Replacing a hot water heater yourself

A few years ago I had a handyman replace one for me. I rode with him to Lowes, made the purchase and he hauled it home for me. Then he installed the new one and hauled off the old. When he finished, I asked how much do I owe him. He said "how about $50?" I paid him $75 and he left with a smile on his face.

Odds are you won't find a deal like that. But I would ask around as there are many good independent handyman types that can do it for much less than the yellow page service company.
 
SQ, good for you fixing the leak yourself! On the handyman issue. Huge range of cost and abilities out there. One guy said he would charge me $100 just to show up at my house, to use a tall ladder to patch a small hole in the siding, with silicone. Plus materials and maybe another $20 for "labor". Of course I said no thanks. Luckily I got a referral from my church for an old handyman who was very cheap and good. I had to pay him and extra $20 for gas since he didn't get out my way very often. He said he would do the job for $20. I supplied the material. So he drove out with the tall ladder, went up and fixed the hole. Total cost was $40. Job well done. But I had to get lucky to find him.
 
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SheitlQueen said:
Water line from sink to ice maker in fridge had broken and was shooting out water at a pretty good pace and flooded the floor. Ruined the laminate floor (no loss, we had put it in as a temporary floor 15 years ago and just never did anything with it after that)
Click to expand...


Plastic or copper?

The above is why I've always insisted on copper line to the dishwasher/fridge.
 
SheitlQueen said:
Well, here is an example as to why I want to try to be self sufficient and improve my handyman (woman?) skills.

Ran some errands today and got home to the sound of running water in the kitchen.
Uh-oh.
Water line from sink to ice maker in fridge had broken and was shooting out water at a pretty good pace and flooded the floor. Ruined the laminate floor (no loss, we had put it in as a temporary floor 15 years ago and just never did anything with it after that).

I knew where the water shut off line was (thank G-d!) and stopped the flood. Went to Home Depot and asked them how to fix it. Got part, cut out damaged section of line and took care of that problem.

Now an issue with the floor....floor damaged beyond saving, and afraid water underneath will cause mold or mildew. Just got done tearing out the old laminate floor and padding. Underneath was the old sheet vinyl that kept the water from going through into the ceiling in the basement. Going to let it dry out for a week (just to be sure!) and then put in a new floor. I've done it before, because I was willing to try. Actually pretty easy.

So the water heater is temporarily on hold until I take care of this mess (got to spread the expenses out a little) but again this shows why I want to learn to take care of problems myself. When you own a house, seems like there is always something that needs doing.

Oh, and if anyone has any suggestions about anything I need to do before I put in the new floor to prevent mold/mildew, please let me know :)
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear about the new set of problems, but "things" do break, and your approach of acquiring some handyman skills is a good one! Even if you end up hiring someone for certain tasks, you'll have a much better sense for what repairs should cost. Good for you!
 
pjigar said:
Just dry the floor. Rent a blower or two if you need. Any fan will work. Keep the AC on to get the humidity out of the house. Mold won't set in unless you keep the floor moist for extended period of time.
Click to expand...

I second the above. We had a bathroom faucet supply line burst in our last house and flood the basement almost up to knee level. There are few sounds worse in this world than coming home, opening your front door and hearing the sound of running water !!

The key is to get the moisture out of that subfloor. I would also wait more than a week before I laid down a new floor. It can take quite a while sometimes to get all that moisture out. Fans are key, blowers even better (you can rent them from HD or Lowes rental departments).

Good luck !
 
SheitlQueen said:
It isn't a matter of "bragging rights", it's a matter of self confidence that I can take care of things my husband used to do. I can't run to someone else every time something on the property needs fixing. Although it's tempting! :) I've done more than I ever thought I was capable of, just by being willing to try.
Click to expand...
It sounds to me like much the same thing ("bragging rights" vs self confidence). Nobody is saying you need to get help for everything, but a wise person knows their limits and doesn't stubbornly go beyond them, just for bragging rights or self confidence or whatever you want to call it. Replacing a hot water heater might be beyond your reasonable limits. It's beyond what I'd want to take on. A friend of mine did this and I helped him haul the old water heater out, and that wasn't an easy task. He had the heavy end. I probably would've hurt my back had I been on that end.

