Random (non-Jeep) Shit You’re Working On....

Sharkey said:
How hard is it to replace a gas water heater? It looks like ours decided to die today. The thought of paying some dude $70 an hour to take his time pulling the old one and installing a new one isn’t sitting well with me.


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Super easy. Shut off gas valve. Shut off water fill valve. Hook a hose to the drain valve at the bottom and run to a drain/ sink. Open the drain valve open a hot water valve at a sink or tub somewhere to relieve air pressure. Crack the pipe fittings on top open. Pop the exhaust vent off the tank. Drag it out.

If you can find a unit that the fittings are the same height so you don’t have to mess with the water lines. Install by screwing everything together, make sure you use gas rated/ safe pipe seal tape or goop. If you can’t find an exact match you’ll need to either cut and solder on new fittings or extensions to make it fit. Easier than it sounds. Sweat soldering is as easy as it gets.
Once it’s up and running use soapy water spray to check for bubbles on gas lines so you don’t die.

First time doing it should take you about half a day and likely one trip to the store.


*edit*
Here ya go
https://www.homedepot.com/c/ah/how-to-install-a-gas-water-heater/9ba683603be9fa5395fab904e98440f
 
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Snboarder113 said:
SIf you can find a unit that the fittings are the same height so you don’t have to mess with the water lines.
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Do yourself a favor and get a pair of these flexible water connectors - then you don't have to worry about where the water connections are & you're free to get any brand tank you want.

Your gas supply should also have a flexible connection as well.
 
Sharkey said:
How hard is it to replace a gas water heater? It looks like ours decided to die today. The thought of paying some dude $70 an hour to take his time pulling the old one and installing a new one isn’t sitting well with me.


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Get a quote and don’t pay “some dude” hourly to take his time. $300 in labor isn’t a lot for a company to charge from doing everything from getting a heater that they will warranty, to getting a permit, to installing it, to getting rid of the old one. Some of us are professionals that spent 4 years in trade school to learn how to do our trade, and not dumbasses that stink and drive piece of shit vans that leak oil all over your driveway and leave with gas leaking in your house. $70 an hour is the going rate but it’s cheap compared to other professions. A lot of things come out of that $70 every hour, rant over, carry on


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JKbrick said:
Get a quote and don’t pay “some dude” hourly to take his time. $300 in labor isn’t a lot for a company to charge from doing everything from getting a heater that they will warranty, to getting a permit, to installing it, to getting rid of the old one. Some of us are professionals that spent 4 years in trade school to learn how to do our trade, and not dumbasses that stink and drive piece of shit vans that leak oil all over your driveway and leave with gas leaking in your house. $70 an hour is the going rate but it’s cheap compared to other professions. A lot of things come out of that $70 every hour, rant over, carry on


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Where do you live that requires to pull a permit for a water heater swap?


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JKbrick said:
Get a quote and don’t pay “some dude” hourly to take his time. $300 in labor isn’t a lot for a company to charge from doing everything from getting a heater that they will warranty, to getting a permit, to installing it, to getting rid of the old one. Some of us are professionals that spent 4 years in trade school to learn how to do our trade, and not dumbasses that stink and drive piece of shit vans that leak oil all over your driveway and leave with gas leaking in your house. $70 an hour is the going rate but it’s cheap compared to other professions. A lot of things come out of that $70 every hour, rant over, carry on


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So you finally got the oil leak fixed?
 
JKbrick said:
Get a quote and don’t pay “some dude” hourly to take his time. $300 in labor isn’t a lot for a company to charge from doing everything from getting a heater that they will warranty, to getting a permit, to installing it, to getting rid of the old one. Some of us are professionals that spent 4 years in trade school to learn how to do our trade, and not dumbasses that stink and drive piece of shit vans that leak oil all over your driveway and leave with gas leaking in your house. $70 an hour is the going rate but it’s cheap compared to other professions. A lot of things come out of that $70 every hour, rant over, carry on


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I ended up having a client of mine (who is licensed and owns a respected plumbing company) do the work. Having now watched some of the work, I'm pretty confident I could have done everything. But, there is benefit to the warranty (of the labor and the unit) as well as the disposal of the old tank. It took my client's employee about 4 hours to do the work. It looks good and works. :thumb: I probably shouldn't tell you what my hourly rate is. :crazyeyes:
 
Sharkey said:
I ended up having a client of mine (who is licensed and owns a respected plumbing company) do the work. Having now watched some of the work, I'm pretty confident I could have done everything. But, there is benefit to the warranty (of the labor and the unit) as well as the disposal of the old tank. It took my client's employee about 4 hours to do the work. It looks good and works. :thumb: I probably shouldn't tell you what my hourly rate is. :crazyeyes:
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I didn’t mean to sound like a dick this morning, just trying to save you trips to the store and junkyard. What brand do they install?


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JKbrick said:
I didn’t mean to sound like a dick this morning, just trying to save you trips to the store and junkyard. What brand do they install?
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Ha! No worries. I’m just not very good at paying other people to do work I think I can do. Earlier in the week I took time off work to replace a garage door opener that crapped out. It would have cost me far less (in terms of my lost work hours versus labor for an install company) to pay someone else. I just couldn’t bring myself to pay the labor though.

They installed a 50 gallon Bradford White...pretty much looks the exact same as the 15 year old Bradford White they pulled out (except the gas regulator box looks fancier).


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Sharkey said:
Ha! No worries. I’m just not very good at paying other people to do work I think I can do. Earlier in the week I took time off work to replace a garage door opener that crapped out. It would have cost me far less (in terms of my lost work hours versus labor for an install company) to pay someone else. I just couldn’t bring myself to pay the labor though.

They installed a 50 gallon Bradford White...pretty much looks the exact same as the 15 year old Bradford White they pulled out (except the gas regulator box looks fancier).


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15 years is pretty good for a heater anymore, those are made up in Michigan. I used to try to do my own work too but finally realized I could stay at work where I make money and support other small business’ so it’s a win win [emoji106][emoji106]


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JKbrick said:
15 years is pretty good for a heater anymore,
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That's what I was thinking. A previous home that I bought was built in 84 and water heater was leaking when I moved in 08. Contractor showed me it was the original one and said the older ones actually do last (granted it should have been replaced sooner by the previous owner but it was still working, lol). The one that he replaced (the new one) had to be replaced again 6 years later, lol.
 
WJCO said:
That's what I was thinking. A previous home that I bought was built in 84 and water heater was leaking when I moved in 08. Contractor showed me it was the original one and said the older ones actually do last (granted it should have been replaced sooner by the previous owner but it was still working, lol). The one that he replaced (the new one) had to be replaced again 6 years later, lol.
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6 year warranty now so that’s about what they last up to 10 or 12 years


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