Ben and I got home at midnight one Saturday this July from a week-long beach vacation (yay!) to discover our hot water heater had failed while we were gone and had flooded our basement (boo!). As of this printing, we are still in the midst of a forced basement renovation. Instead of book club this month, I’d love to share the lessons learned (so far!) from my mistake and help you from making a similar mistake at your home! Homeowner Tip #1: Hot Water Heaters (HWH) can last a really long time (ours was 32 years old when it failed). But most home inspectors recommend replacing every ten years. You can check the age of your HWH by looking at the build date on the label. If you cannot find a build date on your label, go to this site to use the serial number to find your HWH’s age: http://bit.ly/HWH-age Jaime tip: When you replace your HWH, sharpie the date you replace