A cold shower on a work morning, a tap that runs lukewarm and then cold again. A failing water heater announces itself in small ways before it fails outright. In Three Lakes, where most homes were built between 1991 and 2001, nobody thinks about the water heater until the hot water stops.
Three Lakes is a census-designated place and planned community in Miami-Dade County, about 16 miles southwest of downtown Miami, with a population of 16,540 at the 2020 census and 5,475 households. It is built around water: about 17 percent of its area is water, and its three main neighborhoods, Deerwood, Bonita Lakes, and the namesake Three Lakes, sit among lakes and canals in West Kendall. A family home here asks a lot of its water heater, and a unit fitted when the house was built, or replaced once since, is now working through its later years.
If you have no hot water, or your water heater is leaking, making noise, or giving you lukewarm water in Three Lakes, call +13057036568. Tell us what the unit is doing, and we will talk through the next step honestly.
Most Three Lakes homes have one of two kinds of water heater.
A tank water heater stores a full tank of hot water and keeps it hot around the clock, reheating as hot water is used and cold water flows in to replace it. It is the familiar cylinder in a garage, laundry room or closet. A burner or heating elements heat the water, a thermostat controls the temperature, an anode rod inside the tank sacrifices itself to corrosion so the tank wall does not, and a relief valve vents the tank if pressure builds. When a tank unit fails, the usual suspects are a heating element, a thermostat, the pilot and thermocouple on a gas unit, or the tank itself corroding through.
A tankless water heater has no storage tank. It heats water on demand, as it flows through the unit, a burner or electric elements fire only when a tap opens. Tankless units are common in newer townhomes and in homes where space is tight. They have their own failure points: scale buildup inside the heat exchanger, ignition or sensor problems, and flow issues where the unit cannot keep up with several taps open at once.
A tall cylinder is a tank unit; a flat, wall-mounted box with pipes and a vent is usually tankless. If the unit is beyond repair, the county-wide water heater installation page explains how a replacement is sized and fitted, and the county-wide water heater repair page covers the repair side across Miami-Dade.
A water heater rarely fails without warning:
If you notice any of these, call +13057036568 and describe what the unit is doing: the sound, the water temperature, where the water is. A leaking tank is urgent; a noisy tank can usually be scheduled.
The most obvious sign. With a gas unit, the pilot light or ignition may have gone out; with an electric unit, a heating element or thermostat may have failed, or a breaker may have tripped. If the breaker has tripped once, reset it once. If it trips again, leave it off and call.
A tank that used to deliver a full hot shower and now runs cold halfway through may have a failed heating element, a thermostat that is not reading correctly, or sediment buildup at the bottom of the tank.
A thermostat that has drifted or failed can leave the water scalding, or swinging wildly. Water that is too hot is a safety problem, not a nuisance. Turn the thermostat down and call if it does not settle.
Sediment settles at the bottom of a tank over time, and when the burner or element heats through that layer, the water trapped in it boils and pops. Noise means sediment is building up.
Rust-colored water from the hot tap only, cold water runs clear, usually means corrosion inside the tank or in the hot water lines. Rust that keeps coming back is not normal.
A puddle at the base can come from a loose fitting, a failing drain valve, a temperature and pressure relief valve that is discharging, or a leak in the tank itself. A tank leak does not heal itself. It gets worse.
On a gas unit, a pilot that keeps going out can mean a failing thermocouple, a dirty pilot assembly, or a gas supply problem. Do not keep relighting a pilot that will not stay lit, and if you smell gas, leave the building and call 911, then Peoples Gas at (877) 832-6747.
The first cause is South Florida’s hard water. The water here carries dissolved minerals, and inside a tank water heater those minerals settle as sediment at the bottom of the tank. Over time the sediment layer thickens, insulates the water from the burner or elements, and makes the unit work harder to heat the same water, which is where the rumbling and popping noises come from. Flushing a tank, draining it to clear sediment, is part of maintenance, not a cure.
The second cause is simple wear, tied in Three Lakes to the age of the housing. The community’s main building period ran from the early 1990s into the early 2000s, so the water heaters here are either original units or replacements that have themselves been in service for years. A thermostat drifts. A heating element burns out. A gas pilot assembly gets dirty or a thermocouple weakens until the pilot will not stay lit. A temperature and pressure relief valve starts weeping or discharging. Most of these are repairable: an element, a thermostat, a thermocouple, a valve. The repair is worth doing when the tank itself is sound and the failed part is the only problem.
The third cause is the tank itself. The anode rod inside a tank is designed to corrode first, protecting the steel tank wall, but the rod is consumed over time, and once it is gone, the tank wall starts corroding. Rusty hot water, a damp spot at the base that keeps coming back, or a tank that weeps from a seam all point to the tank rather than a part. A corroded tank cannot be repaired in any lasting way; it can only be replaced.
