Installed New Water Heater. Hesitant. Where to Get Checked?

[Bert K]

Cross posted in another forum:

Hey guys,

Wanted to get your opinion on something. So a month back, my water heater sprung a leak. It was pretty bad. It dripped for hours before someone realized it and at that point, it ruined my basement carpet and that weird smell started to rise up from the wet spots.

I realized that I had to get this fixed asap. The water heater that was installed was the one that was installed when the house was first built back in 2003. I called the number on the tank and the guy was pretty amazed that I got such a long life out of the original water heater. Needless to say, he said the fastest he could come out to replace it was next week as they were pretty booked. This was unacceptable as the water was dripping pretty badly.

I checked sears and they had some pretty attractively priced water heaters. They ran for about 800 bucks but then for some reason, once they factor in installation and permits (not sure what a permit is), the price would balloon up to 1200. Being the cheap son of a gun I am, I called my repair man who mainly fixes my roof. He also dabbles in water heaters so I thought it would be best to give him a call. He said he'll be out the first thing the next morning.

When he came, he looked at the water heater and said he'll go pick up a new one. Keep in mind that my water heater is a natural gas water heater with all these vents and metal tubes jutting out of the actual tank. When my repair man came, he seemed stumped on how to install it. He looked a bit hesitant and thats NEVER a good sign when you're dealing with something that can potential damage the house. 9 hours later, the water heater is installed and hot water is coming out fine but a nagging voice in my head wants to get an expert opinion on this matter. Can anybody recommend a professional water heater expert that could check that everything was installed correctly. I found 1-2 online but the way their websites were made, made it seem as though they were out to only make a quick buck. Things like "DO YOU NEED YOUR WATER HEATER CHECKED? THEN YOU CAME TO THE RIGHT PLACE. 911 WATER HEATERS ARE EXPERTS THAT KNOW WATER HEATERS" or some cheesy line like that. I'm located in Maryland if that matters. Could I go to home depot or sears to get it checked? Would they check a water heater that was installed from a third party? What is a permit? Tune in next week to the conclusion of this mystery! (Cheesy joke)

Anyways, any help would be greatly appreciated. Ironic that me cheap-ing out from the start will end up with me paying more from just getting it installed from sears. Permit and all (still don't know what a permit is though).

 

[Terry]

How about posting a picture on the complete installation. Maybe several pictures. 800 pixels or less.
A gas water heater has the potenial for great risk.
Eight hours to install? Wow!

Permit: They are talking about a plumbing permit. With those a licensed plumbing inspector comes out and verifies the installation to make sure it's done right.
Sears or Home Depot don't have inspectors. That's a city or county thing.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Bert K]

Hey Terry,

Much appreciated on the reply. I'll be happy to post up some photos when I get home. Shouldve done this earlier to be honest.

Do you recommend I get a permit for the tank or something so I can get a it checked by a licensed plumber or have I already missed my chance by getting it installed by a person without a license?

Is there any solid inspectors that can check it without a license?

 

[Terry]

You can always buy a permit for any plumbing job. They prefer that you buy them before the work is done.
Plumbers that install water heaters would know by looking if it's done right.

 

[Bert K]

So I called Rotorooter yesterday (they were the number one hit under "plumber water heater") and they informed me that they do not check water heaters done by the third party companies/individuals. I'm hoping going with my repair man did not eliminate my options of getting this checked

He did say that if the tank ever broke down then at that point he would be happy to come out but to break my water heater to just get it checked, seems a bit.... extreme lol.

Thoughts? Advice?

 

[Reach4]

Is that hot water outlet nipple bent, or is it the photo?

11 years hardly sounds amazing to me. I am not a pro. I have replaced only one water heater ever.

If you like looking stuff up, I suggest that you look up water heater anodes. Let me say that very few people replace or inspect their anodes, but it is the anode that keeps the tank from rusting through if the glass liner cracks. I went to a powered anode mostly for sulfur reasons before I got my sulfur and iron filter for the well water. After reading, it is OK to read and decide to not bother thinking about your water heater anode. But if you do think you would want to check/replace that in a few years, consider pulling it now before the fitting corrodes in place, adding teflon tape, and then tightening less than the original torque when putting the anode back.

And finally, when searching for a professional, don't think that the position that listing comes up on a search engine to be meaningful. Instead it may be a measure of the business spending money to push itself to the top. RR is a franchise. I would tend to prefer an independent who neighbors have good experience with. I consider bbb.org to be a less less manipulable listing.

 

[Terry]

Your installer had to deal with the recirc line.
That always takes more time. All in all, it all looks there.

Some areas require an expansion tank, but not all.
The West Coast uses earth quake strapping and flex connectors, but the East doesn't have that requirement.

 

[Onokai]

It will work but for me I'd use copper flex water lines on top with brass nipples. I would also have a flex line on the gas line as well. No matter where I lived. As Terry noted we here on the other coast strap the heaters down for earthquakes. That electrical Romex wire should not be exposed no matter where you live and needs to be in conduit to the recurculator pump-plastic conduit would work and its easy to do. Wrapping the wire and taping it to the copper pipe is a no -no.
Mark

 

[Terry]

I wasn't even looking at the electrical. LOL, Mark mentions some good things to take care of.

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

TERRY...I JUST DONT GET IT
What am I missing here.....
does anyone involved have common sense??