Not sure what the price difference would be in getting some physical labor to help with the hauling vs having the job done. The advantage of the latter is that you can watch the job being done, and perhaps learn things about plumbing and maintenance of the heater that will help you later.

If you have to do this kind of thing every year, it makes sense to learn how to do it on your own. Once every 20 years? I'd take the few hundred dollar hit.
 
John Galt III said:
SQ, good for you fixing the leak yourself! On the handyman issue. Huge range of cost and abilities out there. One guy said he would charge me $100 just to show up at my house, to use a tall ladder to patch a small hole in the siding, with silicone. Plus materials and maybe another $20 for "labor". Of course I said no thanks. Luckily I got a referral from my church for an old handyman who was very cheap and good. I had to pay him and extra $20 for gas since he didn't get out my way very often. He said he would do the job for $20. I supplied the material. So he drove out with the tall ladder, went up and fixed the hole. Total cost was $40. Job well done. But I had to get lucky to find him.
Click to expand...

Thank you for mentioning that! I completely forgot there is a gentleman at my congregation that might do it at a reasonable price. Only problem is he has shoulder problems and I'm not sure he can handle the work. I'll check with him though.
 
ncbill said:
Plastic or copper?

The above is why I've always insisted on copper line to the dishwasher/fridge.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately it's plastic. I should just probably disconnect the thing anyway, I never use ice.
 
Koogie said:
There are few sounds worse in this world than coming home, opening your front door and hearing the sound of running water !!
Click to expand...
That's for sure! The sound of the floor squishing when walked on and water oozing up between the seams wasn't good either!
The key is to get the moisture out of that subfloor. I would also wait more than a week before I laid down a new floor. It can take quite a while sometimes to get all that moisture out.
Click to expand...
Should I remove the old sheet vinyl that was under the laminate? Might be difficult because if I remember correctly, it's glued down (I put it in, but it's been a long time and I don't remember).
 
SheitlQueen said:
...Should I remove the old sheet vinyl that was under the laminate? Might be difficult because if I remember correctly, it's glued down (I put it in, but it's been a long time and I don't remember).
Click to expand...

Hard to tell. I would let it dry out for at least a few days with fans and running a de-humidifier if you have one (or perhaps borrow one from a friend or rent one for a few days). Then assess. I would take some Kleenex tissues and rub the vinyl floor... especially along the seams and the edges and corners... if they don't get damp/wet at all then you may be ok to leave the vinyl.

You might try taking up some of the vinyl to see if it is glued down or not... but usually it is fastened with adhesive.
 
SheitlQueen said:
Should I remove the old sheet vinyl that was under the laminate? Might be difficult because if I remember correctly, it's glued down (I put it in, but it's been a long time and I don't remember).
Click to expand...

I agree with what pb4uski said. However, I would leave it for a lot longer than a few days or a week. Subfloors can be incredibly dry and when they get flooded they can soak it up like a sponge (plank subfloors being worse than OSB). Takes them a long time to dry out depending on current climate/humidity in the house.

If you can live with it the way it is better to err on the side of caution. Wait a couple of weeks and then try the kleenex idea.
 
If the house is relatively dry and there is a basement, then the floor dries from both above and below. A few days to a week is probably enough in that case. Don't forget that houses under construction often get rained on repeatedly with little ill effect.
 
I do applaud you for coloring outside the lines on this. Too often I think we women get intimidated by such repairs, when in reality, anything is just steps.

If you can follow a recipe, you can install a heater. Or hang a door, or a ceiling fan, etc. I'm quite handy and quite comfortable in any aisle in my home depot, but there are some rows where I get quite a few more "ma'am, can i help you?" inquiries than others.

But I do agree this one has an element of size that requires two people, unless one of them is burly enough.
 
