Of the list of things that weren't up to code, one of his findings was the sorry state of the water heater. Not only was it old, but it was moved there from another location and reinstalled. Needless to say, it was beyond the number of years a water heater should be alive anyway.
The old water heater.
After having a good discussion with my father about the water heater situation, we decided that we may as well just get a new one now... Especially considering that when the pilot light went out, the gas did not turn off right away. Yikes!
The new water heater!
Our new water heater works great. It is an Energy Star appliance as well, which is right up our alley.
In addition to changing our old water heater out for a new one, we also were able to have an exorbitant amount of gas pipe removed. We had well over 100 feet of extra gas pipe, and now we have only as much as we need. In an old house such as ours, I'm sure this is not the first time old, unused pipes will be removed from our basement.