jerrios Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 Does anyone know a good plumber for a water heater installation? my water heater is in the attic above the 3rd floor.i had neighbor tell me home depot charges around $1000 for the water heater ($350) and installation ($650). I've also been quoted over the phone for $700 by a private contractor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cottonmather0 Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 (edited) You didn't say whether you thought those estimates were within your budget or not, but if you're replacing your old tank and are willing to spend a little more money you should look at getting a tankless model. I would highly recommend at least looking into it - you might even get an energy efficiency` tax break to offset some of the added cost. We had an exterior one installed last year and couldn't be more pleased with it - the gas bill is about 20-30% lower than it was each month, we don't run out of hot water, ever, and it freed up a lot of floor space inside the house because we got rid of the closet that the tank was in and opened that space up to the rest of the kitchen. In your case, you wouldn't have to worry about leaks or failures in the attic damaging the rest of the house. Or, just as easily, you could have a tankless model installed in the same spot upstairs with an outside vent (just like what you have) and not have to move any plumbing and still avoid the failure risk and enjoy all of the other advantages. The plumber who did ours was Mike Bates @ Harvard Plumbing: (281) 351-9224. He is based in Tomball but will generally go anywhere on the north and west sides.EDIT: I forgot to mention that ours was just under $1200 installed. Edited June 12, 2008 by cottonmather0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerrios Posted June 12, 2008 Author Share Posted June 12, 2008 i felt $650 for an installation is excessive. i guess i'm seeing if anyone had a better price than $700 or if anyone had a good experience with a certain plumber where paying the extra cost might be worth it. 40 gallon tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricco67 Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 You didn't say whether you thought those estimates were within your budget or not, but if you're replacing your old tank and are willing to spend a little more money you should look at getting a tankless model. I would highly recommend at least looking into it - you might even get an energy efficiency` tax break to offset some of the added cost.i felt $650 for an installation is excessive. i guess i'm seeing if anyone had a better price than $700 or if anyone had a good experience with a certain plumber where paying the extra cost might be worth it. 40 gallon tank.I am with cotton on this one. You're better off getting a tankless, everyone I know that got one is thankful for it and many have been able to use the additional room gained for either storage or, like cotton's case, do a little renovation to gain some usable floor space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plumber2 Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 Tankless is the way to go if you have the dough. However, I would get another estimate. Somewhere around $550-$650 is more reasonable. $1000 seems high to me, but them I'm not going into a 3rd floor attic either. It's hard to explain why any builder would put a water heater in an attic. How do get that old one out when it's full of scale and gunk? I'd just disconnect the old one, cap the lines and find a better spot for the new one, preferably on the ground floor. Try Village Plumbing. Note: I'm not in the business any more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricco67 Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 Tankless is the way to go if you have the dough. However, I would get another estimate. Somewhere around $550-$650 is more reasonable. $1000 seems high to me, but them I'm not going into a 3rd floor attic either. It's hard to explain why any builder would put a water heater in an attic. How do get that old one out when it's full of scale and gunk? I'd just disconnect the old one, cap the lines and find a better spot for the new one, preferably on the ground floor. Try Village Plumbing. Note: I'm not in the business any more.I had a client who's water heater was in the attic (3rd floor) that had to be replaced (Tankless wasn't on the radar then) and it was a MAJOR pain to bring down and a total nightmare to take the new one up. Never could understand the point of putting it up there either. I'd probably charge that much depending on how easy/hard it was to get to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FilioScotia Posted June 14, 2008 Share Posted June 14, 2008 (edited) Does anyone know a good plumber for a water heater installation? my water heater is in the attic above the 3rd floor. i had neighbor tell me home depot charges around $1000 for the water heater ($350) and installation ($650). I've also been quoted over the phone for $700 by a private contractor.I wouldn't hire a private contractor for a job like this. You're much better off dealing with a big retail outlet. You always know where to find the retailer when you need service. You don't know where a private contractor will be, or if he'll even still be living in this town. I recommend Sears, because it has good water heaters at reasonable prices, and they install. They also have good warranties. I bought one from Sears about 12 years ago and it's still pumping away. Never had a problem with it. Here's a link to the Water Heaters page on the Sears website. http://www.sears.com/shc/s/c_10153_12605_A...s_Water+HeatersYou can get a perfectly good one and have it installed for five or six hundred dollars total. It's worth knowing that Sears Kenmore appliances are made by Whirlpool. I've bought appliances of all kinds from Sears over a lot of years and I've never had any reason to regret it. Edited June 14, 2008 by FilioScotia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grayhomes Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 I just had one done recently in a 4th level attic, 40 gal gas replacement and it cost around $900-$1000s. They have to drain it and it is quite a pain. I insisted they remove the old water heater... don't let them leave the old one it there. It took 2 guys and they struggled to get it out through the house. They put the old one in a special bag to protect the house while removing. They have to pay to dispose of it... so even though the cost of the water heater doesn't seem like a lot, the labor is not easy. Plus it is freaking hot in the attic... I used S&B Plumbing located in Bellaire. They go to Midtown also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lwood Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 Does anyone know a good plumber for a water heater installation? my water heater is in the attic above the 3rd floor.i had neighbor tell me home depot charges around $1000 for the water heater ($350) and installation ($650). I've also been quoted over the phone for $700 by a private contractor.I used Abacus Plumbing. Great service. Great guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianP Posted April 1, 2019 Share Posted April 1, 2019 Like plumber2 recommended above, we used Village Plumbing & Air last year to replace our water heater when it went bad suddenly. They were fast and surprisingly affordable. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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