PSA: told the water heater guy to skip the flush, and now I'm eating my words
Our 12 year old water heater in the NE heights was making popping sounds and I figured the $180 flush was just a way for the plumber to pad the bill, so I waved him off last spring. Last month the thing started leaking from the bottom and a different guy showed me the inch of sediment sitting in the tank, which is what killed it. Anybody here actually gone the other way and had a flush buy them extra time, or is 12 years just the wall no matter what?
Mine made it to 16 after a yearly flush, so they can last longer if you keep up with it. Once the popping starts though the sediment is already caked on there and flushing won't do much but make a mess.