HD water heater installations

What a pain. I went the $299.00 installation route from Home Depot instead of learning and doing myself.

Two days for a call back to schedule and of course the installer/plumber? was 3 hours late - showed up at 6:30pm. Expected that much

What I did not expect was an unqualified, uncertified "plumbers helper"...with a 16 yr old "helper" to do this job. Seems HD subs out the work to local Plumbing Co's and in my case THEY subbed it out again.

Guy took 6 and half hours!!!! Left at 1:15 AM. I had to remind him three times to put the pan under, the fourth time he had to cut the pipes he had already sweated....I guess three reminders were not enough. Then he had to cut and redo again once he noticed he would not clear the gas vent, which I came down to point out. Made two angles on each pipe when he could have just cut higher and done one each...what a moron! Tried to convince me of not getting it inspected when he first started. No problem I thought...until the end...then asked to have it processed.

Called the HD service 800 # three days later to follow up on permits....and to complain. I wastold a manager would get right back to me. Called again today...three days later and was told that the store had to deal with it, when connected to my local store, I was told the Service # HAD TO DO IT...run around!

Finally ended up with 10% off when the girl from the 800# told me the local plumber would not adjust installation price...at least the HD side finally budged.

GET A PLUMBER OR DO YOURSELF.....HOME DEPOT IS LAME!

Reply to
Trout-hunter
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I said it before and I'll say it again..this country is going by the third world rep. Unqualified, unlicensed installers...outsourced.

Reply to
Boothbay
3 hours late because he screwed up the previous customer's installation as well. I'd wonder if he was stoned too.

Dosen't mater what the job, HD is too far from the action to ensure anything about it.

To even suggest not inspecting suggests he knew there could be a problem and simply unethical for a tradesman to even mention.

Sounds like you should have never left the room and just played supervisor the whole time. Usually not advised but in hindsight...................

Did they surcharge for the permit or was it included? You possibly could have saved money by pulling the permit yourself and arranging the inspection on your time.

DIY next time, my last WH replacement (done for a neighbor friend) took me

1.5 hours and that included a trip to the store for new nipples. (easy access in garage). I was paid with dinner.

Reply to
PipeDown

problem guys is that if you do it yourself, you are endangering yourself and your family if you work with a gas water heater. do you want to blow your house up?

sounds like you had a terrible experience, and one that should not have happened. i would have reported this to the state/county officials. that plumber shouldn't have even been allowed near gas.

Reply to
SeaKan

your family if you work with a gas water heater. do you want to blow your house up?

Reply to
BobK207

gas explosion

Reply to
SeaKan

It's not rocket science to hook up a flexible gas line and test it with soapy water (your nose should work pretty well too). 3 times so far and no boom. Obvoiusly if you don't feel comfortable, call a pro but don't act like ONLY a pro could possibly understand the complicated workings of a gas pipe. On the other hand, a WH can be very heavy and that may be a good enough reason to hire help.

The OP seemed to have more common sense than the installer.

Reply to
PipeDown

"PipeDown" wrote in message news:bFiof.3120$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net...

Im gonna speak as a pro...who understands that many times, the consumer gets shafted, more ways than one.

First, keep in mind that in my state, ONLY a person with a valid gas fitters licence can make a gas line connection, and even that does not insure you get a decent installtion. No..its not rocket science. We know that as well as anyone, since we, as licenced and insured professionals have more to lose than just a home...we have our way of life and income taken from us if we screw up.

First, as I find it most important..NO, your NOSE isnt good enough. The fittings really need to be checked with an electronic sniffer, and failing that, with a soap compound MADE for checking for miniscule leaks. I have seen lines leaking like hell, and the homeowner pull out his soap and water mix and never see bubble one, then pull out the electrionic sniffer and find one, and then, prove its there with leak check solution. Its not rocket science, but its not stone age either. Your nose isnt good enough to look for, and find small leaks. Small leaks, in some circumstances, CAN be dangerous.

Ive got a service call in the morning, were the customer is a referral to us, thats used, rather, lost, 700 gallons of LPG in 5 weeks...his gas supplier cant find a leak. When asked what method they used, the answer was : "Their nose." Screw that. Im willing to bet the farm that there are at least 2 leaks on the system from the tank to the furnace, and Im also willing to bet I dont smoke while outside looking for this leak.

To the OP.

Now you know why the big box stores are making a killing on the uneducated on their methods. Their thought process is simple. We have your money, you got a water heater installed, and we dont give a damn what you think of how it got there, you got it there. Home Depot and Lowes sub-lets labor out to local small time guys..the guys they DONT have to pay the big bucks to. The guys that spend hours chasing their tail, thinking they are doing the best damn job out there, cause they didnt have the mentality, or the training to do it right, and now, that they have 100 installs under them, if you would show them the CORRECT way to do it, they would tell you its a waste of time to do it that way cause it worked the previous 100 times without complaints.

I, as a company owner, prefer to deal with customers that know quality installs, and the proper methods used when installing things like water heaters and HVAC systems. Sure, we might be higher than a hack, we hope we are...God help the homeowner that went with a hack thinking they are saving money only to find out later that it will cost what they paid and then some to correct it..and I like it that way. The hacks are actually doing us a favor. They make us lots of money each year, and they dont care. If they cared, they would get legal.

Now for the sad part...even with a licenced contractor you can get screwed. There is no sure fire method to insure you get good work. Inspectors are a defense. But the install is only as good as the installers, and the inspectors, and sadly, even that does not insure a good install. You can check the BBB...but its a waste of time most of the time. One of the other companies here has a clean record with them, but its only because they follow up on complaints VERY quickly. Anyone can join the BBB and have wonderful ratings. That does not mean they wont screw you. For the record, I do NOT pay the BBB to have a listing. The BBB is a pay for play org, and I dont spend YOUR money on bullshit. Remember, the customer pays for everything, and in the case of the OP, even those fucktards training. Yes...training. If that had been installed by a legitimate local company, with a reputation to protect, at the VERY least the owner should have said "ok..lets get another crew out, lets get that in right, sorry these guys did that, and thank you for bringing that to my attention, and by the way, your installation price we are going to refund to you since your time is worth as much as ours." It really costs the owner nothing, and if he cares about his rep, he just made ground to the homeowner that he would not have before. Sure..he had a bad experence, but found out that the owner didnt know that kind of crap was going on, and it was taken care of, and as long as the other crew fixed it, made it right, and the HO had no other issues, he MIGHT remember that company next time, possibly in a positive way because the owner took the time to make it right and wanted his reputation, altho tarnished at first, to at least as the owner goes...remain intact. Just remember, 100% of the time, if you dont complain, they have no way of knowing that their guys are screwing up...

Reply to
CBHVAC

Sorry SeaKan but that does not follow, ie

DIY does not mean "endangering yourself and

your family if you work with a gas water heater"

it only means that if you don't know what you're doing & do an inadequate job

cheers & good luck

Bob

Reply to
BobK207

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