Water Heater Repair in Cheverly, Maryland
Prince George's County · 24 hour emergency service
Water heater repair, replacement and tankless conversion in Cheverly, where most tanks live in the basement of a 1920s through 1950s brick house and vent into an original masonry chimney. Venting is usually the part of the job that needs the most attention.
Why people here call us.
Cheverly water heater work is mostly basement work on older brick houses, and it comes with a complication that does not exist in newer construction. A large share of these tanks are atmospheric gas units, meaning they rely on hot flue gas rising through a masonry chimney to carry combustion products out of the house. Nothing pushes them. That works when the chimney is intact, correctly sized and clear, and stops working when any one of those changes.
Every time a furnace in one of these basements gets replaced with a sealed combustion unit that no longer uses the chimney, the tank is left alone on a flue sized for two appliances, and it can struggle to draft on its own. We test for that instead of assuming. Washington Gas serves the gas side here and Pepco is the electric utility.
Beyond the venting, Cheverly tanks fail the way tanks fail everywhere: thermocouples, sediment, a spent anode rod, and eventually a bottom that gives way onto a basement floor that is frequently finished.
What Cheverly homes ask of this job.
Cheverly was platted in the 1920s and filled in through the 1950s, and the result is brick colonials, capes and story and a half houses on hilly, tree shaded lots off Cheverly Ave, Crest Ave and Forest Rd, most with a full basement holding the furnace or boiler and the water heater side by side. Those basements are why venting dominates the conversation.
The chimneys are original masonry, many unlined or lined with clay tile that has deteriorated over ninety years, and they were sized for the original coal or oil equipment rather than for a single forty gallon gas water heater. A flue that is far too large runs cold, the flue gas condenses instead of rising, and that condensate is acidic enough to work on both the liner and the metal vent connector.
The other Cheverly factor is what sits around the tank. A lot of these basements were finished at some point, and the water heater now stands next to drywall, carpet or a family room floor with no floor drain in sight. In 20785, along Cheverly Circle and the streets running toward the Landover Rd corridor, that turns a failed tank into a restoration job.
The problems that keep coming up.
- Water heaters orphaned on an oversized masonry chimney after a furnace replacement, failing a draft test and spilling combustion products out at the draft hood.
- Vent connectors rusted through at the elbow, where years of flue gas condensation have collected, usually just above the draft hood on the water heater itself.
- Deteriorated clay tile liners and loose masonry debris partially blocking a chimney flue, which often shows up first as a pilot that will not stay lit.
- Thermocouples and pilot assemblies failing on twenty year old atmospheric gas tanks, where the pilot lights, holds for a minute, then drops out again.
- Tanks reaching the end of their life next to a finished basement family room with no floor drain, where the only protection is a pan nobody ever piped.
How the appointment runs.
A Cheverly visit almost always includes the chimney. We check the vent connector for rust and adequate rise, look at the flue for blockage and liner condition, and run a draft test at the draft hood with the house in a worst case condition, exhaust fans and dryer running, because that is when spillage actually happens. We read carbon monoxide in the basement while we do it.
On the tank we take rating plate age and capacity, check the temperature and pressure relief valve and its discharge, look at sediment and the anode rod, and inspect the burner and pilot assembly. If the water heater is the only appliance left on a chimney that used to carry two, we tell you what it needs, usually a correctly sized liner or a power vent unit that does not use the chimney at all. Access down these stairs is tight, so we plan the removal path first.
Working in Cheverly.
Home Comfort Air Services has been family owned and operated since 2014, founded by Yosef, who worked as a service technician before starting the company. We are based at 9737 Mount Pisgah Rd in Silver Spring, a short run over to Cheverly by way of the Beltway or Landover Rd, close enough that 24-hour emergency service means something when a tank lets go into a finished basement overnight.
Our technicians are NATE certified, we are an ACCA member, BBB accredited with an A+ rating, and Carrier authorized. On an atmospheric gas appliance we test draft and carbon monoxide rather than eyeballing the flue. Offers are $150 off a complete new heating and cooling system and 10% off repairs for military and seniors. Maryland HVACR license MD70918.
Common questions.
My furnace was replaced and now the water heater smells. Why?
That is a classic orphaned water heater. The old furnace and the tank shared a chimney sized for both. With the furnace moved to sealed combustion venting, the tank alone cannot warm that flue enough to draft, so combustion products spill into the basement instead. It is a genuine safety issue. The fix is usually a correctly sized liner or a power vent water heater.
Is a power vent water heater a good idea in an older Cheverly house?
Often yes, because it does not rely on the chimney at all. A fan pushes exhaust through plastic pipe to a side wall, so a marginal or oversized masonry flue stops being your problem. The trade offs are that it needs an electrical outlet nearby, it makes some noise, and the termination has to sit where it will not bother a window or a walkway.
Should I worry about an old tank in a finished basement?
Yes, and it is worth acting on before it fails. A tank at the end of its life next to drywall and carpet with no floor drain is the worst version of this failure. A drain pan piped to a real discharge point, or a leak sensor with an automatic shutoff valve, costs far less than the drying and rebuilding after a rupture.