Yes. We provide same-day and emergency water heater replacement, and our dispatch runs around the clock. In most cases a failed heater can be replaced the same day you call, provided you call early enough for us to source the right unit.
First Step: Stop the Damage
If your water heater is actively leaking, the plumbing is now the second priority. Limiting water damage is the first.
Shut off the water supply at the valve on the cold inlet at the top of the tank. If that valve will not turn or is corroded, shut off the main. Then kill the energy source: the breaker for an electric unit, or the gas valve for a gas unit — a gas burner firing against a dry tank is a real hazard.
If water is spreading toward finished flooring, move what you can and get towels down. Then call. Our 24/7 emergency plumbers are dispatched at any hour.
Is It Actually Dead?
Not every failure requires replacement, and we will tell you honestly which one you have. A leaking tank is terminal — corrosion has breached the steel, and no repair puts that back. But several failures that look catastrophic are not.
No hot water on a gas unit is often a thermocouple, gas valve, or pilot problem. On an electric unit it is usually a heating element or thermostat. Water at the base can come from a T&P discharge, a fitting, or condensation rather than the tank itself. Those are water heater repair calls, not replacements, and repairing a five-year-old heater is the right answer.
Where the tank itself has failed, or the unit is past roughly twelve years, water heater replacement is the honest recommendation.
What Same-Day Replacement Involves
A same-day swap is realistic when the replacement is a comparable unit. We drain and remove the old heater, set the new one, reconnect water and gas or electric, install or verify the expansion tank, re-vent to code, fill, purge air, and test.
Two things commonly slow it down. First, code has changed since many existing heaters were installed — expansion tanks, drain pans, seismic strapping, and venting requirements may all need to be brought current, and that is not optional. Second, tight installations. A heater in a closet or an attic platform that was built around the original unit sometimes requires modification.
We tell you about both before starting, not after.
Do Not Let Urgency Pick Your Equipment
The pressure of a cold-shower morning pushes people toward whatever is on the truck. Sometimes that is right. But two questions are worth sixty seconds.
Is your current capacity actually adequate? If you have been running out of hot water for years, replacing like-for-like locks that in for another decade. And is this the moment for tankless water heaters? Tankless units last longer and never dump a tank of water on your floor, but they need adequate gas supply and venting, so a same-day conversion is not always possible. If it is on your mind, say so when you call and we will assess feasibility on site.
Why Water Heaters Fail Early Here
Hill Country water is hard, and scale is what kills tanks. Minerals settle on the tank bottom, insulate the steel from the burner, and drive overheating that shortens life substantially. That popping and rumbling from an older heater is steam escaping through sediment.
A water softener is the single most effective thing you can do to make the next heater last, and annual water heater maintenance is the second. If you are replacing one prematurely, it is worth asking why.
Call As Early As You Can
Availability improves dramatically with lead time — even a few hours. If your heater is leaking slightly rather than failing outright, call now instead of waiting for it to get worse overnight.
Gas units may also need the gas line checked, particularly on conversions. Financing is available for replacements.
We serve Fredericksburg, Kerrville, Boerne, Comfort, Mason, and the surrounding Hill Country. Call (830) 468-5316 or contact 72 Degrees.