I absolutely am amazed about how people do water heaters.
....
first you have a flood in your basement and it ruins your carpet and stinks the whole place up and that cost you a carpet....
duh,,, ok maybe it cost you only a 500-- 1000 dollar loss????
...
then you have some "---Idiot from Home Depot " -- install a new water heater and the plumber is such a moron that he does not at the very least offer you a WATER HEATER PAN and a drain to prevent the same disaster from happening again.... duh......

why in the world would you not install a pan for another 15 bucks to keep this from destroying your basement again some time down the road????????

OK, maybe there is no drain in the basement .... you can still use the pan and install a little pump if you so desire to prevent flooding.......
You can install a WASHING MACHINE PAN and put a WATER ALARM in the pan to make a loud noise to tell you that you have troubles.....

How and why would you not want to prevent this from happenning again
or what if the pop off valve simply releases some day and floods the home??

if you want to see a 75 gallon bradford white installed in a washing machine pan go to my Yelp web site and look at the pictures..

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Specialties: When you need Plumbing repair you can trust, count on Weilhammer Plumbing Company to put your mind at ease and provide affordable plumbing diagnostics and solutions that work for your home. We offer plumbing repair , service , maintenance , installation, replacement , sales and...

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Terry....I honestly think that you or me should do a U-tube video on the common sense way to install a water heater to prevent future damages....and you should post it on the top of your site ..

Actually, sometimes I feel like I am surrounded by in-competence...
do you feel the same way too Terry???

 

[hj]

If you don't like the electrical wire, install a line cord with a plug on the end, which is how most pumps are wired. The circulation line MUST have a check valve on it which is not shown in your photos, unless it is hiding behind the gas pipe., and a good installer would have installed a valve between the pump and heater. It should have taken longer to get the heater out of the basement than it did to install the new one, even with the circulation line.

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

If you don't like the electrical wire, install a line cord with a plug on the end, which is how most pumps are wired. The circulation line MUST have a check valve on it which is not shown in your photos, unless it is hiding behind the gas pipe., and a good installer would have installed a valve between the pump and heater. It should have taken longer to get the heater out of the basement than it did to install the new one, even with the circulation line.

HJ.. The wireing looks a little rough but you cant fault the guy installing the heater... that was already there in place...
I assume there is a check valve in the line somewhere....
thermal expansion tank would have been a nice choice too...


I just cant understand why they would not install it all in
a 20 dollar washing machine pan.............

 

[hj]

"assuming" a check valve does NOT mean there is one, since it usually goes between the pump and the heater, and an expansion tank is NOT always a necessity. The didn't install a pan for the same reason I do not, because it has no benefit if it cannot be drained to a safe location, and if the basement flooded, that would indicate there is no drain close by, if at all, to drain it into.

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

"assuming" a check valve does NOT mean there is one, since it usually goes between the pump and the heater, and an expansion tank is NOT always a necessity. The didn't install a pan for the same reason I do not, because it has no benefit if it cannot be drained to a safe location, and if the basement flooded, that would indicate there is no drain close by, if at all, to drain it into.

Thats not a very good reason not to install a pan.....
OK so just let the basement flood again. because there is no drain near-by
. OK.. swell.... But .I beg to differ with you

If you are just too lazy to go the extra mile for the customer, I suppose that is a good excuse as any
but I would at the very least pass the idea and the costs on-to them...

usually there is always a great benefit to a pan.. In our state it is CODE to install one
so you could be on the hook for future damages if the home-owner knows the code...

For one thing.....you can
install a water alarm in the pan to let the person know that the unit is leaking.....or the t+p valve is leaking
into the pan.... that is only an extra $12.00

Another thing you can do .....if you simply put an adapter on the drain pan to fit a garden hose then
"assuming" there is a drain within 50 feet you could avoid a lot of water damage for your customer...
they can simply hook up a garden hose to the pan if that emergency alarm goes off..........

if this were on the 4th floor of a condo with no drain....you could also install a laundry pan with no drain at all
and simply install an alarm and a condensation pump in the pan and it could be pumped up to a drain...
I have pictures of a disaster that flooded all 3 floors under them.....

In my humble opinion, you can attempt to go the extra mile for your customer or
you can be the plumber that had his thumb in his ass that they now blame for the damages
when the place floods out again....

as long as you got good insurance its all ok with me

 

[hj]

By the time the "alarm goes off" the pan is already going to be full and overflowing.

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

By the time the "alarm goes off" the pan is already going to be full and overflowing.

Please.....................

It all really depends on how bad a leak it is....
for 12 bucks you can be their hero and they will always be grateful that you
gave them that alarm...... but your odds are a lot better with an alarm vs not having one.....

we have been giving the alarms out to folks on slab homes with
no floor drains and they have alerted the customer to water heater
leaks in the middle of the night.....

going that extra mile dont really cost that much and you might even look like
you know what the hell you are doing..

Most times if you simply offer them a pan and an alarm they will go for it........

 

[Terry]

I'm with Mark. With some customers we do the pan and alarm.
A very small bit of moisture will set off the alarm, giving the homeowner a heads up about the problem.

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

I'm with Mark. With some customers we do the pan and alarm.
A very small bit of moisture will set off the alarm, giving the homeowner a heads up about the problem.

Hey terry ..how do you post pictures on your site??

 

[MrStop]

Hey terry ..how do you post pictures on your site??

I'm not Terry, but here's a tutorial for you: https://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?threads/how-to-post-images-on-terry-loves-diy-forums.57906/

 

[Master Plumber Mark]

thanks for the information on the posting...


I just noticed the pics on this water heater and they have an expensive double wall chimney going to
the water heater .....going all the way out somewhere....

but they fail to install the water heater
in a cheap in-expensive pan

whatever............ I am so over it...