Residential Water Heater Took a Dump ...

[bmwpowere36m3]

Originally Posted By: CincyDavid
Spent about $800 to get a 50 gal gas AO Smith Professional installed a couple of months ago...and that night a 19 year old CVPC fitting where the water line taps into the main line through the house split, flooding my finished basement. The plumbing company claimed it was just a coincidence, CPVC gets brittle with age and the whole house is allegedly a ticking time bomb. Called my insurance company, they are subrogating against the plumbing company...the whole claim is close to $10K. What a pain in the neck.

We're building a new house, should be done in May. They use CPVC for new construction. I asked about copper, the builder said they have no way to secure the house to keep thieves from stealing the copper every night, and even if they could successfully do it, they said the cost would be astronomical.


Find one that installs PEX, like Uponor AquaPex. I would never install CPVC... either copper or PEX for domestic water.

 

[WyrTwister]

Originally Posted By: JTK
Dunno if they're the same, but last I checked AO Smith and US Craftmaster was the same company. US Craftmaster makes most residential "brands". I've never noticed a difference in construction or longevity between a plumber supplied unit and one I picked up from the local home/hardware center. I know around me, if the water heater and supplies is $450 retail, you're going to pay a plumber about $800-900 all-in.


Not me , DIY .

Wyr
God bless

 

[LoneRanger]

$1115.00 That included new pressure regulator valve new expansion tank. He found an error by prev plumber who installed new exp tank and new pressure reg valve three yrs ago. They'd set the pressure reg to 60psi but had written 45psi on exp tank. He said they should've wrote 70psi because you always set exp tank 10 psi higher than the system pressure.

Oh well, it's done right now and Im good to go.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Why do pplumbers make over 100 bucks and hour? They are not GODS?

Freakin trades - what a crock.

That my Scottiosh comin out.

Builders and Plumbers are rip off artist though. Again a trade thing.

 

[andyd]

Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
Why do pplumbers make over 100 bucks and hour? They are not GODS?

Freakin trades - what a crock.

That my Scottiosh comin out.

Builders and Plumbers are rip off artist though. Again a trade thing.
plumbers have to eat too. A plumber has to apprentice and then pass a test to be licensed. In MA they are required to take up date courses to keep their license active. If you don't like paying them, DIY. I like plumbing. I've re-worked my system so that everything has ball valve shut-offs in the basement. I use copper, with the exception of a 30' run of Pex to a hose bibb out front. I go through a 40 gallon gas water heater about every 10 yrs. After the shut offs, I use unions. Last change took me 3 hrs,including running to Lowes to buy it. In between careers, I worked as a helper to a local plumber. I learned so much, I should have been paying him for the education. Builders tend to be sharks. Once again, I worked as a carpenter in my early yrs so structural repairs and upgrades don't faze me.

 

[WyrTwister]

There is a lot of expense and overhead with all business .

Having said that , I wish we , in our trade , could manage to charge what the plumbing and HVAC contractors do .

But then there is / are the low voltage contractors ..........

Best wishes , I DIY as much as I can .

Wyr
God bless

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Yeah, I guess if they took a 50% pay cut to sa semi-reasonable fifty bucks an hour they, and their family would have to go without food.
Ahhh, NO!

I'm an M.E. and I do most stuff myself as the trades are ripoffs. If they charge a reasonable rate and do a decent job, I'd hire them. Long ago, I have hired a local handyman carpenter, Mike Sullivan, to do some log cabin repairs, a good guy who was honest and charged a honest fee. The word of mouth spread like wildfire and got him overworked and he became unavailable.

wachagonado?!

 

[CT8]

Originally Posted By: LoneRanger
$1115.00 That included new pressure regulator valve new expansion tank. He found an error by prev plumber who installed new exp tank and new pressure reg valve three yrs ago. They'd set the pressure reg to 60psi but had written 45psi on exp tank. He said they should've wrote 70psi because you always set exp tank 10 psi higher than the system pressure.

Oh well, it's done right now and Im good to go.
That seems like a good price!