Replacing a gas water heater

[mclear6]

How difficult is it to replace a gas water heater? I know how to sweat copper pipes, so that won't be a problem.

We had a plumber come in a wanted to upgrade everything to "code" before he could install the water heater. The water heater is 20 years old
- replace the old shut off with a emergency ball shut off $125
- replace the cock-stop style gas shut off with a new shut off $95
- install ground wire $95
- removal of old water heater $125 (I'll do this myself)
- permitting $200 (I get these too)
- redo the venting of the gas water heater $250
(we get the venting inspected every year along with the fireplace every year as part of the townhome agreement)

We have home appliance insurance knowing that things were a little old when we bought the town house six years ago and home inspector did not say anything about code violations on the water heater.

Is this guy just trying to add business, or these "code" updates necessary.

The only thing that I am slightly concerned about doing myself is making the gas connection (disconnecting, and reconnecting)

I am debating on taking the money form the insurance company and their "installation" money and doing it myself.

[BobSch]

Check with your city inspector about all the add-ons to see if they're necessary for code compliance.

[mclear6]

My wife has a call into the town today to check it out.

It is one of those things after looking at the "how to do it" online web sites, it doesn't look too bad. I'll get my father (retired mechanical engineer) who taught me what I know to help me out. This past summer we had to redo the plumbing connections for the new kitchen cabinets.

[BobSch]

I replaced mine several years ago. The only problem I had was getting the copper dry enough so I could sweat the pipes. I've heard, but never tried, that pushing a wad of bread up the pipe will make sweating easier.

[os1kne]

I'll go out on a limb and say that if you can sweat copper pipes, you probably won't have much trouble with the gas connections.

Obviously, shut off the gas before disconnecting anything. Use good quality pipe dope, pipe, fittings, etc. and take your time. Use 2 pipe wrenches when necessary, it's a small investment and much better than trying to get by with anything else (pliars, etc.)

Good luck.

[woodturner]

How difficult is it to replace a gas water heater?


Is this guy just trying to add business, or these "code" updates necessary.

Will your municipality allow you to do the work yourself? In many areas, one must be a licensed master plumber to do ANY plumbing work - even on your own house. There is usually not a "homeowner working on their own house" exception like there is for electrical work (go figure).

Generally, you will need to bring the work to code, so you should probably plan on that. Do you really want to risk your family to save a few bucks anyway?

I'd look at a tankless water heater, too. I put one of those in, saved a lot of money and no more cold showers. However, there are tradeoffs, so explore this carefully before choosing that route.

[JimD]

I've done it and I would do it again. You want to test the gas connection with water with a little dish washing soap in it. Paint it on the connection and if there are bubbles, turn the gas off and fix the connection. It helps a lot if you have a flexible steel or copper gas line as opposed to a hard black iron pipe gas line. I have done it with the iron pipe but I prefer working with the more flexible materials. Different parts of the country also have different codes for this.

A nasty part of the job is draining all the water. Having a floor drain (that is not plugged) nearby really helps. That plus a short length of hose to screw on makes it OK as long as the drain on the bottom of the tank works. It also makes it a lot easier if the shutoff to the water heater holds well.

New gas water heaters are built different for code reasons - it's supposed to minimize the chance they ignite vapors - but I am unaware of any recent changes to require different style shutoffs. Could be I am just unaware or it could be a local thing in your area, or it could be made up. The least I would do is to get a second opinion. I try to never pay for something when the story I get doesn't make sense to me.

Jim

[scmhogg]

I replaced my hot water heater with little difficulty. Since mine is in the garage, it has to be up on a platform. I had to construct a ramp so I could get the heavy 50 gal up on the platform. The rest was easy.

Remember that there is special teflon tape for gas connections.

Steve

[Tom Slick]

If you get a permit then you have to bring it up to code, whatever is dictated by your municipality. The exception would be an emergency replacement.

[Ed62]

Remember that there is special teflon tape for gas connections.

If you use tape instead of pipe dope, make sure you wind the tape in the proper direction. You should be able to tell by thinking if it will loosen up when you tighten the nut. Avoid that. You want the tape to run the same way that the nut tightens.

Ed

[Chris_B]

Consider fixing your current heater

With basic maintenance, water heaters can last indefinitely. You just need to prevent corrosion by replacing the anode(s) every decade or so, and remove sediment by annually flushing properly. Unless the current heater is leaking (which means that corrosion is terminal), or does not have sufficient recovery capacity for your needs, repair is something that you may want to consider. It certainly will be easier and cheaper than replacing the entire tank.

See http://tinyurl.com/ylwxh9 (Water Heater Rescue) for specifics.

I've upgraded both of our water heaters with dual anodes (I am lazy), and the only difficult part was removing the old anode. Eventually I made a *monster* breaker-bar. Sufficient leverage will move anything.

[mclear6]

Thanks for all of the input.... I am going to try to do it myself. I talked to one of the maintenance guys at work who has done a bunch and he said he would give me a hand if I ran into trouble.

I have a slow leak on the bottom of the tank which rags around the bottom are controlling for now. I'm off this next week (from teaching but not coaching) so I'll have some time to try to complete the job.


I keep everyone updated.


Mike

[eccentrictinkerer]

Think about using 'Sharkbite fittings' instead of sweating the copper. They are code in most jurisdictions and they are great.

I do handyman repairs where time is money and they really fill the bill.

Good luck!

J.D.

[wbsettle]

I'll 2nd the Shark-bites...wish I'd known about them before calling the plumber...on a Sunday afternoon.

I was trying to be a good homeowner and do an annual flushing a couple of months ago. The old gate valve on the supply line broke when I went to reopen it and started leaking...and it was stuck somewhere between open and closed, risking dry firing the tank if I tried to wait until Monday to fix. Fortunately the guy didn't stick me too bad for a Sunday call ($100)...with the Shark-bite ball valve and couplers, it took longer to walk back and forth to the street mains cutoff than the actual fix. Long story short, I highly encourage upgrading that supply valve to a ball valve while you're working on it.

-Brent

[robtonya]

I've changed them, and they aren't bad. The one problem I had was I actually had air in the line, and the water heater would not fire. After bleading the line at the sediment trap, and reinstalling the cap, it went fine after that. I should note too, that I had ran about ten feet of new line, which was why I had so much air in there.

One thing that no one has mentioned yet, but most gas companies (at least the ones here) will give you some money for buying a energy star water heater. It might not be much, maybe $50 or so, but it's better than not getting any money.