the hot shower

It is funny how much one takes hot water for granted. We had our hot water heater replaced today by Lowe's and my wife and I managed to take our first hot shower in a couple of days. We didn't give the tank much time to heat up, and were worried that we may run out of warm water prematurely, so we decided to shower together. We were so relieved to have hot water again that we were almost "giddy". Let's just say that the water wasn't the only thing "hot" about the shower. But I digress...

The installation crew from Lowe's was quite professional and friendly. They gave me a few scares at first saying that they weren't sure if the new tank would fit with an expansion tank (which is supposedly required by code), but everything went pretty smooth. We're still trying to get the carpet dried out, though. I pulled it up at the corners and have the fan blowing beneath it like a tent now, and that seems to be helping to get the pad dry. My biggest concern is mold, although i have to admit that the idea of replacing the carpet isn't something that we would have a problem with. We've been discussing new flooring for the entire house for some time now. I'm just not sure that we've got the budget for it.

I was looking at carpet tiles as a possible alternative. They aren't that much cheaper than traditional carpet, but they are much more flexible and it sounds like a good option for an area that may be prone to flooding (like a bedroom near the water heater). I really like the idea that we could install them ourselves, and that you can easily pull up a tile and wash it if it gets a stain on it. I'm just not sure how well they would stick down to the concrete, and how much prep work would be required. I noticed today that the existing carpet pad is glued to the concrete floor, so that would probably have to be scraped up. Sounds like a pain.

If we can get the carpet dry and there are no signs (or smells) of mold, I may be able to delay this decision for a little while, but we're going to have to do it some day.