Shared venting is the recurring theme
Rowhomes built with a single masonry chimney serving both the furnace and the water heater work well as long as both appliances remain as designed. Once the furnace is replaced with a sealed-combustion model vented through a side wall, the water heater is left on a flue several times larger than it needs. Draft becomes unreliable, and the symptom is a pilot that will not stay lit when the weather turns.
The fault is in the venting, not the thermocouple. Fitting a correctly sized liner is the actual repair, and it is covered alongside pilot light faults and gas water heater repair.
Combustion air in closed basements
Where a basement has been finished, insulated or sealed, an atmospheric gas heater may no longer have enough air to burn properly. That produces the yellow flames, soot and repeated lockouts described under burner repair. A strong kitchen or bathroom exhaust fan in a tight house can make it worse by pulling the flue backwards.
Access and replacement
Rowhome basement stairs are narrow and usually turn. On replacement jobs that constraint decides the unit, and measuring the route in advance avoids a wasted visit.
What we handle here
- Pilot outages and thermocouple faults on standing-pilot gas tanks
- Draft and venting problems after heating system upgrades
- Complete hot water loss, especially in cold weather
- Leaks in basements with no floor drain
Repairs across the Ninth Ward
- No hot water repairComplete loss of hot water on gas, electric and tankless systems.
- Water heater leak repairTracing leaks at fittings, valves, connections and the tank itself.
- Water heater not heatingLukewarm water, short supply and slow recovery on any fuel type.
- Water heater replacementTank and tankless replacement, correct sizing, venting and code compliance.
The full list of water heater repairs is on the Wilmington water heater repair page, and every service is available throughout the Ninth Ward and the surrounding area.
Nearby areas
Questions we get asked
Three houses on my block have had the same water heater problem. Why?
Rowhomes built together share construction details — the same chimney arrangement, the same basement layout, the same original plumbing. When a common upgrade like a new furnace changes the venting, the same fault appears up and down the block.
Does my water heater need its own chimney liner?
If it is now the only appliance on a chimney that was sized for two, very likely. An oversized flue never warms enough to establish draft, which is what causes repeated pilot outages.
Water heater trouble in the Ninth Ward?
Call and describe what it is doing. Most faults are narrowed down over the phone before anyone arrives.
(302) 603-9708 Call now for service