Koogie said:
I agree with what pb4uski said. However, I would leave it for a lot longer than a few days or a week. Subfloors can be incredibly dry and when they get flooded they can soak it up like a sponge (plank subfloors being worse than OSB). Takes them a long time to dry out depending on current climate/humidity in the house.

If you can live with it the way it is better to err on the side of caution. Wait a couple of weeks and then try the kleenex idea.
Click to expand...

I've actually opted to not replace the floor. The old vinyl that now shows has a few stains and spots, but the kitchen looks much bigger (it's small) and brighter without the dark laminate.

Planning to get the wood floors in the house refinished or replaced in a year or two, so I think I deal with the kitchen floor then.
 
SheitlQueen said:
Well, here is an example as to why I want to try to be self sufficient and improve my handyman (woman?) skills.

Ran some errands today and got home to the sound of running water in the kitchen.
Uh-oh.
Water line from sink to ice maker in fridge had broken and was shooting out water at a pretty good pace and flooded the floor. Ruined the laminate floor (no loss, we had put it in as a temporary floor 15 years ago and just never did anything with it after that).

I knew where the water shut off line was (thank G-d!) and stopped the flood. Went to Home Depot and asked them how to fix it. Got part, cut out damaged section of line and took care of that problem.

Now an issue with the floor....floor damaged beyond saving, and afraid water underneath will cause mold or mildew. Just got done tearing out the old laminate floor and padding. Underneath was the old sheet vinyl that kept the water from going through into the ceiling in the basement. Going to let it dry out for a week (just to be sure!) and then put in a new floor. I've done it before, because I was willing to try. Actually pretty easy.

So the water heater is temporarily on hold until I take care of this mess (got to spread the expenses out a little) but again this shows why I want to learn to take care of problems myself. When you own a house, seems like there is always something that needs doing.

Oh, and if anyone has any suggestions about anything I need to do before I put in the new floor to prevent mold/mildew, please let me know :)
Click to expand...

What caused the ice maker line to break?. I have an ice maker(we never had a fridge that did this before) is this something i have to worry about?
 
Blue Collar Guy said:
What caused the ice maker line to break?. I have an ice maker(we never had a fridge that did this before) is this something i have to worry about?
Click to expand...
Ice maker water lines and washing machine water lines are notorious for flooding.
 
Blue Collar Guy said:
What caused the ice maker line to break?. I have an ice maker(we never had a fridge that did this before) is this something i have to worry about?
Click to expand...

It was very old so I don't know if it got brittle over time, or if perhaps I cracked it when I moved it to clean behind the fridge, and it finally gave up the ghost after a few days.

It probably wouldn't hurt to look at the tubing once in awhile if you have the fridge pulled out for cleaning anyway. This tube was very discolored and old looking.
 
SheitlQueen said:
It was very old so I don't know if it got brittle over time, or if perhaps I cracked it when I moved it to clean behind the fridge, and it finally gave up the ghost after a few days.

It probably wouldn't hurt to look at the tubing once in awhile if you have the fridge pulled out for cleaning anyway. This tube was very discolored and old looking.
Click to expand...

That'll teach ya!
I only clean back there once/yr and our line is copper so I worry about it getting brittle and breaking.
 
Blue Collar Guy said:
What caused the ice maker line to break?. I have an ice maker(we never had a fridge that did this before) is this something i have to worry about?
Click to expand...
I had a copper ice maker line break due to repeated moving of fridge which caused bending at the same point (over years). I had another ice maker line pop-out of the compression joint due to bad install. Always use hard nylon high pressure line for ice maker.

Another weak point in the house is washer water lines and more importantly water shutoff valves near the washer. These valves will leak spontaneously and splendidly between the moves when no one is in the house! I have experienced it twice in my short life!
 
jazz4cash said:
That'll teach ya!
I only clean back there once/yr and our line is copper so I worry about it getting brittle and breaking.
Click to expand...

Wait a minute, back up.. people clean behind their fridges ‽

In all the houses we've owned/rented over the last 20+ years I don't recall moving the fridge once. Ever.

What are you doing behind there that requires clean up after... :LOL:
 
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