What happened
On December 26, 2015, a tornado crossed Garland and Rowlett. CBS Texas describes it as an EF-4 in Garland and an EF-3 in Rowlett. Rowlett's city manager reported two days later that the first damage assessment had covered 1,000 homes and found 854 impacted: 148 totally destroyed, 188 with major damage, 298 with minor damage and 220 affected. If your house was one of the rebuilt ones, the plumbing, and almost certainly the water heater, went in during that rebuild, which began in 2016.
That's a long time ago now, and a water heater counts its age in years differently from the rest of the house. This post is about what that age means today, and what to do about it.
Why the date matters
A tank water heater is usually good for 8 to 12 years. A tank installed in a house rebuilt from 2016 onward is at most about ten years old, which is where the U.S. Department of Energy's 10 to 15 year range for a storage tank begins. Some will go on for years more. Some will leak next month. There's no way to tell from the outside, but the odds change every year.
Rebuilding on that scale was a big job, and CBS Texas found in 2024 that some lots were still not rebuilt after nine years. That is not a criticism of anyone. It just means the details around the heater are worth a second look, things like a drain pan or an expansion tank, which are easy to add now.
How to check yours
- Find the rating label on the side of the tank, usually near the top.
- Look at the serial number. On many makers' tanks, the first letter is the month, with A for January, B for February and so on, and the next two digits are the year. A serial starting with C16 would be March 2016. Makers differ, so if it isn't obvious, take a photo of the label.
- Note the capacity in gallons and the fuel type while you're there.
- Look at the floor around the base and the pipes for any signs of damp, rust or mineral crust.
- Check the relief valve pipe for drips or green staining.
The post on reading your water heater's label goes through it in more detail. If the date is 2016 or later and the house was rebuilt after the tornado, the heater is probably the original one.
A checklist for your street
A little neighborhood knowledge goes a long way here.
- Ask a neighbor with a similar house whether they've replaced their heater lately. If they have, the answer tells you roughly what you're in for.
- Ask who built your house after the tornado. Some builders put in the same model of heater throughout a street, and if one has failed early, the others may follow.
- Check whether the home has a records folder with the permit for the heater. If you find the receipt, note the model and the warranty.
- Look at whether the heater's pipe, vent and pan match the style of the rest of the install. Sloppy work around it is a hint to look harder.
None of this is accusatory. It's just a sensible way to find out where you stand.
What a rebuild may have missed
There are four items that are cheap to add during a replacement and expensive to ignore.
- A drain pan with a drain line, if the heater is in an attic or above a living space. A leak with no pan comes through the ceiling.
- An expansion tank, if the plumbing is a closed system. Without one, pressure spikes shorten the life of the heater and fixtures. See the post on expansion tanks.
- A drain valve you can reach, so the tank can be flushed.
- A relief valve discharge pipe that runs to a safe spot, not stopping short or capped.
A good plumber will check for them on any visit. If you're having work done, ask.
If you bought a rebuilt home
Many of the houses rebuilt after the tornado have changed hands since. If you're the second or third owner, the age of the heater may not have come up in the sale, and it's easy to assume it's newer than it is.
Start with the label. Then ask the seller, if you can still reach them, for any paperwork. Check the permit record with the city. And read the home inspection report from your purchase if you have it, because it likely noted the heater's age. If the report said "near the end of its life" a few years ago, treat that as the real date.
Whatever the report said, the label is the fact. Everything else is somebody's opinion.
Which areas this applies to
The tornado's path ran through parts of the city, and the rebuild work was clustered there. If your house or your street was rebuilt after the tornado, that applies to you. Neighbors on the same street often have heaters of the same age, which is worth knowing: if one has just failed, the others are probably close behind.
It isn't only the rebuilt homes that are due. Houses in Waterview built between 1999 and 2005 are on their second or third heater by now, and new homes in Lake Park and Sapphire Bay may have builder-grade tanks that are worth upgrading for capacity. The neighborhood pages describe each area.
What about the warranty
Most tank warranties run from six to twelve years, and a tank installed in 2016 or 2017 is at or past the end of a six-year one and in the last stretch of a ten- or twelve-year one (the install date, not the build date, is what the warranty counts from). If yours is covered, the warranty usually pays for a replacement tank, not the labor to fit it, and it won't pay for water damage.
Don't rely on it. If you do have the paperwork and the tank is still covered, use it. If not, the replacement is on you in either case, and the quote is the quote. The practical point is that the warranty is worth about as much as the tank has left in it.
Should you replace a working heater
It's a judgment, and it's yours. A tank at nine or ten that works fine and has no sign of trouble can run another couple of years. But the cost of a failure goes up with the age, and the cost of waiting depends on where the tank sits. A garage tank with a drain nearby is a low-stakes gamble. An attic tank over a bedroom isn't.
A sensible middle path is to get the number now. Call with the age, size and fuel and ask for the estimated range. Then decide whether to book a swap on a weekday you choose or to wait and watch. Either is fine. The costs are laid out in the cost guide.
A three-year plan
If you'd rather not decide everything today, spread it out.
This month: read the label, note the age, and check the base of the tank and the relief pipe for damp. Find your shut-off valves. If the heater is above a living space and has no pan, put it on a list.
Within the year: get an estimated range for a swap, so you know the number. Flush the tank carefully if it's never been done, or check the rod. If you've been thinking about a different type, such as tankless or a hybrid, get those prices now, when there's no pressure.
Over the next two or three years: pick a time. A tank at ten or eleven that has been good so far can usually be left a little longer, but choose a date and don't wait for the tank to choose one. Spring and autumn are quiet times, and you're less likely to be doing it in the middle of a cold snap or a heatwave.
That's a gentle way to deal with an age problem. It won't suit everyone, and a tank that's leaking skips straight to the end.
What a planned swap looks like
You call, give three facts, and hear an estimated range. A plumber looks at the heater, the vent or circuit, and the water side. You get the written quote. On the day, the old heater is drained and removed, the new one is set, connected and tested at the tap, and the old one leaves with us. Where Rowlett requires a permit, it's handled and the work left ready for inspection. A like-for-like tank can often be done in a morning.
If you'd rather see the details first, the replacement page and the page on same-day installation cover both. And if your tank has already started to leak, the post on what to do when a water heater leaks tells you what to do first.
A note for anyone who wasn't here in 2015
If you moved to Rowlett after the tornado, the history can be easy to miss, but it shapes the streets you live on. A large share of the housing in the city is younger than the usual neighborhood age would suggest, and the heaters in those homes have aged together.
That makes the age question a local one. Asking a neighbor how old their heater is, or whether they've replaced it, is a better guide than any general rule. It also means local plumbers have seen the same age of tank fail again and again over the last couple of years, and they'll know what's coming.