Need Recommendation for Hot Water Heater / Tank Installation

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by TGentry

OP here. Just got back from purchasing my new hot water tanks. Ended up at the competitor of the "orange" big box store. After using a 10% off coupon (not on installation charges), total with tax came to $2100 for 2- 50 gallon tanks. (Included in this price was an $120 charge to re-hook the recirculator, plus I purchased extended warranties for $60 per tank. There were also lots of little other things that were required, such as new copper pipes, "nipples"... whatever those are, etc.)

Apparently, the manufacture warranty (9 years, in my case) includes parts and labor only for the first year. Years 2-9 would be parts only. Although as a general rule I don't purchase extended warranties, I felt it was a wise move in this case. A different plumber, from whom I received a quote for $2600, told me his tanks were warranted under the manufacturer's warranty for 6 years. Not I understand that that meant parts only for years 2-6.

So they're going to install them for you too?

[TGentry]

Originally Posted by BigDGeek

So they're going to install them for you too?

Yes, price includes the tanks, installation, the miscellaneous required parts and a full "bumper to bumper" 9 year warranty.

[BigDGeek]

Originally Posted by TGentry

Yes, price includes the tanks, installation, the miscellaneous required parts and a full "bumper to bumper" 9 year warranty.

Sweet! Good luck on the install!

[TGentry]

Originally Posted by BigDGeek

Sweet! Good luck on the install!

Thanks!

[brienzi]

Originally Posted by TGentry

Yes, price includes the tanks, installation, the miscellaneous required parts and a full "bumper to bumper" 9 year warranty.

Glad to hear you went with traditional water heater and not tank less. The jury is still out on them. Good luck and hope you get many years out of your upgrade and in many cases with a traditional tank u will. I've had the same electric hot water tank for almost 20 years now with NO problems and also agree with another poster to NEVER touch a gas line unless your qualified..

[TGentry]

Just a quick update from the OP here. The installer just left. Had a little issue in that the installer said the price would need to be increased by $400 because of the way the recirculator was set-up. This was obviously concerning since I told the Big Box salesman at time of purchase I had a recirc. The salesman called the installer to check on any additional price because of the recirculator and was told it would add only $120 to the bill. I paid the additional $120 to Big Box Store at time of purchase and the installer requested an additional $400 this afternoon after arriving at my house.

So.. I called Big Box Store (with the installer standing here) and was given a line about how if I had paid $35, the installer would have come out prior to purchase to give a proper estimate. What??? At the time of purchase, no one mentioned anything about having an estimator come out. Anyone, I agreed to split the extra bill with Big Box, so I ended up paying an additional $200. Very disappointing. Had we not been without hot water for five days, I would have held out... But a girls hair can only take so much.... and the nice neighbor is probably glad we won't be knocking on her door anymore...

I stand by what I said in a previous post regarding having chosen the wrong occupation! Once I subtracted out the cost of the tanks, tax, misc. required items, the installation charge came to around $1500! And this was just for one small-ish guy who was here for 3 1/2 hours! Works out to $428/hr. (When I expressed surprise that the installer could get the tanks up and down the pull-down attic stairs himself, he said the tanks really weren't all that heavy when empty.) In my opinion, crazy high even considering his costs for the truck, travel, haul-away of old tanks, tools.

[globe9]

Makes me glad I know a plumber. $800 total for new HE Bradford White gas water heater and he even relocated it for me, as well as taking out old one and disposing of it.

Just an FYI, the big box stores contract out the service to a plumber on their list. Basically making HD or Lowes the middle man who gets a cut. It's generally cheaper to just call a good plumber outright and get several estimates. Also in my experience, the contractors, plumbers etc who need to be on the HD or Lowe's list aren't the best.

I've also heard, not sure if true, that the water heaters your plumber buys from the plumbing supply house is of better quality than what is sold at HD.

[MckinneyOwnr]

Originally Posted by TGentry

Just a quick update from the OP here. The installer just left. Had a little issue in that the installer said the price would need to be increased by $400 because of the way the recirculator was set-up. This was obviously concerning since I told the Big Box salesman at time of purchase I had a recirc. The salesman called the installer to check on any additional price because of the recirculator and was told it would add only $120 to the bill. I paid the additional $120 to Big Box Store at time of purchase and the installer requested an additional $400 this afternoon after arriving at my house.

So.. I called Big Box Store (with the installer standing here) and was given a line about how if I had paid $35, the installer would have come out prior to purchase to give a proper estimate. What??? At the time of purchase, no one mentioned anything about having an estimator come out. Anyone, I agreed to split the extra bill with Big Box, so I ended up paying an additional $200. Very disappointing. Had we not been without hot water for five days, I would have held out... But a girls hair can only take so much.... and the nice neighbor is probably glad we won't be knocking on her door anymore...

I stand by what I said in a previous post regarding having chosen the wrong occupation! Once I subtracted out the cost of the tanks, tax, misc. required items, the installation charge came to around $1500! And this was just for one small-ish guy who was here for 3 1/2 hours! Works out to $428/hr. (When I expressed surprise that the installer could get the tanks up and down the pull-down attic stairs himself, he said the tanks really weren't all that heavy when empty.) In my opinion, crazy high even considering his costs for the truck, travel, haul-away of old tanks, tools.

And that's exactly why homeowners should take on some of this work themselves to save money. You could have bought a new tank, put it in the attic, disconnected the old one, drained it, and had everything ready to go for someone to install, and it would have been much cheaper. But not everyone is the DIY type, so that's the price you pay.

[octo]

That's the prevailing pimp model in construction in general. Charge the customer 10x what you pay the employee.

Thank Eywa that I'm handy!