you moved the valve from piolot light to the "on" position.

Have you checked the electric current to the heater, have you checked the current to the themostats

These are just the first things I would check

If you let me know name and model of water heater I might be able to help you cheers