No Hot Water at a Business or Apartment Building

The calls start with one person: a tenant says the shower is cold, or a staff member says the restroom has no hot water. Then a second call comes in. If a second room or a second unit has the same problem, the cause is upstream. If it's only one fixture, it's local.

That split is the whole diagnosis at first. Everything cold at once points to the water heater or the line feeding hot water to the building: the heating element, burner, thermostat, pilot or power supply, or a tripped breaker or closed gas valve. One cold tap points to the valve or cartridge at that fixture. Hot water that runs out quickly points to sizing or a failing element.

We start at the heater. We check whether it has power or gas, whether the controls show a fault, and whether the tank is leaking, since a leak and a cold tank often turn up together. We look at the relief valve and the supply valves around it.

If the heater is working and hot water still isn't arriving, we trace the hot line. A closed valve, a failed mixing or recirculation component, or a crossed connection after recent work can all send cold water to a fixture that should have hot. In apartments and larger buildings, where hot water is circulated, an upper floor can lose hot water while the heater is fine.

For a single fixture, we look at the shower valve, the faucet cartridge or the supply stop.

We repair what failed: a heating element, a thermostat, a valve, a cartridge or a control. We confirm hot water at the fixtures before we leave.

If the tank has failed or the heater is too worn to repair sensibly, we propose a replacement. We replace water heaters at businesses and apartment buildings as well as homes, and we haul away the old unit. If the heater can no longer keep up with the load, we say so and talk through sizing. Larger work is a written proposal that you approve before we start.

Tell dispatch whether it's the whole building, a floor, a unit or one fixture, and since when. Check that the water heater's breaker hasn't tripped. If you smell gas, leave the area first, then call 911 and Southwest Gas, and call us after.

For businesses that need hot water to operate, such as handwashing stations, tell us when you open. In apartments, tell us how to reach tenants and whether the water heater is shared. We offer 24/7 emergency service.

If hot water is gone at every tap, check the water heater's power or gas control first. If only one faucet is cold, the problem is probably that faucet's cartridge.