The fourth cause is where the unit sits. In Three Lakes homes, water heaters often sit in garages, laundry rooms, or closets inside the living space, and in the townhomes and condos of Bonita Lakes and Deerwood, a unit in a closet sits above finished flooring, sometimes above another home. A leak there spreads into flooring and into the unit below.
When you call +13057036568, describe the symptoms: no hot water, lukewarm water, noises, rust, a leak, a pilot that will not stay lit. Tell us whether the unit is gas or electric, tank or tankless, and where it sits: garage, laundry room, closet. A leaking tank is urgent; a noisy tank or a thermostat problem can usually be scheduled.
On site, the visit starts with diagnosis, not with parts. The plumber checks the power or gas supply, the thermostat, the pilot or ignition, and the tank for rust and corrosion at the fittings. For a tank unit, the elements and thermostats are tested; for a tankless unit, the heat exchanger and sensors are checked for scale and flow. You get the finding in plain terms: which part failed, whether the tank itself is sound, and what the repair involves. A straightforward repair, an element, a thermostat, a thermocouple, a relief valve, is usually done in the same visit, and the unit is tested before the plumber leaves. If the tank is corroded, the conversation moves to replacement rather than a repair that will not last.
The question behind most water heater calls is whether to fix the unit or replace it, and the honest answer depends on the unit’s condition.
Repair makes sense when the tank is sound and one part has failed: a heating element, a thermostat, a thermocouple, a relief valve. Replacing a part in a healthy tank is a repair that should last, and so is fixing a sediment or setting problem: a flush, a thermostat adjustment, or a venting fix can bring a unit back without replacing anything.
Replacement is the honest call when the tank itself is failing: rusty water that keeps coming back, a leak from the tank body or a seam, or a unit that needs a new part every few months. Age matters, but only as one factor alongside condition. If replacement is the call, the water heater installation page explains how a new unit is sized and fitted, and the plumber in Three Lakes page covers the rest of the plumbing work in your home.
Service covers Three Lakes in ZIP code 33186, the ZIP code listed for the community, including Deerwood, Bonita Lakes, and the namesake Three Lakes, around SW 152nd Street and SW 133rd Avenue in West Kendall. Three Lakes is bordered by The Crossings, Kendall, Richmond Heights, Zoo Miami, and Country Walk.
ZIP code boundaries do not follow community lines exactly, so a 33186 address is not automatically inside Three Lakes. If you are near the boundary, call and ask. The county-wide hub at plumber in Miami-Dade County covers service across the county.
If your water heater has stopped giving you hot water, or it is leaking, noisy, or running rusty in Three Lakes, call +13057036568.
Three Lakes includes townhomes and condos as well as single-family homes: Bonita Villas and the Courtyards and Villas of Deerwood sit alongside the detached houses of the namesake neighborhood. Know where your unit’s water shutoff is, and shut the water off right away if it is leaking. A leak in a closet can reach the home below. When you call, say whether the home is a townhome or condo and which community it is in.
It depends on the unit. On a gas water heater, the pilot light or ignition may have gone out; on an electric unit, a heating element or thermostat may have failed, or a breaker may have tripped. Check the breaker once. If it trips again, leave it off and call +13057036568. If you smell gas, leave the building and call 911, then Peoples Gas at (877) 832-6747.
It usually means sediment has built up at the bottom of the tank. The water trapped in the sediment boils and pops as the burner or element heats through it. Call +13057036568 to schedule a flush and an inspection.
Rust in the hot water only usually means corrosion inside the tank or in the hot water lines. Rust that keeps coming back points to the tank corroding.
It depends on where the water is coming from. A leak from a fitting, a drain valve, or the relief valve can usually be repaired. A leak from the tank body or a seam means the tank is corroding through and cannot be repaired in any lasting way. The unit needs replacing. Shut off the water supply to the unit and call +13057036568.
Repair makes sense when the tank is sound and one part has failed: an element, a thermostat, a thermocouple, a valve. Replacement is the honest call when the tank itself is failing: rusty water that keeps coming back, a leak from the tank body, or repairs that keep coming. The plumber checks the tank on site before recommending either way.
Yes. Tankless units have their own failure points: scale buildup in the heat exchanger, ignition or sensor problems, and flow issues when several taps run at once. Tell us on the call that the unit is tankless and what the problem is.
Shut off the water supply to the unit right away. A leak in a closet spreads into flooring and into the unit below. Call +13057036568, and notify your association or building manager.
Call +13057036568 and describe what the unit is doing, no hot water, lukewarm water, noises, rust, a leak, a pilot that will not stay lit, and whether it is gas or electric, tank or tankless.
Call Miami Plumber Co at +13057036568 and describe the problem once. We will connect you with a trusted local plumbing pro who can assess the job, explain the options, and give you an upfront price before any work begins.
