I'd love to know if the areas like yours where they require licensed
professionals with permits to do work like this have a lower rate of
fires and other safety related incidents than areas like where I am
where if there are rules like this they are not enforced. If there's
not evidence that the licensing/permitting requirements save lives or
dollars then there's a case to lobby local officials to change the
rules. At that point I'm guessing the local trade associations would
start making lots of noise.
Seems like if there were overwhelming evidence that licensing/permitting
requirements saved lives or dollars every state/locality would enforce
it and insurance companies would be lobbying for it as well. My
experience with hiring "professionals" for this type of work is that
about 3 out of 4 times they don't do it as well as if I had done it
myself. My last experience was the "professional" who installed our new
dishwasher two years ago. A few weeks ago the plastic hot water line he
installed blew out of the fitting and flooded the kitchen and basement.
When I read the installation manual it said use of plastic compression
fittings was not recommended. It called for copper or braided line with
screw on fittings. I followed the instructions.....
Anyway, with what I saw the anode rods cost I will continue to make the
decision to just replace the whole unit every so many years. My last
one lasted 14 years. It takes about an hour to replace it and the last
one I bought was under $300. If I lived in your area I might make a
different decision though.
Ben.....
Ben Zwissler
bjzwissler@gmail.com
Columbus, IN
1966 Triumph TR4A
1973 MG Midget
1980 Triumph TR8
2007 Mazda RX8
2002 Yamaha FZ1
2003 Honda ST1300
On 6/5/2011 4:21 PM, BJNoSHOV8 wrote:
> I've had to replace my share, and I think they should last longer too.
>
> The problem is not so much the cost of the replacement water heater,
> they seem to be cheap enough at HomeDepot. The problem is that you
> have to get a licensed plumber and a city permit in order to replace
> one, and the replacement labor costs twice what the water heater
> costs. I'm suspicious that the local plumbers have conspired to set a
> uniform rate for replacement. I've had a variety of plumbing work
> done over the years, all charged at an hourly rate. I've had 3 water
> heaters replaced, and this work seemed to be billed at 2 or 3 times
> their hourly rate.
>
> The last water heater I had replaced, the plumber said he used to be
> an aircraft mechanic but he made a lot more as a plumber. I don't
> know much about aircraft mechanics but something in this seems
> backwards to me.
>
>>> I checked the local big boxen and plumbing suppliers and got
>>> funny looks like "No, why would you mess with that!? Just
>>> replace the whole tank every 8 years."
>> Sigh. Everything's disposable nowadays, including things that really
>> shouldn't be. :-(
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