Of course, it always happens at the worst possible time: a Friday night going into a long holiday weekend. My heating oil tank is leaking and needs to be replaced.

Maybe 2 days ago I noticed a funny chemical smell when I opened the garage door. Couldn't say exactly what it was. I thought maybe it was an herbicide that spilled? Nope. Only later did it occur to me it could be the rusty heating oil tank situated at the back of my garage (which I had WANTED to replace like 10 years ago, but the serviceman who said he would have the office call me about that never followed through, and then I dropped the ball).

But yeah, I looked under the tank, and yup, I saw a wet spot that smelled like oil.

I posted on my town's FB page asking for recommendations and in the meanwhile, I went online searching for the right contractor. I wound up on the Roth website, one of the leading oil tank suppliers, and when I clicked on Dealers Near You, up popped the plumber who had just been here (twice) for my sink/faucet and washing machine valve.  I didn't realize he could replace an oil tank, too. Cost: $4,500. Sticker shock!

I decided to go with him, even though another company gave me a price over the phone that was $500 less. I had never done business with them before, whereas the plumber I just used did a good job, although he is top dollar. (My current plumber is repeatedly highly recommended in my local FB group, so I felt he was practically a celebrity.) 

When I called him 6 pm on Friday night (yesterday) and said my tank appears to be leaking, he was here in a half-hour, put down some absorbency pads where the wet spot was under the tank and told me to get a tinfoil pan, the kind you cook a turkey in, and put it under the tank as well with more of the absorbency pads that he left me.

He specced out the whole job right then and there, gave me a firm price the next morning and said the tank would be delivered Monday and they would do the install Wednesday. He said to call him if the leak (what he called "seeping," at this point) suddenly got worse. I'll get the same size tank, but this one's a double-sided wall Roth tank with a 30-year warranty. That will pretty much cover the rest of  my life. He said he's never seen one fail.

I just feel greater peace of mind going with this plumber, who is in my hometown, not 2 towns away like the other one.

They are going to put the new tank in the back of the garage, but to the right (not left), so I have to clear all the junk out of there. I guess it will make the rack where I hang garden tools inaccessible. They want to put it side by side with the current tank so they can more easily drain the full tank of oil I just had delivered into the new tank, except for the bottom 6 inches, which will be full of over 28 years' worth of sludge. He'll also be replacing some old, corroded tubing that goes thru the basement to the furnace.

I just wish I'd been aware of the what the average lifespan of an oil tank is. This one came with the house, so I know it's over 28 years old; the average lifespan is just 10 to 15 years old! After watching a few YouTube videos, I learned that the simple act of filling up the tank just the other day with 275 gallons of oil is a lot of added weight and probably contributed to the start of the oil "seeping" out! Also wish I hadn't forgotten about tank replacement 10 years ago after observing how rusty mine was getting, but since it was still working at the time, there seemed to be no sense of urgency.

Hate to say this, but while he's here, once he's done with the oil tank replacement, I want to ask him about replacing my electric hot water heater. I checked a few years back on when I purchased it, and it is near the end of its average life span. I hate dealing with stuff like this on an emergency basis, like when it's begun to leak, so I'd like to proactively replace it and possibly go for a heat pump hot water heater, which is much more energy-efficient.

My last plumber didn't think it would be a good idea, said his customers weren't happy with it, etc, as I recall, because it was somewhat noisy and made the basement very cold. But would be good to get another plumber's opinion. If not, would just go with a ceramic-walled hot water heater with the longest warranty I can find. They are more expensive, but you don't have to go thru the whole replacement ordeal as often, and I think you save in the long run as you're not having to pay plumber labor costs as often.