Hot Water Heater Stutters?

It has been almost exactly one year since the 75-gallon gas hot water heater was installed to service the extensive water needs of the downstairs of the house. It comes with a power vent to take care of the exhaust. Of course, excited though I was when it was installed, it was much to my chagrin to find that he morning after it was installed, I was only getting lukewarm water because there was some issue with the power vent, but the plumbers quickly took care of this.

Over the last year, however, I've really enjoyed my hot hot water and the endless supply of it.

Ah, but when I was doing extensive clean-up from the several dishes I whipped up on Thursday, I noticed my hot water wasn't very hot. That evening, I also noticed that the power vent on the hot water heater was running endlessly. I sent a late-night note to my general contractor, Peter LaRoque of LaRoque Construction of Mocksville, NC. He sent me the number for the plumber who installed the water heater but has taken little interest in whether the issue was resolved. That's a pretty expensive hot water heater to have been in place only a year, as part of his project, and installed by his sub-contractor.