No hot water, not enough of it, or a puddle under the tank. An independent plumber can test gas, electric and tankless units, explain what failed and whether repairing it is worth doing.
Hard water is the background cause of a lot of this. North Texas supply leaves minerals behind, and in a tank they settle into a crust on the bottom that insulates the burner from the water. That is what the rumbling is. In a tankless unit the same minerals coat the heat exchanger and choke the flow.
The aim of the visit is a clear answer about the state of the unit, not a part swapped on a guess. Ask the plumber to separate what has failed from what is simply old.
On a gas tank that means the pilot, thermocouple, gas control and venting. On an electric tank it means the breaker, both elements and both thermostats. On a tankless unit it means reading the fault code and checking gas supply, venting and flow.
Corrosion, the condition of the anode rod and where any water is actually coming from. A drip at a fitting is repairable; water coming through the shell of the tank is not, and you should be told that plainly.
The relief valve, its discharge pipe, the drain pan, expansion control and the temperature setting all get looked at. In a garage or attic installation, where the unit sits matters as much as how it runs.
A heater with a sound tank and one failed component is usually worth repairing. A tank that is leaking through the shell is not, whatever else is fitted to it. Between those two there is a real decision, and it depends on the age of the unit, how much sediment has built up and whether parts for that model are still easy to get.
Newer homes around McKinney increasingly have tankless units, often in the attic or on an exterior wall. Those tend to need descaling rather than replacing, and an error code usually says a great deal, so read it out to the provider when you call.
Work through the decision with our water heater repair versus replacement guide. If the problem turns out to be a line rather than the heater, see leak detection or burst pipe repair, and our guide on what to check when there is no hot water covers the basics before you call.
Which part failed, whether the unit is gas, electric or tankless, and how accessible it is. An attic installation takes longer to work on than one in a garage. Ask the independent plumber to confirm the fault first, then quote the repair before starting.
Only if you can follow the instructions printed on the unit and there is no smell of gas. If you smell gas at all, leave the house and call the gas utility first. Never open a hot tank or the burner compartment to investigate.
Hard water shortens it. Regular flushing and a replaced anode rod help, but many tanks here show their age earlier than the manufacturer suggests. Noise and a longer recovery time are usually the first warnings.
Yes. Most tankless problems here come down to scale in the heat exchanger, a venting or gas supply issue, or a sensor fault behind an error code. Ask the plumber to read the code, test the unit and explain whether descaling or a repair is what it needs.
Call and describe the problem to be connected with an independent plumber.